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Is Race Political?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2008

Debra Thompson
Debra Thompson*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Debra Thompson, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, 3018 Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3, Canada, debra.thompson@utoronto.ca.
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Abstract

Abstract. This article demonstrates that though the political nature of race is evident and constitutes an important area of research, there is a dearth of literature on race in English Canadian political science particularly as compared to other social sciences. The article provides explanations for this disciplinary silence, including methodological fuzziness, dominant elite-focused and colour-blind approaches to the study of politics, and the prevalence of ideas and foci about the nature of Canadian politics. In order to avoid the danger of disciplinary lag, it concludes with several ways of addressing this disparity between the political science and the society it purports to analyze.

Résumé. Malgré l'essence politique évidente du concept de «race» et son importance indéniable comme sujet de recherche, la littérature de science politique canadienne-anglaise s'y attarde très peu, surtout en comparaison des autres sciences sociales. L'article explique les causes de ce silence disciplinaire. Celles-ci incluent un flou méthodologique, une approche surtout centrée sur l'élite, une perspective «daltonienne» concernant l'étude de la politique, ainsi que la prédominance de certaines idées quant à la nature de la politique canadienne. Afin d'éviter un danger de lacune disciplinaire, l'article propose des solutions permettant de réduire l'écart entre la science politique et son objet d'étude, soit la société réelle.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , September 2008 , pp. 525 - 547
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2008

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