Languages of Race across Europe

It has become a cliché to say that race is a social construct, but we spend less time thinking about race as a linguistic construct. Words we associate with race have different meanings in different languages, and these meanings are drawn from different histories, contexts, and uses. Concepts do not always translate easily, and some things are just harder to talk about in one or another language. The implications of this fact for education and research, not to mention for political discourse and action, are profound and not easily seen from within a single linguistic or political context.

Hélène Neveu-Kringelbach and Jeff Bowersox will tease out some of these implications as they discuss the variable meanings and experiences of race and racialised concepts across Europe. They will draw on their respective research programmes as well as on their experiences organising events through the [Black Europe] project sponsored by UCL’s European Institute. The present moment is one of considerable ferment and presents us with a unique and urgent opportunity to explore the meanings and uses of race across political, linguistic, conceptual, and temporal boundaries.