This module offers an introduction to the field of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Tracing the development of CRT out of a critique of Critical Legal Studies in the USA, we will explore the philosophical underpinnings of CRT, its critiques of ahistoricism, meritocracy and ‘colourblind’ policy. We will examine how the field itself has internationalised and engaged with a broad range of fields of study such as education, women’s studies, migration studies and literary criticism and how it has been subject to academic criticism from within and without the field, most notably by Marxist scholars and liberal multiculturalists. We will consider the way that CRT scholars operating outside of the USA have developed scholarship for their own contexts.

The module is intended to equip students with a critical understanding of the history, philosophy and sociology of ‘race’ and the position it occupies in our contemporary world. It will provide them with new theoretical and policy perspectives on the following issues:

· The history of ‘race’ theories in the Modern era – philosophy and science

· Legal theory and racism

· Social epistemology and epistemologies of ignorance

· Intersectionality

· Critical Whiteness Studies

· Black Feminism

· Education policy and pedagogy

· Canon formation and reformation

· Cultural Criticism, Social Action and Freedom of Speech

Key ideas within CRT that will be studies on the course include:

· The recognition that racism is not (simply) a matter of individual prejudices and biases, but a phenomenon embedded in and reproduced by social structures and institutions – including legal institutions.

· An emphasis on exploring the historical basis of contemporary forms of racism and racialization embedded in law.

· A commitment to ‘reconstructing’ and reforming law in order to eliminate identifiable forms of racialized hierarchies.

· A commitment to taking the lived realities and experiences of racialized groups as a starting point for analysis. This implies the use of narrative accounts and interdisciplinary approaches.