Through, against and beyond the racial state: the transnational stratum of race

Abstract

Though race is most commonly associated with domestic politics, the concept itself was born in the transnational realm. This article conceptualizes race as a system of global power relations that has changed over time, manifests differently across space and exists on multiple analytical levels. Drawing from the insights of international relations, comparative politics and critical race theory, it argues that race is a transnational norm or idea that can independently affect both domestic policy outcomes and international relations among nation-states. The article explores several promising avenues of research in the examination of the varied manifestations of race in international and domestic realms and ends with a brief discussion of continuing challenges and future research agendas in the comparative and international study of race.

Notes

¹ Britain is largely an exception to this rule; see, for example, Hylton et al (2011).

² The precise distinction between ideas and norms is unclear in the literature. Berman (2001) suggests that a key distinction is its tenacity or hold: ‘While an idea can have a fleeting hold over political actors, it seems nonsensical to talk about norms or culture that do not have staying power. Indeed, norms and culture should be thought of as ideas or beliefs that are institutionalized, persist over time, and, at least in the case of culture, are associated with particular communities’ (2001, 248).

³ Note, however, Jones's expansion of critical realism, which criticizes ‘the fallacy of sharp distinctions between “material” and “social” phenomena. Many social phenomena exist as material entities with material (physical, chemical, biological) properties and powers, yet are located within and affected by the laws or tendencies of economic and political strata. This means that many social phenomena are governed and affected by mechanisms, powers and laws of different strata simultaneously’ (Jones 2008, 914).

⁴ There is a voluminous literature on the changing meaning of race, especially during the interwar years. See Stepan (1982), Barkan (1992), Lauren (1996), Von Eschen (1997), Füredi (1999), Winant (2001), Fredrickson (2002), Baum (2006), Smedley (2007) and Schaffer (2008), among many others.

⁵ Hansard, House of Commons, 3 May 1965, vol 711, col 942.