Scholarship has largely ignored the state’s role in reproducing racism

Evidence

The first paper, by David Theo Goldberg, focuses on a dimension that has in many ways remained largely ignored in much of the contemporary discussion, namely, the role of the state in the reproduction of complex forms of racism and racial exclusion. Goldberg’s account points to the relative silence on this topic in the most prominent currents in scholarly debate. He suggests that there is an urgent need for more careful analysis if we are to come to terms with the role of state institutions and agencies in shaping contemporary forms of racial subjugation and inequality. Taking his starting point as the historically formed interrelationship between the modern nation-state and patterns of racial ordering, he then goes on to suggest ways in which the role of the state could be brought back into theorizing about racism. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1640

Categorization

• XREF: Ties to Goldberg’s later chapter in this volume and to the general theme of state institutions as racial ordering mechanisms, resonant with Milgrom’s work on state roles in economic institutions.