Using Racial Eliminativism in Social Research

Workshop convened by Dr. Brett St Louis

The Graduate School of Social Sciences is delighted to invite you to join the workshop “Using Racial Eliminativism in Social Research” by Dr. Brett St Louis in which we discuss and question the use of race in social science research through the perspective of racial eliminativism. Therefore, the workshop offers the opportunity for critical dialogue on the form and function of race, both generally and in the context of your specific research project.

Organisator: Nadira Haribe from the G3S
Speaker: Brett St Louis
Date: 10-12 February 2025 (two and a half days)
Time: TBA
Venue: TBA
Format: in-person workshop

Important: If you are interested in attending the course, we ask you to send a short letter expressing your interest in and motivation for attending the workshop. Please send your motivation to Julia Büchele (julia.buechele@clutterunibas.ch) by January 14^th 2025.

Description of the workshop:

Social scientists often use race as a standard social category and analytical concept. However, some researchers from fields ranging from biology to the social and human sciences argue that race is problematic, as it has no natural empirical basis. We will look at how the perspective of racial eliminativism develops an epistemological, methodological, ontological, ethical and political critique of race. By avoiding the reification of and attributing false causality to race, racial eliminativism focuses on race as the empirical object of social scientific enquiry. Furthermore, the focus on racism as the ideological product of race can inform the development of effective antiracist responses. Using collectively chosen case examples, we will reflect on how this problematization of race impacts social scientific research design, data collection, analysis and practical applications/critical interventions (if applicable). The workshop will encourage participants to reflect on the efficacy of racial eliminativism and consider its (ir)relevance and (in)applicability to their own research. The aim of the workshop is to stimulate a critical dialogue on the form and function of race as well as the analytical results and practical consequences of its use in social scientific research.

Key Reading: Brett St Louis (2016) ‘Can race be eradicated? The post-racial problematic’ in Karim Murji and John Solomos (eds.) Theories of Race and Ethnicity: Contemporary Debates and Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Short biography of Brett St Louis:

Brett St Louis is Senior Research Follow in Sociology and the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester, having previously worked at Goldsmiths, University of London, the University of California, San Diego and the University of Bristol. He is the author of Rethinking Race, Politics and Poetics: C.L.R. James’ Critique of Modernity (Routledge, 2007) and is currently completing a book on racial eliminativism provisionally titled The Postracial Ambition: Eliminating Race, Challenging Racism. He has guest edited special issues on ‘The predicament of difference’ and ‘After ’68: The Left and Twenty-First Century Political Projects’ in Ethnicities (2005) and New Formations (2008) respectively. His work has been published in a number of leading peer-reviewed academic journals including The British Journal of Sociology, Cultural Studies and Racial and Ethnic Studies and he is currently an editorial board member of New Formations.

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