The concept of racism. Theoretical discussions, definitions and genealogies

Abstract

This paper consists of a theoretical review of the concept of racism, addressing relevant definitions in the context of the social sciences. Specifically, by making a counterpoint between their different theoretical interpretations, it aims to identify similarities, differences and propose interpretation criteria. It is proposed that there is no major contradiction between the general definitions proposed by canonical authors such as Tzvetan Todorov, Michel Wieviorka, Pierre-André Taguieff and Colette Guillaumin, and that the differences and particularities are manifested at the moment of applying the concept to the sociohistorical analysis, so that the theoretical analysis of racism must necessarily assume the question of the historicity and scope of its concept. The proposed review adopts a genealogical perspective. Based on authors such as Michel Foucault and Christian Geulen, we reconstruct the main social, political and epistemic processes that allow us to understand the emergence of racism as a modern ideological phenomenon, where processes such as colonization, the development of enlightened thought and the inscription of human beings in natural history are central to understanding racism and its historicity.