Racial Formation in Perspective

23 Pages·2013·1 MB·English

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Racial Formation in
Perspective: Connecting
Individuals, Institutions,
and Power Relations
1 2
Aliya Saperstein, Andrew M. Penner,
3
and Ryan Light
1Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305;
email:
SO39CH18-Saperstein ARI 27 June 2013 12:53
INTRODUCTION Multilevel studies that make these connec-
tions among individuals, institutions, and the
The social constructivist turn has been a fruit-
broader terrain of power relations will not
Race: “a concept ful one for sociology. Despite its critics (e.g.,
which signifies and Hacking 1999), the recognition that everything only advance scholarship on race and ethnicity
symbolizes social from social norms to categories of analysis but also help further demonstrate the utility
conflicts and interests of incorporating a constructivist approach
are historically situated, context specific, and
by referring to to these slippery concepts in social science
different types of subject to processes of both resistance and
research.
human bodies” (Omi reproduction (Berger & Luckman 1966) has
&Winant 1994, p. 55) invigorated numerous subfields, including the
Racial formation: sociology of race and ethnicity. At the same
“the sociohistorical time, the proliferation of “scare quotes” around CORRALLING THE CONCEPT
process by which racial key axes of social inequality that were long seen OF RACE: HISTORY,
categories are created,
as objective measures of diference seems to TERMINOLOGY, AND
inhabited,
transformed, and have frightened some scholars away from fully METHODOLOGY
destroyed” (Omi & exploring the implications of constructivist The position that race is socially constructed
Winant 1994, p. 55) claims for the broader body of sociological developed, in part, as a response to claims that
Racial project: the research: Constructivism, although readily social inequalities, for example in educational
“building block” of acknowledged, has been unevenly engaged achievement between blacks and whites in the
racial formation; “an across sociological subfields.
United States, were rooted in biological or
interpretation,
representation, or Thus, in the spirit of bridging academic genetic differences. The argument that such
explanation of racial boundaries, our review of recent research on disparities are shaped more by politics and
dynamics, and [a the social construction of race aims to provide environment than by biology dates at least
simultaneous] effort to an overview of the field for the nonspecialist. to the debunking of racial craniometry by
reorganize and Although a nodding consensus exists in sociol-
Franz Boas in the early twentieth century (see
redistribute resources
along particular racial ogy that race is a social construction, we argue Gravlee et al. 2003), and arguably to W.E.B.
lines” (Omi &Winant that the discipline as a whole has a narrow Du Bois (1899) and beyond. Other influential
1994, p. 56; see also understanding of this widely accepted claim, in figures contributing to the social constructivist
Carbado & Harris part because its implications for the conduct of perspective on race and ethnicity over the past
2012) research beyond the field of race and ethnicity
century include Max Weber (1978), Ashley
remain underappreciated (see, e.g., Morris Montagu (1942), and Fredrik Barth (1969).
2007, Saperstein 2013). To address this gap More recently, the literature has been
and to underscore the wide-ranging empirical shaped by the seminal work of sociologists
support for the larger theoretical paradigm, we MichaelOmi andHowardWinant (1986, 1994)
synthesize the evidence that has accumulated in Racial Formation in the United States. In-
over the past several decades on processes deed, the exponential growth of sociological
of “racial formation” (Omi & Winant 1986, work on race that employs the language of
1994). In doing so, we also highlight some of social construction began around 1990 (see
the internal divisions in the field—in particular, Figure 1a)—the midpoint between the publi-
differences in scope conditions or levels of cation of the first and second editions of Racial
analysis—offering specialists and nonspecialists Formation.Dissatisfiedwith scholarship that of-
a unique perspective on the literature.We con- ten “reduced” race to a product of other so-
clude by noting the need for more research that cial processes and dimensions of power rela-
explicitly crosses macro-micro-meso divides to tions (namely assimilation/ethnicity, class, and
reveal whether and how racialization processes nation), Omi & Winant argued that social sci-
work in concert across different domains of entists needed to make race, “racial projects,”
social life to shape ideas of racial difference and and the process of “racial formation” the con-
reproduce the larger systemof social inequality. ceptual focus of research.
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a Total number of articles by year b Top citations by window
160 0.16
140 0.14
120 0.12
Omi & Winant
100 0.10 (1986, 1994)
Barth (1969)
80 0.08
60 0.06
40 0.04
Waters (1990)
20 0.02 Harris & Sim
(2002)
0 0.00
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1990 2000 2010
Year Window
Figure 1
Trends in sociological research on the social construction of race. Note: Windows consist of articles from
Supplemental Material
the labeled year to the labeled year minus a weighted lag to capture a citation “environment.” For more
details, see the Supplemental Material online.
Racial Formation has been cited in about racial formation perspective to other areas of
6% of all articles about race in sociology since sociological research. Part of the challenge of
its publication, making it one of the five most generating a clear synthesis on how the social
cited publications in this core sociological construction of race unfolds, particularly one
subfield (for more details of our citation that is accessible to nonspecialists, is precisely
analysis, see the online supplemental material that the literature is not only topically diffuse,
by following the Supplemental Material as can be seen in the citation pattern of
link from the Annual Reviews home page Racial Formation (Figure 2), but also split by
1
at http://www.annualreviews.org). How- differences in terminology and methodology.
ever, the influence of Omi & Winant’s work The perennial debate over whether or not to
drew initially from other disciplines, includ- distinguish between race and ethnicity—that
ing scholars in history, education, and law, is, between purportedly physical, immutable,
with sociology relatively late to recognize the ascribed, or externally imposed divisions
paradigm shift (HoSang et al. 2012). Even now, and those claimed to be cultural, malleable,
citations of Racial Formation are more likely to achieved, or self-designated—has generated
appear in sociological articles about racism and one type of divide in the field (see Jenkins 1997,
whiteness or identification and assimilation Patterson 1997 for discussions). Other internal
than in articles about prejudice and segregation divisions can be attributed to differences in the-
or work and inequality (see Figure 2). oretical commitments, methodological starting
We argue that these cleavages in the field points, and social justice orientations (Bobo &
of race and ethnicity have hampered progress Fox 2003, Bonilla-Silva 1997, Loveman 1999,
on the topic and limited application of the Wacquant 1997).
There is even some disagreement about
when to date the emergence of race and racism.
1
The top five also include Wilson’s Truly Disadvantaged,
In sociology, racial ideology is often described
Massey & Denton’s American Apartheid, Blalock’s Toward a
as evolving out of the imperial encounters
Theory of Minority Group Relations, and Allport’s The Nature of
Prejudice. that marked the Age of Exploration and the
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Number of articles
Percent of citing articles
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Social Movements-Protest-KKK
Racism-Whiteness-Class
Gender-Work-Inequality
Science
Racism-Whiteness-Racialization
Participation-Mental Health-Life
Sport-Recreation-Racism
Children-Identifcation-Assimilation
Gender-Students-Culture
Prejudice-Segregation-Intermarriage
Perceptions-Children-Self-esteem
Figure 2
Social construction of race citation network for 2011 window. Note: Node sizes correspond with times cited; node colors represent
communities based on Girvan & Newman (2002); edges correspond with the cosine score based on citation overlap; labels consist of the
top-three keywords; label sizes represent the percent of articles in the clusters that cite Omi &Winant (1986, 1994); graph layout is
VOS Mapping rendered in Pajek (see Batagelj & Mrvar 1998). For more details, see the Supplemental Material.
Supplemental Material beginning of the modern era (Winant 2000). were once thought to exhibit immutable
From this perspective, the advent of permanent characters, predispositions, and moral failings
slavery and the colonization of indigenous land (e.g., Douglas 2002).
necessitated a new concept of inherent and Such scholarship raises questions about
inferior distinction to justify the oppression how to bound the concept of race. Should
of non-European, nonwhite bodies (Smedley it be limited to distinctions based solely on
2007; see also Snowden 1983). The initial focus readily observable, physical characteristics,
on race as a black-white or white-nonwhite bi- such as skin tone (see Banton 2012), hair
nary, at least in the United States, follows from texture, and facial features? Or is it the belief
this starting point as well. However, the utility in inherited difference and an ideology of
of setting such a firm demarcation between race permanent inequality applied to an entire
and not race—e.g., circa 1570 when the word population of people that delineates race (see
entered the English language with something Frederickson 2002)? Should sociologists focus
akin to its current meaning (Sollors 2005)—is on the similarities between race and other
being questioned. Historical research suggests categorical distinctions (e.g., Tilly 1999, West
that hierarchies of religion and class position, & Fenstermaker 1995) or the differences? The
the major axes of premodern, internal differ- push to examine processes of racializationmore
entiation, were also imbued with corporeal broadly—highlighting the circumstances under
significance, as when Jews were thought to which any category of human difference be-
have hidden horns and tails (Thomas 2010) comes associated, implicitly or explicitly, with
or Russian serfs were believed to have black a corporeal or inherent permanence—drew
bones (Kolchin 1987). Similarly, what we impetus from the initial formulation of Racial
would now describe as European nationalities Formation (Omi&Winant 1986, p. 64). Instead
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of highlighting how racial antagonisms are at get arrayed—or array themselves—into those
their roots, for example, class antagonisms, this categories; and examined the consequences of
work shows how other nonphysical character- consciously and unconsciously organizing our
istics and axes of social difference get cloaked schools, workplaces, families, neighborhoods,
in racial language and symbolism as they come and governments around such categorical
to be seen as heritable and immutable (see also distinctions. However, most studies provide a
Barot & Bird 2001). However, these efforts to single snapshot of a given process focused on a
expand the field have also been met with crit- particular level of analysis—i.e., either macro,
icism, as disingenuous attempts to piggyback micro, or meso. These differences in analytic
on previously successful social movements or scope cut across both the topical distinctions
minimize the experience and continued reality visible in our citation analysis and the termino-
of black-white inequality (see Thomas 2010). logical debates noted above, with consequences
A deep engagement with the sociology of for defining key findings in the field. Thus, the
race and ethnicity requires scholars to grapple bulk of our review is organized into separate
with these differing perspectives and take a discussions at each level of analysis, in part
stance or generate a new synthesis, which will to showcase their unique contributions to the
motivate their work. To assist in that effort, literature on racial formation. However, we
recent reviews provide crucial background on distinguish these approaches with the goal of
related issues, including conceptualizing eth- encouraging more dialogue between scholars,
nicity, race, and nationalism (Brubaker 2009) not less. By juxtaposing macro-, micro-, and
and examining processes of social and racial meso-level research on the social construction
boundary making (Lamont & Molna´r 2002, of race, we also seek to highlight the remaining
Wimmer 2008), shifting US color lines (Lee gaps in our knowledge and reveal opportunities
& Bean 2004), and comparative ideologies of for future research that links these processes
racial “mixing” (Telles & Sue 2009). Our aim is and advances our understanding of both racial
to take awide viewof the field, and thus the con- formation and the causes and consequences of
ceptual distinctions we have chosen to address social inequality more broadly.
are somewhat different. We add to these con-
versations by reviewing sociological research
THE MACRO CONTEXT OF
that provides evidence on the central tenets of
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
a racial formation perspective, with a particular
focus on empirical studies in the United States. In Omi &Winant’s theory of racial formation,
Within that frame, we err on the side of inclu- the racial order is reinforced through reciprocal
sion, encompassing work that explicitly cites links between the macro and micro levels of
Omi & Winant (1986, 1994), as well as work society. As examples of these links, they note
that simply employs the language of social how practices of racial discrimination have
construction in the study of racial and ethnic consequences for individual identity and how
identities, categories, and boundaries. (For these identities, in turn, shape “the universe
more details, see the Supplemental Material.) of collective action” (Omi & Winant 1986, Supplemental Material
Over the past several decades, as this p. 68). However, much of the book is devoted
field of inquiry has progressed, research has to demonstrating the political contestation of
moved beyond general demonstrations of racialmeanings in theUnited States as a pitched
social construction to detailed investigations of battle between the state and social movements.
racial formation processes as they unfold at the Thus, although the underlying goal of a
macro, micro, and meso levels of analysis. So- racial formation perspective is to understand
ciologists have documented the changing racial how racial identities, institutions, and social
order and which categories are most salient in practices are both intertwined and “formed and
particular places or times; explored how people transformed over time” (Omi & Winant 1986,
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p. 69), the weight of the work that followed will be policed more carefully in societies with
has examined these processes primarily at the a high degree of inequality compared with
level of states and social movements. more egalitarian ones (Wimmer 2008).
Scholars who study the social construction Some empirical work at this level of analysis
of race from a macro perspective highlight how examines how particular racial categories,
politics and power relations shape the racial such as black, white, and Hispanic, came to
order locally, nationally, and globally. States be defined and applied to diverse populations
have interests and deploy racial categories and (Davis 2001, Jacobson 1999, Rodriguez 2000),
their associated hierarchies in service of those but much more common are case studies of the
interests. Dominant groups maintain and po- racialization of particular groups. Research on
lice racial boundaries through social closure and the racial positioning of Latinos in the United
violence—symbolic or otherwise—to maintain States, both historically (Almaguer 1994) and
status and power. Subordinate groups challenge in contemporary society (Frank et al. 2010),
the overall classification scheme and the re- epitomizes this approach. Similar studies have
sources and rewards that follow from it. Racial explored how other immigrant groups, from
categories and their social meanings are unsta- Filipinos (Baldoz 2004) to South Asians (Kibria
ble and historically contingent because they are 1996), situate themselves—and are situated by
the focus of persistent political struggle (Omi others—in the American racial landscape.
& Winant 1986, 1994). This focus on the consequences of outsider
Scholars interested in these processes status is also found in recent research that
typically consider how to characterize the explores how other characteristics or categories
overall racial hierarchy in societies and where of difference—beyond physical features and
the boundaries or color lines are drawn to ancestry, per se—can take on immutable, race-
separate insiders from outsiders, the haves like qualities in particular social contexts. These
from the have-nots. For example, debate con- studies highlight the role that racial ideology
tinues regarding whether the color line in the plays in the justification andmaintenance of so-
contemporary United States is best described cial inequality by demonstrating the invidious
as dividing whites and nonwhites (Warren & ways that racial discourse is used to naturalize
Twine 1997) or blacks and nonblacks (e.g., difference and to neutralize perceived threats
Lee & Bean 2004), or whether it is evolving to social stability posed by feared “others.”
into a more complex triracial hierarchy or Examples include the racialization of Jews in
“pigmentocracy” (e.g., Bonilla-Silva 2004). medieval Europe (Thomas 2010), Muslims in
Similar work on boundary making has also contemporary Australia (Dunn et al. 2007),
contributed to the literature on the social and migrant workers in China (Han 2010).
construction of race and ethnicity, although Similarly, many studies in the racial
it tends to take its starting point from Barth formation tradition examine how the ex-
(1969). This work highlights that social plicit manipulation of racial categories and
boundaries in general, and racial boundaries in hierarchies has been central to specific nation-
particular, can either be “blurry” or “bright,” building processes (Loveman & Muniz 2007,
depending in part on whether the defining Seirlis 2004, Weiner 1995) as well as to prac-
characteristics are conceptualized as achieved tices of colonial and capitalistic exploitation
or ascribed (Alba 2005). Wimmer (2008) has more broadly (Winant 2001). Other research
also outlined a typology of boundary formation along these lines examines the adoption of
and change with some predictions about when specific policies and legislation as mechanisms
the various types of contestation (boundary of maintaining the racial order in a given
shifting, boundary crossing, boundary blur- society. Examples of such efforts include
ring, and transvaluation) might occur. For attempts to regulate interracial intimacy
example, he suggests that ethnic boundaries through state-level antimiscegenation laws in
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the United States (Nagel 2000, Pascoe 2009) people, over the institutional structures of
as well as both explicit and implicit national society that are crucial sites of the reproduc-
policies on immigration in numerous countries tion of racial inequality (Bonilla-Silva 1997).
around the world (Bashi 2004, Calavita 2007). Other scholars note that standard race and
As a result of women’s roles in “reproducing” ethnic relations research, from either micro
races and nations, feminist scholars add that or macro perspectives, cannot fully embrace a
racial projects around identity, “mixing,” and constructivist approach as long as it begins by
citizenship are often gendered, as well (Dorr conflating racial schemas and categories with
1999, Luibheid 2004, Vacante 2007). racial groups (Brubaker et al. 2004).
Recently, official practices of compiling By definition, micro-level work on the
racial and ethnic statistics have also come social construction of race (and ethnicity and
under the scrutiny of constructivist scholarship nationality) assumes that the allegiances and
(Simon & Piche´ 2012, Snipp 2003). This identities of individuals, and even the way
research ranges from methodological debates people are perceived racially by others, is
over how particular populations should be neither given nor obvious—or rather, if these
counted (e.g., Aspinall 2003, Hitlin et al. aspects of race are believed to be fixed, the fact
2007) to critical accounts of how national that they come to be seen as commonsense,
censuses actively create the racial divisions immutable categorizations is a fundamental
they purport to catalog objectively (Kertzer & part of the racialization process. Thus, the
Arel 2002, Nobles 2000). A growing literature central research question shifts from why white
demonstrates that such concerns are not purely people discriminate against black people to
academic:How race and ethnicity aremeasured why a person identifies or is perceived in a
can affect the results in quantitative studies of particular way, at a particular point in time.
inequality (Bailey et al. 2013, Saperstein 2006). Some of the early work of this kind focused
As governments around the world increasingly on patterns of identification among white
turn to national censuses to monitor racial Americans whose ancestral origins had begun
discrimination, it has become imperative to un- to take on more symbolic dimensions as they
derstand the often contradictory roles that offi- became less salient for their life chances (Gans
cial statistics play in affirming racial hierarchies, 1979). By showing that middle-class white
providing social recognition, and allocating Americans exercised “ethnic options” about
government resources (Morning & Sabbagh which parts of their ethnic background to
2005). emphasize in a given situation, Waters (1990)
became the leading empirical exemplar in
the emerging constructivist literature (see
EMBODYING CATEGORIES:
Figure 1b). Her follow-up study on the racial
IDENTIFICATION, PERCEPTION,
identities of West Indian immigrants (Waters
AND PERFORMANCE
1999) cemented the idea that some people
Traditional micro-level work on race in soci- have more options for identifying in multiple
ology tends to focus on patterns of prejudice, ways than do others and that no one’s choices
social distance, and individual racial attitudes: are entirely free from the social constraints
What neighborhoods do people choose to imposed, in part, by the macro-level processes
live in and why, do they approve of interracial of recognition discussed above.
marriage, or acknowledge contemporary racial Research in a similar vein has gone on to
discrimination—and, if so, whom do they establish that there are both more American
believe bears the brunt of it (e.g., Bobo & Indians and more Irish Americans than can be
Kluegel 1997)? This line of research has been accounted for by births, deaths, and immigra-
critiqued for giving, or seeming to give, pri- tion (Eschbach et al. 1998, Hout & Goldstein
macy to the behaviors and beliefs of individual 1994). Different patterns of racial identification
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among otherwise similar populations can be fication, which is only one of the many ways to
attributed to everything from the question conceptualize or measure an individual’s race.
wording or category options to the local racial As scholars have increasingly argued, knowing
composition, and from father’s surname to which race boxes Americans check on a survey
mother’s education (Farley 2005, Liebler is not the same as knowing their ancestry, how
2004, Vaquera & Kao 2006, Xie & Goyette they think of themselves privately, how they are
1997). Overall, these studies show that how perceived by others, or how they think others
Americans answer questions about their race or perceive them (Harris & Sim 2002, Roth 2010,
ethnicity is sensitive to social context in ways Saperstein 2006).
that belie earlier assumptions that a person’s To the extent that sociologists have tried
race is static or given. to tease these dimensions apart, the analytical
Another turning point in this area of focus often remains on the perspective of
research was the multiracial movement and the individuals in question: what they know
the 1997 announcement by the Office of Man- about their ancestry, how they incorporate
agement and Budget that all federal statistics it into their sense of self, how they negotiate
on race were to be collected in such a way experiences of perceived discrimination, and
that allows Americans to “mark one or more” whether they feel their identity is validated
categories to describe their racial identities by others (e.g., Khanna 2010, Rockquemore
(Dacosta 2007, Hirschman 2004). Although & Brunsma 2002). The idea that the actual
many national surveys had been recording perceptions of others matter is left largely
multiple responses to questions about race and implicit in studies of a racialized “presentation
ethnicity all along (see Saperstein 2013), the of self ” (Goffman 1959, West & Fenstermaker
increased attention to multiraciality around 1995) as well. Although the race or ethnicity
the turn of the twenty-first century launched that people choose to “do” in public might
new areas of inquiry. In one of the first such not be consistent with their ancestry or their
efforts, Harris & Sim (2002) used data from private sense of self ( Jime´nez 2010), their
the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent racial performance also might not be judged
Health (Add Health) to show that teens who as credible or authentic by their audience
identified as multiracial when filling out a ques- (Vasquez &Wetzel 2009, Wilkins 2004).
tionnaire at school did not necessarily identify The lack of explicit attention to micro-level
as multiracial several months later when inter- processes of categorization in sociological re-
viewed in their home. The piece has become a search on race is somewhat surprising, as by def-
staple of the literature on the social construc- inition racial classification underlies practices of
tion of race (see Figure 1b) and generated a racial profiling and intentional discrimination.
string of follow-up studies that have made Add It is well established that Americans catego-
Health a key source of empirical knowledge rize each other by race almost automatically
in the field (see, e.g., Bratter & Heard 2009, (Eberhardt 2005), and studies suggest that
Campbell 2009, Doyle & Kao 2007). children do so as early as age three (Van Aus-
The reliance on survey data for many of dale & Feagin 1996). Furthermore, before the
these micro-level studies has both strengths 1970s, most racial data in the United States was
and weaknesses. On the plus side, the large collected by observation, as recorded by census
sample sizes and nationally representative data enumerators and survey interviewers. Yet
call attention to the importance of these issues there are few systematic, sociological studies of
for all Americans—for the purposes of every- the racial perceptions of others that explicitly
thing from public policy to demographic pro- examine how people get assigned to different
jections (Hochschild &Weaver 2010, Perez & racial or ethnic categories in everyday interac-
Hirschman 2009). However, it has also focused tions. Recent evidence from national surveys
attention on the process of public racial identi- suggests that racial classifications of others
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are shaped by social status and widespread to be aware of recent developments in these
stereotypes about who is (or should be) on the fields because they have many implications for
top of the social hierarchy: Survey interviewers how race could be conceptualized in our own
tend to whiten people with high socioeconomic work. Of course, the reverse is also true.We re-
status in Brazil (Telles 2002), and both whiten turn to the issue of bridging disciplinary bound-
and darken people as they experience changes aries below.
in social status in the United States (Saperstein
INSTITUTIONS AND
& Penner 2012). However, sociologists have
INTERACTION: THE
done little to study the triggers of such judg-
MIDDLE GROUND
ments, the mechanisms behind them, or how
they might vary by context (see Sheriff 2001 Meso-level analysis has been defined in a range
for an example from anthropology). of ways in sociology (Fine 2012). In the origi-
To gain additional insight into these issues, nal Racial Formation, Omi &Winant (1986) did
we turn briefly to the literature in social and not refer to it explicitly; rather, they included
cognitive psychology, where a growing body of “the structuring of our practical activity” (p. 66)
work examines the predictors of racial catego- with micro-level concerns about the formation
rization and cognitive stereotyping (Quadflieg of identity and interactions with others. We
& Macrae 2011). Of particular note are a chose to distinguish it for our purposes here
series of recent studies that suggest skin tone because the social construction of race takes on
does not play the overriding role in shaping a different emphasis in analyses of institutions
racial perceptions that many would expect and organizations. This is the terrain where of-
(e.g., Bar-Haim et al. 2009, Willenbockel ficial policies, racial stereotypes, and cultural
et al. 2011). MacLin & Malpass (2001) also representations collide with individual racial
show that applying stereotyped racial markers, identities and perceptions. It is where “racial
such as hairstyles, to otherwise similar faces projects”—whether racist or egalitarian—are
results in categorizations that both are more forced to contend with entrenched bureau-
likely to match the stereotype and tend to be cracy, institutional inertia, and the everyday
remembered as more stereotypical on other grind of hiring workers, teaching students,
dimensions (e.g., skin tone) than the face with judging cases, or diagnosing patients. Despite
which they were actually presented. Priming its sociological tenor, much of this work has
people with racially stereotyped words (e.g., been produced by scholars outside of sociology.
“crime”) or images (e.g., a gun) produces The racial formation perspective was
similar results (Eberhardt et al. 2004). How- quickly embraced by legal scholars, who incor-
ever, attention to race can be partially offset porated the approach into critical race theory,
by making other dimensions of difference also in its infancy at the time. At the heart of
more salient (Kurzban et al. 2001), and racial this critique of traditional legal scholarship is
categorizations are complicated by introducing the idea that the law and race are mutually con-
stereotype-inconsistent information (Richeson stitutive (see Carbado & Harris 2012, Gomez
& Trawalter 2005). Overall, this work demon- 2010). That is, one cannot interpret the racial
strates that racial perception is not simply a order without reference to the laws that sup-
straightforward read of physical characteristics. port it, nor can one understand judicial opinions
Even from a cognitive perspective, the act of and decisions without also examining the pre-
seeing race is a fundamentally social process vailing notions of race in society and the indi-
(Eberhardt 2005, Freeman et al. 2011). vidual racial commitments of legal actors. One
Though this research is not explicitly in of the most well-known studies in this tradi-
the racial formation tradition—e.g., only one tion revealed the inconsistent verdicts and tor-
of these articles cites Omi & Winant (1986, tured logic used in support of white supremacy
1994)—we think it is important for sociologists in a series of cases considering individuals’
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racial fitness for US citizenship (Haney Lopez of police and prison workers, though Hold-
1996). Other similar work exposed the deci- away (1997) shows how race was constructed
sions of nineteenth-century courts in situations among officers in an English constabulary,
in which Americans’ race was on trial for other and Knepper (2008) explores “counter-
reasons, such as their ability to inherit property racialization” in a study of African Americans
or testify in another court proceeding. When who desegregated the justice system in North
embarrassing public examinations of physical Carolina.
characteristics and testimony regarding their Education scholars were also among the
ancestry failed to convince, courts often relied early adopters of the racial formation per-
on assertions that the person in question be- spective, and ethnographic research in schools
haved in accordancewith social expectations as- has provided a particularly fruitful context
sociated with a particular race, for example, by for examining both the performance of race
voting or by not befriending members of other (Wilkins 2004) and the self-fulfilling prophe-
races (Gross 1998). These studies demonstrate cies of racial stereotypes that maintain racial
what race means when it really matters for de- inequality (Carter 2005). From early studies of
termining life chances: not in the abstract, as students’ fears of being seen as acting white if
when formulating policies, but when it comes they appeared to be doing well in the class-
to applying those definitions and legislation to room (Fordham & Ogbu 1986, Tyson et al.
individuals in everyday life. Indeed, as Pascoe 2005), school-based research on the social con-
(2009) noted, one of the least explored areas of struction of race has gone on to show how,
the social construction of race and the main- in both the classroom and the schoolyard, stu-
tenance of racial hierarchy is the role of the dents learn race and what membership in a par-
petty bureaucrats and local government offi- ticular racial group means (Lewis 2003). For
cials who were tasked with carrying out state example, Staiger (2004) shows how the or-
policy—whether they liked it or not. ganization of a magnet program intended to
There is also a growing body of work on support voluntary school desegregation instead
the social construction of race in the criminal helped create notions of whiteness as “gifted-
justice system, broadly construed. Wacquant ness” within the school. Survey research also
(2002) asserts, from a macro-level perspective, demonstrates the racializing role of education
that mass imprisonment in the United States by showing that both high levels of attain-
“makes race” by both drawing on and reshaping ment and a lack of success in school can lead
shared images of blackness, and a number of to changes in racial/ethnic identity (Feliciano
empirical studies examine the specific racial 2009, Wilkinson 2010). Other work in educa-
processes that shape the outcomes, and even tion examines how curricular content (Morning
the identities, of individuals in encounters with 2008) and sponsored extracurricular organiza-
the criminal justice apparatus. For example, tions (Literte 2010) signal the proper way to
Goodman (2008) details how policies of racial think about race to students. The dynamics of
segregation in California prisons shape intake racialization in schools also has been explored
interviews and the extent to which inmates outside the United States (see, e.g., Zembylas
are given leeway to self-identify their race on 2010 on Cyprus).
official forms. Other studies focus on how racial Struggles over racial categorizations and
stereotypes about drug dealing and drug use the interpretation of racial meanings permeate
shape racial disparities in arrests (Beckett et al. the workplace as well. Numerous studies have
2005), and how individualswho are perceived to shownhow employers racialize the ideal worker
have committed stereotype-congruent crimes and use these stereotypes to justify disparities in
often receive additional legal sanctions (Harris hiring as well as specific job assignments (e.g.,
et al. 2011). Less common in this area are Maldonado 2009, Pager et al. 2009). Ethno-
studies of racialization from the perspectives graphic work also demonstrates how racial
368 Saperstein · Penner · Light
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