Racialization, Racism, and Colonialism explores the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological understandings most relevant to the sociological study of “race,” racialization, racism, and colonialism. We give particular attention to critical decolonial thinking on race. We examine the process of racialization, through which “being white” becomes the normative standard of “just being human.” We contextualize how the creation of whiteness as an identity-based entitlement has led to social division and oppression. We draw on the experiences of diverse groups of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Colour (BIPoC) in Canadian and global contexts. We begin with the premise that BIPoC share a common history in terms of dispossession, discrimination, and oppression, but also pursue a range of different struggles and dreams in relation to their lands and nation-states. We explore racialization of bodies in contemporary culture to probe a series of assumptions and theories about race, racism, and colonialism in both academic and popular thought.

By the end of the course, you will:

●       Understand major concepts and ideas presented in key theories on race, racialization, racism, and colonialism. 

●       Grasp how social, political, economic, intellectual, and biographical factors can influence global issues.

●       Comprehend how concepts and perspectives on this subject build on and can help us to understand current events or circumstances.

By the end of the semester, you will be able to cultivate critical reading and writing strategies and apply the knowledge acquired in the course in grasping the world around us.