Öffentliche Vorlesungen
In 1950, a group of scholars and scientists published a report for UNESCO that for the first time declared that race, rather than biological fact, was socially constructed. Writing in the aftermath of World War II and amidst accelerating decolonization movements in Africa and Asia, UNESCO concluded that «the myth of 'race' has created an enormous amount of human and social damage … to recognize [the unity of mankind] and to act accordingly is the first requirement of the modern man.»
However, almost seventy-five years later, race matters as much as ever. Sometimes, the salience of race surfaces in spectacular ways, from police brutality and 'Black Lives Matter' in the United States to anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia in Switzerland to a global anti-Asian backlash during the Covid-19 pandemic. Other times, race is experienced on a more institutional level, from workplace discrimination to unequal salary to disproportionate sentencing in the criminal justice system.
Drawing on the joint expertise of the instructors, this lecture investigates how race is constructed and matters in two discrete contexts, the United States and Europe. Bringing together past and present, we will analyze the production of race and ethnicity to better understand radicalization and ethnification in each context. What does it mean to be white? What does it mean to be black? What does it mean to be an immigrant?
13. November
Constructing Race and Ethnicity – a Historical Perspective
20. November
Race: Made in Europe, exported to the United States? Religious Underpinnings
27. November
Ethnicity: One Ethnicity one Nation? State Formation and Border Demarcation Processes
4. Dezember
Race, Ethnicity, and the Cold War
11. Dezember
Racalization and Ethnification of Labor: One Day without Labor Migrants?
18. Dezember
Everyday Citizenship through the Lense of Race and Ethnicity
Mittwoch, 18.15 bis 19.45 Uhr, Universität St.Gallen, Raum A 01-U201
Dozentinnen | Prof. Dr. Suzanne Enzerink, Assistant Professor of American Studies, Universität St.Gallen, und Dr. Sandra King-Savic, PostDoctoral Researcher, Eastern Europe Institute, Universität Zürich
Bild: Tonhalle, St.Gallen