The racial order

Proceeding from the bold and provocative claim that there never has been a comprehensive and systematic theory of race, Mustafa Emirbayer and Matthew Desmond set out to reformulate how we think about one of the most vexing and central aspects of American life. Magisterial in scope, yet empirically grounded and engaged with some of the defining problems of our time, The Racial Order offers piercing new insights into the inner workings of race: its structures and dynamics, institutions and insurgencies, culture and psychology. Animated by a deep and reflexive intelligence as well as a normative commitment toward multicultural democracy, this work articulates how – and toward what end – the racial order might be reconstructed. The result is not only a rich new theory of race in America, but also an elegant work of social theory that engages with fundamental problems of order, agency, power, and justice.