Introduction

During the last two decades the study of race and ethnicity as an important independent academic specialism has become well established within a range of social science disciplines such as sociology, political sciences, anthropology, cultural studies and geography. ¹ This ‘explosion of academic interest in the subject of race’ ² does, however, not suggest an agreement on the conceptualisations most adequate to explain the category of race. On the contrary, among academics the concept of race remains a controversial and contested one. ³