Toward a Political Philosophy of Race

Falguni A. Sheth

Description

Timely, controversial, and incisive, Toward a Political Philosophy of Race looks uncompromisingly at how a liberal society enables racism and other forms of discrimination. Drawing on the examples of the internment of U.S. citizens and residents of Japanese descent, of Muslim men and women in the contemporary United States, and of Asian Indians at the turn of the twentieth century, Falguni A. Sheth argues that racial discrimination and divisions are not accidents in the history of liberal societies. Race, she contends, is a process embedded in a range of legal technologies that produce racialized populations who are divided against other groups. Moving past discussions of racial and social justice as abstract concepts, she reveals the playing out of race, racialization of groups, and legal frameworks within concrete historical frameworks.
Acknowledgment

Introduction: If You Don’t Do Theory, Theory Will Do You

1. The Technology of Race and the Logics of Exclusion: The Unruly, Naturalization, and Violence

First Dimension: Taming the Unruly
Second Dimension: Naturalizing the Unruly
Race as a Tool for Sovereign Power: Dividing Populations
Enframing Race: Vulnerability and Violence

2. The Violence of Law: Sovereign Power, Vulnerable Populations, and Race

Law, Violence, and Undecidability
Sovereign Power
Unruly and Vulnerable Populations
The Racialization of a Population
The Unruly and the Vulnerable Manifested as Categories of Law: Immigrants, Aliens, Enemies

3. The Unruly: Strangeness, Madness, and Race

Strangeness
Huntington and Rawls: Islam, Madness, and the Menace to Liberalism
Difference, Madness, and Race
Liberal Hegemony and Heterogeneous Populations

4.The Newest Unruly Threat: Muslim Men and Women

The Racializing and Outcasting of Muslims in the United States
Culture, Heterogeneity, and the Foreigner: Unruly Women

5. Producing Race: Naturalizing the Exception Through the Rule of Law

Exceptions and the Rule of Law
Constitutional Rights: Political? Human?

6. Border-Populations: Boundary, Memory, and Moral Conscience

The Third Term: Pariah Populations as a Border-Guard
Pariahs, Border-Populations, and Moral Gauges: The Example of Black Americans
Furthering State Interests: Dividing Populations Against Each Other
Concealing and Unconcealing: Multiple Border-Guards and Outsiders

7.Technologies of Race and the Racialization of Immigrants: The Case of EarlyTwentieth-Century Asian Indians in North America

The Great “Hindu” Migration
Political Resistance or Insurgency?
Racialization
Invisibility

Conclusion: Toward a Political Philosophy of Race

Notes
Works Cited
Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie politique
• Ethnic studies

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 05 mars 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791494042
• Langue: English

Extrait

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Toward a Political Philosophy of Race

SUNY series, Philosophy and Race

Robert Bernasconi and T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, editors

Toward a Political Philosophy of Race

Falguni A. Sheth

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2009 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Sheth, Falguni A., 1968– Toward a political philosophy of race / Falguni A. Sheth. p. cm. — (SUNY series, philosophy and race) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7914-9397-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7914-9398-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Race discrimination—United States. 2. Race discrimination— United States—Philosophy. 3. Racism—United States. 4. United States—Race relations. I. Title. E184.A1S5744 2009 305.800973—dc22 2008018838

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Bubba

Whose daily outrage reminds me that we must always care for the world even when the world doesn’t always care for us.

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Acknowledgments

Introduction:

C ONTENTS

If You Don’t Do Theory, Theory Will Do You

1. The Technology of Race and the Logics of Exclusion: The Unruly, Naturalization, and Violence First Dimension: Taming the Unruly Second Dimension: Naturalizing the Unruly Race as a Tool for Sovereign Power: Dividing Populations Enframing Race: Vulnerability and Violence

2. The Violence of Law: Sovereign Power, Vulnerable Populations, and Race Law, Violence, and Undecidability Sovereign Power Unruly and Vulnerable Populations The Racialization of a Population The Unruly and the Vulnerable Manifested as Categories of Law: Immigrants, Aliens, Enemies

3. The Unruly: Strangeness, Madness, and Race Strangeness Huntington and Rawls: Islam, Madness, and the Menace to Liberalism Difference, Madness, and Race Liberal Hegemony and Heterogeneous Populations

vii

ix

1

21 26 28 29 35

41 42 47 49 51

56

65 67

74 78 81

viii

4.

5.

6.

7.

The Newest Unruly Threat:

Contents

Muslim Men and Women

The Racializing and Outcasting of Muslims in the United States

Culture, Heterogeneity, and the Foreigner:

Producing Race: the Rule of Law

Unruly Women

Naturalizing the Exception Through

Exceptions and the Rule of Law

Constitutional Rights:

Border-Populations: Conscience

The Third Term:

Political? Human?

Boundary, Memory, and Moral

Pariah Populations as a Border-Guard

Pariahs, Border-Populations, and Moral Gauges: The Example of Black Americans

Furthering State Interests: Each Other

Dividing Populations Against

Concealing and Unconcealing: and Outsiders

Multiple Border-Guards

Technologies of Race and the Racialization of Immigrants: The Case of Early Twentieth-Century Asian Indians in North America

The Great “Hindu” Migration

Political Resistance or Insurgency?

Racialization

Invisibility

Conclusion:

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Toward a Political Philosophy of Race

87

88 95

111 113 117

129 130

136

141

143

147 148 150 154 157

167

179

229

249