NCJ Number
183831
Journal
Sociological Inquiry Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2000 Pages: 188-214
Editor(s)
Sampson L. Blair,
Bernard Farber
Date Published
2000
Length
27 pages
Annotation
The author contends the racial ideology of western nations in the world system has converged over the past 20 years.
Abstract
The new ideology, also referred to as the new racism, includes the notion of cultural rather than biological differences, the abstract and decontextualized use of the discourse of liberalism and individualism to rationalize racial inequality, and a celebration of nationalism that at times acquires an ethnonational character. The author believes that this ideological convergence reflects the histories of racial imperialism in western countries, the fact that they have all developed real but different racial structures that give systemic rewards to white citizens, and the significant presence of other ethnic groups. Case examples involving Germany, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand show that the apparent contradiction between racial backlash and a western world that claims to be cosmopolitan, multicultural, and raceless is explained by the fact that contemporary racial ideology combines abstract and technocratic liberalism with ethnonational and culturalist elements. 134 references and 22 endnotes