PHIL 072. Critical Philosophy of Race


This course seeks to critically understand "race" as a historical construction and discursive practice that functions in social and political domains as well as in individual modes of embodiment and identity. Rather than analyze the viability of "race" as a category of human differentiation, we will approach the concept of race with a historical consciousness that is attentive to its enablement of domination and systemic oppression. Some of our themes of analysis may include the social construction of race, the phenomenology of racial embodiment, the carceral state as an apparatus of racial control, and the complex entanglements between race and (neo-)liberalism. Insofar as we are approaching race from a social and political lens, we will draw from a range of philosophical traditions spanning Marxism, existential phenomenology, feminist studies, and social epistemology.
Prerequisite: First- and second-year students must complete one introductory level PHIL course before enrolling in this course.
Humanities.
1 credit.
Spring 2024. Ahmed.
Catalog chapter: Philosophy 
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/philosophy


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