Kulturowe rozumienie pojęcia rasy

Abstract

Cultural understanding of the concept of race

The aim of the paper is to clarify the notion of race as a social construct. It presents arguments against the biological meaning of this notion. The discoveries of modern genetics prove that such an understanding of race is no longer functional. In addition, the paper provides arguments for understanding race as a cultural concept. The author analyses different definitions of race used in modern natural and social sciences. He places particular emphasis on the issue of “constructing race” in the context of the “social construction of reality”. This makes it possible to present the old problem of “race” as well as nature and culture in a new perspective. The purpose of the paper is also to show the meaning of race for the analysis of cultural studies. In the author’s opinion, this may be an important analytical tool. Finally, the author presents different examples of the use of this term in specific tests.