ABSTRACT
Conflict between races in a society finds expression in different conceptions of the racial structure of that society. This chapter sketches some conceptions of the racial structure in the consciousness of different strata, distinguishing between two-category, multi-category and unitary conceptions, and analysing the criteria by which categories are differentiated and the principles by which they are structured. It commented on the fluidity in these conceptions, and sought to relate them to varied situational and structural contexts. Ossowski's discussion of the class structure in the social consciousness greatly influenced the approach, and the chapter examines some of his hypotheses and conclusions in the context of the race-structured society. The essence of the distinction is that class structures are intrinsic to interaction in the society, whereas racial structures are in some measure extrinsic, or have a point of reference outside the interaction. Class societies, may be viewed as arising directly out of the interaction of the members of the society.
