Who Do We Think We Are? Race and Nation in the Modern World

By Philip Yale Nicholson

This text offers an explanation of the force and place of race in modern history, showing that race and nation have a linked history. The author seeks to show the close historical connection of race and nation as each interrelates with the other in shaping social and institutional practices.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765603926
• ISBN13: 9780765603920
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

What is one's race?

If you answered, one's race is the color of one's skin, then you need to read this book.Nicholson uses historical evidence to show that although people where certainly different colors, race did not exists as a concept prior to the 15th century. He then goes on to document how the idea of race was created in the interaction between newly forming Eurpean nation states and their colonies in Africa, Asia and America. He shows how race was used to solidify the "we" of a nation's citizans by creating a "they" to conquer and rule. This dynamic occured regardless of color. Jews became a "race" in Germany, which lacked foreign colonies, the Hutus and Tutsies became separate "races" in what is now Rawanda due to divisions fostered by British colonial rulers.This book offers both great hope and a stern warning. Race is not a natural phemomina, it was made as part of human society and it can be unmade. However, race and nation are bound tightly, and as long as long as there exists a social "we," whether based on race or nationality, there will be a "they" and race and racism will persist