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An ideology of difference whereby social significance is attributed to culturally constructed categories of race. Racism is \'an ideology which ascribes negatively evaluated characteristics in a deterministic manner … to a group which is additionally identified as being in some way biologically … distinct\' (Miles, 1982, p. 78). Such ideological distinctions invariably lead to discrimination and racialized inequality. Racism can take various forms, from the \'scientific\' racism of the nineteenth century to the \'cultural\' racism of today (Blaut, 1992) where the emphasis is on supposedly \'inherent\' cultural differences rather than on innate biological differences. Discourses of \'race\', like ideologies of gender, attempt to ground themselves in nature though they are both socially constructed (Kobayashi and Peake, 1994). Geographical studies have highlighted the territorial basis of various forms of racism including the institutionalization of radicalized inequality in housing markets (see housing class; housing studies; territoriality). (PAJ)
References Blaut, J.M. 1992: The theory of cultural racism. Antipode 24: 289-99. Kobayashi, A. and Peake, L. 1994: Unnatural discourse: \'race\' and gender in geography. Gender, Place and Culture 1: 225-43. Miles, R. 1982: Racism and migrant labour. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Suggested Reading Miles, R. 1989: Racism. London: Routledge. |
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