HST402 Race and Racism in Historical Perspective 2023-24

30 credits, Semester two
Module leaders 2024-25: Esme Cleall and Anwesha Roy

Module summary

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.

'A premise of this module is that race and racism operate in historically specific contexts. In 2024-25, this module explores this in relation to the modern British empire. Themes that will be discussed include enslavement, migration and resistance'.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, you will be able to:

Analyse a number of case studies in the history of race and racism from the early modern to modern historical perspectives
Situate ideologies of race and racism and their effects within the broader history of society from the early modern period
Identify and critically assess historiographical debates in the field, as well as primary sources and relate them to these historiographical debates
Critically examine primary sources and historiography to produce evidence-based and persuasive arguments in oral and written form

Assessment methods

Assessment type - % of final mark

4,000 word essay - 80%
Engagement and participation task(s) - 20%

You will complete a 4,000 word essay on a topic related to one of the module's key themes. You will define your own essay topic in discussion with your tutor.

You will also complete an engagement and participation exercise based on the learning activities and environment for the module. This task will be set by the module leader but may include activities such as presentations, reflective seminar diaries, contributions to discussion forums or collaborative documents.

Additional learning and teaching information 2024-25

Teaching and indicative seminar schedule 2024-25:

The module will be taught in ten, two-hour classes that include different sub-topics. This year these are likely to include: Gender and Race, Enslavement, Law and Colonial Knowledge, Colonial Emigration, War and Resistance.

You will also have individual tutorial contact with the module tutor in order to discuss your assessment for this module. Please contact the module tutors for more information.

Selected Reading:

Sikata Banerjee, Make me a Man! Masculinity, Hinduism and Nationalism in India (State University of New York Press, 2005). Chapter 2
Barbara J. Fields and Karen E. Fields, Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life (Verso, 2012)George M. Frederickson, Racism: A Short History (Princeton, 2002)
Diya Gupta, India in the Second World War: An Emotional History (London, Hurst & Co. 2023).
Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (Random House, 2017)
Phillipa Levine, ‘Why gender and empire?’ in Phillipa Levine (ed.) Gender and Empire (OUP, 2004)
Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People (W.W. Norton, 2011)
Ali Rattansi, Racism: a very short introduction (Oxford, 2020).
Cedric Robinson, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition (Penguin, 2021)
Roxann Wheeler, The Complexion of Race in Eighteenth-Century British Culture (University of Penn Press, 2000).

Additional learning and teaching information 2023-24

Teaching and indicative seminar schedule 2023-24:

The module will be taught in ten, two-hour classes that address four key topics (plus an introductory and concluding session). You will also have individual tutorial contact with the module tutors in order to discuss your assessment for this module.

The four topics in 2023-24 will be:

Slavery
Immigration and Eugenics
Empire and War
Race and Resistance

Selected Reading:

Barbara J. Fields and Karen E. Fields, Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life (Verso, 2012)
George M. Frederickson, Racism: A Short History (Princeton, 2002)
Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (Random House, 2017)
Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People (W.W. Norton, 2011)
Ali Rattansi, Racism: a very short introduction (Oxford, 2020).
Cedric Robinson, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition (Penguin, 2021)
Roxann Wheeler, The Complexion of Race in Eighteenth-Century British Culture (University of Penn Press, 2000).

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