A case for embedding structural analyses of race and racism in comparative and international education

Abstract

Race and racism are global historically-shaped structures that affect educational systems and practices across the world. Thus, they should be key concerns of comparative and international education (CIE)–a position that is increasingly recognised within the field. In this paper, we explore the possibilities and resources of three interlinked analytical perspectives–racialisation, racial states, and colonial racial capitalism–for the field of CIE. We discuss how these perspectives generate important insights into the formation of racial meanings, the political legitimisation of racial hierarchies, and the economies of racial dispossession. We explore the workings of these dynamics across different contexts, in relation to: Islamophobia and casteism in India; anti-Roma racism in Romania; and the dehumanising forces of the global aid industry. In doing so, we show how these analytical resources can offer a sustained excavation of the structural workings of race and racism in education globally.