Review by Choice Review
This book joins a growing body of work that challenges essentialist ideas about race while also rejecting the colorblind and end-of-racism theses of conservative commentators. It shares an intellectual lineage similar to the recent work of Omi and Winant, Gilroy, and Goldberg, among others, though the single most influential precursor is Robert Miles. Like Miles, the authors offer an explicitly Marxist account of racism and racialized inequalities by emphasizing class over race. After a cogent and evenhanded positioning of their own theoretical contribution, Darder (educational policy and Latino studies, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Torres (Chicano-Latino studies, Univ. of California, Irvine) move on to chapters wherein they apply their "after race" perspective to discrete topics. These include discussions of the ethnic identities of new immigrants in metropolitan settings, the significance of language rights in the "empire of capital," the politics of educational testing, a critique of critical race theorists for failing to adequately account for the role of capitalism, and an analysis of Latino studies. Taken as a whole, the authors have done an excellent job of articulating the implications of what it means to bring class back into critical race theory. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Most levels/libraries. P. Kivisto Augustana College (IL)
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
