IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v11y2022i1p21-d722684.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Introduction to the Special Issue: Far from Colorblind. Reflections on Racialization in Contemporary Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Zenia Hellgren

    (Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration (GRITIM-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08002 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Bálint Ábel Bereményi

    (Center for Policy Studies, Central European University, Nador u. 9, 1051 Budapest, Hungary)

Abstract

European history is to a significant extent also a history about racialization and racism. Since the colonizers of past centuries defined boundaries between “civilized” and “savages” by applying value standards in which the notions of race, ethnicity, culture, and religion were interwoven and imposed on human beings perceived as fundamentally different from themselves, racialization became deeply inherent in how (white) Europeans viewed the world, themselves, and others. In this Special Issue, we assume that colonialist racialization constitutes the base of a persistent and often unreflective and indirect racism. Implicit value systems according to which white people are automatically considered as more competent, more desirable, preferable in general terms, and more “European” translate into patterns of everyday racism affecting the self-image and life chances of white and non-white Europeans. In this introductory article, which defines the conceptual framework for the special issue, we contest the idea of a “post-racial” condition and discuss the consequences of ethno-racial differentiation and stigmatization for racialized groups such as Black Europeans, European Roma, and non-white migrants in general. Finally, we argue for the need to further problematize and critically examine whiteness.

Suggested Citation

  • Zenia Hellgren & Bálint Ábel Bereményi, 2022. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Far from Colorblind. Reflections on Racialization in Contemporary Europe," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:1:p:21-:d:722684
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/1/21/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/1/21/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zenia Hellgren & Lorenzo Gabrielli, 2021. "Racialization and Aporophobia: Intersecting Discriminations in the Experiences of Non-Western Migrants and Spanish Roma," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-17, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. George E. Halkos & Panagiotis-Stavros C. Aslanidis, 2023. "Addressing Multidimensional Energy Poverty Implications on Achieving Sustainable Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-30, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:1:p:21-:d:722684. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.