Articulations of Race

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A 6 page research paper/essay that explores the debates between essentialist and instrumentalist conceptualizations in regards to classes and nations and race (Dufour). Basically, essentialism is the belief that specific categories of entities will share a specific set of characteristics, which can be viewed as their “essence.” Contemporary proponents of identity politics oppose essentialism and consider that ethnicity, rather than consisting of fixed traits is a social construct. This examination of literature explores the various ways in which race is articulated, specifically focusing on the differences between those perspectives that are essentialist in nature and those that are instrumentalist, i.e. constructivist, in nature. Bibliography lists 12 sources.