A Qualitative Analysis of How Anthropologists Interpret the Race Construct

Abstract

This article assesses anthropological thinking about the race concept and its applications. Drawn from a broader national survey of geneticists’ and anthropologists’ views on race, in this analysis, we provide a qualitative account of anthropologists’ perspectives. We delve deeper than simply asserting that “race is a social construct.” Instead, we explore the differential ways in which anthropologists describe and interpret how race is constructed. Utilizing the heuristic of constructors, shifters, and reconcilers, we also illustrate the ways in which anthropologists conceptualize their interpretations of race along a broad spectrum as well as what these differential approaches reveal about the ideological and biological consequences of socially defined races, such as racism in general and racialized health disparities in particular. [race concept, social construction, racism, health disparities]

Do genetic ancestry tests increase racial essentialism? Findings from a randomized controlled trial

“…How these tests influence test-takers' understanding of race is of particular concern. While there are small genetic differences between populations that allow geneticists to trace their global migrations, these variations do not support the idea of discrete races that can be distinguished by genes alone [7][8][9][10][11]. Social scientists have long asserted that race is socially constructed, for instance with classifications and their meaning changing over time and place, even if race refers in part to biological or descent-based characteristics [12,13].…”

Race, Rare Genetic Variants, and the Science of Human Difference in the Post‐Genomic Age

“…() and Ifekwunigwe et al. () examined contemporary ideas about the relationship between race, ancestry, and genetics. These new studies, based on survey responses from over three thousand people associated with the American Anthropological Association, appear to challenge Kaszycka et al.…”

“…Despite advances in analytical tools for exploring human variation, consensus on the meaning or value of human biological difference has proved elusive (Ifekwunigwe et al. ; Kaszycka et al. ; Keita and Boyce ).…”

“…A series of recent studies by Wagner et al (2017) and Ifekwunigwe et al (2017) examined contemporary ideas about the relationship between race, ancestry, and genetics. These new studies, based on survey responses from over three thousand people associated with the American Anthropological Association, appear to challenge Kaszycka et al's (2009) of the nonbiological basis to race among anthropologists, their results must be tempered against their sample size and participant characteristics.…”

Decentering Whiteness and Refocusing on the Local: Reframing Debates on Confederate Monument Removal in New Orleans

“…We as anthropologists can't run from, ignore, or remain apathetic to race any longer (Ifekwunigwe et al. ). Rather, we need to pressure those who teach students, publish any type of anthropological work, or feel the need to comment on these removals to critically engage with race scholarship and their individual privileges in order to put our critiques into action.…”