ABSTRACT

Concepts of race prove to be unreliable as supposed boundaries shift, slippages occur, realignments become evident, and new collectivities emerge. State-imposed classifications of race, for example, face continuing challenges by individuals and groups who seek to assert distinctive racial categories and identities. It is now widely accepted in most scholarly fields that race is a social construction. Restrictive access to economic opportunities and resources, and genocide, the precise definition and significance of racism has been subject to enormous debate. With the foregoing account of racial formation in mind, the authors must turn their attention to the problem of racism. The concept of racial projects can be understood and applied across historical time to identify patterns in the longue duree of racial formation, both nationally and the entire modern world.