Racializationorethnicization is a sociological concept used to describe the processes by which ethnicorracial identities are created,[1][2] or the infusion of race into a society's understanding of human behavior.[3] It models racial dominance as a process by which a dominant group "racializes" a dominated group.[4]
The process of racialization can affect newly arriving immigrants as well as their second-generation children in the United States. According to sociologist Ali R. Chaudhary, the concept of racialized incorporation bridges the idea of assimilation with critical race studies in general and the concept of racialization in particular.[5] While immigrants may possess specific ethnic and cultural identities associated with their countries of origin, once they arrive in the U.S., they are incorporated into a society that is largely organized along the lines of race.[attribution needed] The racial hierarchy in the United States is pervasive in many aspects of life including housing, education, and employment.[attribution needed] The racialized incorporation perspective argues that regardless of the ethnic and cultural differences across immigrant groups, racial identification is the ultimate and primary principle of social organization in the United States. Because the lived experiences of Whites and Blacks in U.S. society diverge in most areas of social life,[attribution needed] the racialized category that immigrants and their children are incorporated into will largely determine their experiences and opportunities in the United States. The concept of racialized incorporation was recently applied in a study of self-employment in the United States.[5][6]
Religious groups can also go through the process of racialization.[4] Adherents of Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism can be racialized when they are portrayed as possessing certain physical characteristics, despite the fact that many individual adherents of those religions do not possess any of those physical characteristics.[a][7][8]
Marta Maria Maldonado has identified the racialization of labor to involve the segregation and appointment of workers based on perceived ethnic differences.[9] This racialization of labor is said to produce a hierarchical arrangement which limits employee agency and mobility based on their race. The process of racialization is reinforced through presupposed, stereotypical qualities which are imposed upon the racialized person by the racializer.[10]
Members of the dominant race in a society benefit from various privileges, such as white privilege in societies where people classified as white make up the dominant racial group, whether these are material or psychological, and are maintained and reproduced within social systems.[11][12]
Furthermore, research by Edna Bonacich, Sabrina Alimahomed Jake B. Wilson, 2008 regarding the effects of race and criminal background on employment concluded that "dominant racialized labor groups (mainly White/European workers) are in general afforded more privileges than subordinate racialized labor groups (workers of color)"[13] Additionally, According to Chetty, Hendren, Kline, and Saez, the effect of race segregation impacts the labor market, saying "upward income mobility is significantly lower in areas with larger African American Populations".[13]
Racialization and gender can often intersect.[14] Racialized gender-specific categories can emerge in the process of racialization.[15] For example, an African woman who immigrates to the United States may be viewed through stereotypes pertaining to African-American women.[16]
^St Louis, Brett (2005). "Racialization in the "zone of ambiguity"". In Murji, Karim; Solomos, John (eds.). Racialization: Studies in Theory and Practice. Oxford University Press. pp. 29–50. ISBN0199257035.
^ abChaudhary, Ali R. (2015-06-01). "Racialized Incorporation: The Effects of Race and Generational Status on Self-Employment and Industry-Sector Prestige in the United States". International Migration Review. 49 (2): 318–354. doi:10.1111/imre.12087. ISSN1747-7379. S2CID145352741.
^Maldonado, Marta Maria (July 2009). "'It is their nature to do menial labour': The racialization of 'Latino/A workers' by agricultural employers". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 32 (6): 1026. doi:10.1080/01419870902802254. S2CID143635150. 'It is their nature to do menial labour': the racialization of 'Latino/a workers' by agricultural employers
^Maldonado, Marta Maria (Winter 2006). "Racial Triangulation of Latino/a Workers by Agricultural Employers". Human Organization. 65 (4): 360. doi:10.17730/humo.65.4.a84b5xykr0dvp91l.
^Elabor-Idemudia, P. (1999). "The racialization of gender in the social construction of immigrant women in Canada: A case study of African women in a prairie province". Canadian Woman Studies. 19 (3): 38–44.
