HST402 Race and Racism in Historical Perspective

Aims/Description: What is race and how has it operated historically? Through a series of case studies, this module will seek to historicize ideologies, ideas and the experiences of race and racism across the early modern and modern historical periods. The module takes as its starting point the understanding that race is not a biological fact but always and everywhere the product of struggles for power in specific political, cultural and geographical settings. How have racial categories been made and re-made, imposed and resisted? How has this affected material outcomes and distributions of wealth and power? What are the ongoing legacies of these histories? We will examine a number of case studies, including slavery, abolition campaigns and immigration in various spacial and temporal contexts. We will explore key concepts in historiography including settler colonialism, whiteness and white supremacy, racial liberalism, and anti-racism. Throughout, we will be attentive to the intersections of race with other categories of social difference such as gender, class, and sexuality, and appreciate the importance of historical context in understanding conceptions of race and racism.

Restrictions on availability: Department approval required

Staff Contact: CLEALL ESME R

Teaching Methods: Seminars, Tutorials, Independent Study

Assessment: Course work, Classroom testing

Information on the department responsible for this unit (History):

Departmental Home Page

Teaching timetable

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Teaching methods and assessment displayed on this page are indicative for 2025-26.