Book, Racism, The: an introduction[LS]

Language: Brazilian Portuguese. The characterization and assessment of what constitutes racism has changed considerably over time. Today, there is a great distance between its classical expressions, which refer to science, and the supposed objective rigor of its classifications, and its contemporary forms, which increasingly refer to the idea of ​​'difference', with the recognition of the other's right to a diverse presence, and the incompatibility of cultures in relationships and clashes of their values. But the question posed to the student of the subject is: how to present an objective and comprehensive picture of these processes and their metamorphoses, which are often hidden and misleading in the social fabric? In this work, Michel Wieviorka answers this question, formulating the questions that place the racial problem on the current agenda and presenting the analytical tools that can contribute to placing them in their effective contexts and giving them an answer - in particular for a particularly clear presentation of racist doctrines and the theories that purport to explain them. On the other hand, considering that Western societies, in particular, and the globalized world, as a whole, have undergone and are undergoing major changes, it becomes clear that the persistence and accentuation of the phenomenon is intrinsically linked to the most impacts of modern existence, that is, the end of the industrial era, the crisis of institutions and political systems, cultural fragmentation, the growing role of the media. And it is in the light of this dynamic that the author examines anti-racist actions, their difficulties, their shortcomings, and the debates they raise. Offering, therefore, a well-documented assessment and subject to continuous critical assessment of the available knowledge, in scientific terms, Racism, a book that the publisher Perspectiva brings to its reader, opens a safe path for reflection on this very delicate, preliminary topic essential to confront it and remedy the harmful effects of its harmful sociopolitical action on the lives of ethnicities, peoples, countries and religions.