Race is a social reduction to sheer force, not a natural trait

Evidence

But race is not a naturally special characteristic, as the folk mystics would have it. It is a reduction to the natural, to sheer force, to that stubborn particularity which in the status quo constitutes the generality. Today race has become the self-assertion of the bourgeois individual integrated within a barbaric collective. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 124

Categorization

• DEFINE: Adorno defines race as a reduction of the particular to the natural — a category of force, not biology.
• XREF: connects to: Race has no biological reality but is a potent social force; Race is social construction with real material consequences, not biology — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 124; Race is a political and social construct, not a scientific category (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• Race is socially constructed rather than biologically real but has powerful social effects #corroborates (0.88) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 113
• Race has no biological reality but is a potent social force #corroborates (0.85)
• Race is social construction with real material consequences, not biology #corroborates (0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 124
• Race is a political and social construct, not a scientific category #corroborates (0.85)
• Race and ethnicity are socially constructed rather than natural categories. #corroborates (0.82) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 104
• Race was once understood as a fixed natural essence, not a social construct. #complicates (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 1671
• Race itself is not a rationalization but the embodiment of power relations. #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1738
• Races are produced by racism, not by biology #expands (0.78) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 76
• Race is a product of racism, not its cause. #expands (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 107
• Race is both biological and social because bodies are shaped by social practices #contradicts (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1561
• Ancient notions of race as biology do not match reality #corroborates (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 901
• Race functions as a naturalized line of difference, not merely skin color #expands (0.75) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 1116