Sally Haslanger, Daniel James, Kristina Lepold and Bafta Sarbo discussed different understandings of structural racism and the concept’s implications for anti-racist struggles.
Topic
The concept of structural racism has emerged as central to current anti-racist struggles and critical theorizing about race and racism. It signals that racism is a social problem that goes much deeper than individual attitudes or issues of diversity. At the same time, what precisely is structural about structural racism remains a matter of debate, and the concept has even become the focal point of a politically motivated ideological backlash. The panel will explore the contested meaning(s) of structural racism and its social-theoretical underpinnings and ask: if racism is indeed structural, what does this imply for anti-racist struggles and their transformative orientation?
Speakers
Sally Haslanger is Ford Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and teaches in MIT’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program. She has published numerous essays, a selection of which appeared under the title Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique (Oxford University Press 2012). Haslanger is the co-author of What Is Race? Four Philosophical Views (Oxford University Press 2019) and is currently preparing a new book entitled Doing Justice to the Social.
Daniel James is a research associate at the Chair for Political Science with a Focus on Political Theory and the History of Political Thought at the Technical University Dresden. His research focuses on racism, colonialism, Hegelianism, and their intersections. He is co-author of “Exploring the Metaphysics of Hegel’s Racism” (Hegel Bulletin 2022) and editor of the German edition of Sally Haslanger’s book: Der Wirklichkeit widerstehen (Suhrkamp 2021).
Kristina Lepold is Junior Professor of Social Philosophy/Critical Theory at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She works primarily on issues of social theory and social ontology as well as on methodological and epistemological issues related to social critique. Lepold is the author of Ambivalente Anerkennung (Campus 2021) and co-editor of Critical Philosophy of Race. Ein Reader (Suhrkamp 2021).
Bafta Sarbo is a social scientist as well as an activist. Her work deals with the relationship between Marxism and anti-racism. Many of her articles, published in “analyse&kritik”, “OXI” and „Jungle World“, take an active stance in the public debate. She is politically active on the board of the initiative “Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland”, where her work focuses on racial profiling, migration policy and racism in Germany, She is the co-editor and co-author of Die Diversität der Ausbeutung (Dietz 2022).
Video
Directions
Audimax 2 is located on the Charité campus. It can be reached from the west via the Louisenstraße entrance (S-Bhf Friedrichstraße) and from the north via the Philippstraße entrance (U-Bhf. Naturkundemuseum / U-Bhf. Oranienburgertor).
The routes on the Charité campus will be signposted. You can also use google maps to find your way.
