Racialization

The concept of racialization refers to the processes by which a group of people is defined by their “race.” Typically, this is a negative process, for example, in the 19th century the Irish immigrants came to be regarded as a race independent of and inferior to White people. Understanding how and why processes of racialization are used is necessary to understanding the pattern of singling out a particular group of people based primarily on their racial identity. Many kinds of theories exist about the racialization of various groups of people. This entry discusses the processes of racialization.

Processes of racialization do not apply only to Aboriginal people and other non-Caucasian people. For instance, groups may become “White” people, as Irish Americans did in the early 1900s, and are racial-ized into a place of privilege and dominance, that is, only their norms and values are universalized and naturalized as the way things are and ought to be in society. Furthermore, this whitening can occur only if there is the simultaneous existence of the racialization of “others,” that is, the racialization of non-White people into a place of subordination and exclusion from equal participation in society.

Processes of racialization begin by attributing racial meaning to people's identity and, in particular, as they relate to social structures and institutional systems, such as housing, employment, and education. In societies in which “White” people have economic, political, and social power, processes of racialization have emerged from the creation of a hierarchy in social structures and systems based on “race.” The visible effects of processes of racialization are the racial inequalities embedded within social structures and systems. The racial inequalities are visible only when outcomes are examined based on race and the concept of racialization is used in the analysis. Yet, in day-to-day life experiences, processes of racialization are often unnoticed because of the tendency to exclude the concept of race from the analyses.

In summary, processes of racialization can determine the way in which structures operate by influencing the actions and decisions made within social systems. The concept of racialization can be used to explain how particular racial outcomes are determined. For example, when people are racialized into a place of subordination—for example, when “Black” people experience social exclusion from equal participation in the labor market—this outcome can be seen as a result of the actions and decisions made within social systems that may intentionally or unintentionally not include “Black” people's equal participation in the workplace. Another example would be the racialization of “Black” people by neighborhood, as when they are segregated in poor neighborhoods.

A further example would be the concept of racialization of poverty. The racialization of poverty refers to the process by which a group of people based on race can become relegated to experiences of poverty. An analysis of the processes of racialization would examine the ways in which this system of racialized exploitation is structurally and historically rooted in the history of immigration, capitalism, and exploitation.

Many writers would argue that processes of racialization often happen in the context of class struggles, when those who benefit from the exploitation of the labor of a group of people use a group characteristic as a justification to exploit them. To exploit a particular group of people, that group must be constructed as a minority, but the construction can be based not just on race, but also on gender, citizenship, and ethnicity. Much research and analysis exist on the processes of racialization that are imposed on groups of people who are relegated to low-paying, low-status, and precarious jobs. In this way, the concept of racialization plays an important role in the social stratification of society. These processes of racialization are historically and structurally rooted in a capitalist society. Further, they are processes that are produced and reproduced in society without people being aware of it occurring.

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