Innovating inequity

If Race Is a Technology, Postracialism Is the Genius Bar

Bibliographic Data

ID2147332
AuthorsRuha Benjamin (0000-0001-6544-8031, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume39
Issue13
Pages2227-2234
Publication date2016-10-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2016.1202423
OpenAlexW2466394563
LanguageEN
Citations received39
References cited17

In this essay I posit race as a kind of technology, one that creates parallel universes and premature death, requiring routine maintenance and upgrade. I suggest that David Theo Goldberg's Are We Postracial Yet? is a story of innovation that expertly exposes the trade secrets of the social production of race. I argue that not only are technological and social innovation metaphorically linked; technoscience is also one of the most effective conduits for reproducing racial inequality, and so I extend Goldberg's analysis to address the central role of science and technology in modern statecraft and racecraft. Finally, if postracial innovators are busily refurbishing racism to remake inequality, then those who seek radical transformation in the other direction, towards freedom and justice, must re-examine the default settings, rather than the routine breakdowns, of social life

Genius · Inequality · Law and economics · Race (biology · Racism · Social science · Sociology · Technoscience · Gender Studies · History of Science and Medicine · Psychology · Race, Genetics, and Society · Zoonotic diseases and public health

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