Race

1. Race, A biological concept or social construct?
SEJAL CHAUDHARI
“The 20th
century will be
oriented
around the
problem of the
color line”
-WEB DuBois

2. Outline
oWhat is race?
oThe history of race
oCladistics Theory
oRobin Andreason’s Main arguments in her essay titled “Race: biological foundation or social
construct”
oDeconstruction of Andreason’s arguments
oFinal Thoughts

3. What is ‘Race’?
o “division of human kind”
o In terms of species
o Geographical, climatic, and physiological criteria
o Is there a biological foundation to ‘race’ or is it a
social construct?

4. History of ‘race’
oFirst use of ‘race’ in English was in poem by William Dunbar (1508)
o 19th century: need to order in social world
oTensions in Europe due to encounter with ‘barbarians’
oVoyages to America and Africa: development of capitalism and slave trade
o‘race’ defined by region and populations
omid 1900’s: civil rights movement

5. Cladistic Theory
o Willi Hennig (1950): Founder of phylogentic
systematics
oclassification system that defines taxa according to
their common ancestor. Evolutionary relationships
of organisms
oMonophyletic groups
oEvolutionary branching structure

6. Robin Andreason
“RACE: BIOLOGICAL REALITY OR SOCIAL CONSTRUCT?”
o Race is ‘biologically real’
o Division of races justified by genetic similarities in humans.
o Race shall be defined in terms of the Cladistics Race Theory
o Cladistic classification can be adapted for defining race
o “A population that is reproductively isolated over a significant portion of evolutionary history is designated as a cladistics
race “ (Andreason, 2014)
o Phylogenetic tree
o Africans, Caucasians, North Eastern Asians, South Eastern Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans
o The greater the genetic distance between two populations the more ancestral relation distance

8. Argument
o“Individuals are members of a cladistics race if and only if they belong to breading populations
that share a common origin”
o Race=genetically homogenous groups?
o Identify race through ancestry or genealogy?
o90 % of total genetic variation is among individuals from a single continent
oManifests into physical characteristics: skin color, face shape, eye shape, hair texture

9. Race…A social construct
o“race is more likely to help us deal with social ills and to preserve the identities that many find
valuable” –Joshua Glasgow
oRace assigned based off arbitrary differences
oBased off environment and what you are exposed to
oBlurry and arbitrary lines between different races

11. Conclusions
oRobin Andreasen’s cladistics race concept is flawed and recognizes ‘races’ as genetically
homogenous groups
oI would argue that ‘race’ is a social construct and is does not have a biological foundation.
o Your genes do not determine what ‘race’ you are
o Man-made. Based on your culture and values
oMisconceptions cause people with similar characteristics to be grouped in a particular race,
creating a hierarchy.

13. References
oAndreasen, Robin. “University of Delaware Faculty.” Bio2,
www.lingcogsci.udel.edu/people/faculty/Robin%20Andreasen.
oArguing about Science, Alexander Bird and James Ladymans, eds. (New York: Routledge, 2013).
o“Does Race Still Matter.” BigThink, www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1zGjEQwVj4.
oHennig, Willi. “The Father of Cladism.” Researchgate, 1 Jan. 2014,
www.researchgate.net/publication/277697496_Hennig_Emil_Hans_Willi_The_Father_of
_Cladism.
o Race | Definition of Race in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English,
Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/race.