Science
Out Of The Borders
The race for Humanity (Part I: Race as a social construct) by Bernardo Guerra Machado
Older it may seem, the discussion about the use of racial categorization in our species is on-
going. Such is to a great extent due to the lack of objectivity of race as a concept and the need for a holistic approach to examine it. Even if no definite answer may be provided on whether its appliance is legitimate or not, an alternative approach can be seeking to better inform about the fascinating diversity existent within our species, and the difficulties our cognitive system faces processing it. This is the race for Humanity, a series of articles in which the reader is invited to take this path and formulate an opinion even beyond that expressed by the author.
Introduction
The main problem in the debate to come starts
le thoroughly race as a social construct, there are a series of questions worth raising: How is this mechanism of categorization built in our minds? Can we trust our cognitive system regarding this aspect? Are there any behavioural and psychological differences between Human groups which could help justifying a racial classification? By providing answers, it is possible to draw a statement on how seriously, or not, we should take the concepts being examined as they are elaborated in our minds.
from the very beginning: the definition of the concept of race. Here, it is proposed that race can be approached from two perspectives: as a social construct, associated with traditional delineations of animal breeds, a classification, in a great extent transmitted by teaching, based mostly on phenotypic aspects – meaning, established according to similarities of external traits – and sometimes recurring to behavioural cues as well; or following the current taxono- The machinery of prejudice? my’s rules, as a synonym of subspecies. This first part will consist of a psychological trip to For many years, race encoding was thought to the realm of our cognitive system and its cate- be automatic and mandatory, a primary dimengorisation processes. Though it is hard to tack- sion of categorization, just as sex [1]. This was
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