“Slippin’ Into Darkness”: The (Re)Biologization of Race

While the dominant mantra in humanities and the social sciences is that “race is a social construction, not a biological one,” in the wake of the Human Genome Project, a vigorous debate has emerged about whether race is indeed a meaningful and useful genetic concept. This essays argues that debates about the very concept of race --- the system of classification we employ, the meanings we ascribe to racial categories, and their use in social analysis and policy formation --- are rendered more complex, indeterminate, and muddy with the increasing re-biologization of race.