Critical race studies treat race as a social construct, meaning that it carries a certain kind of unreality. Defining race as socially constructed is the default position of critical scholars; we nervously place the term ‘race’ in scare quotes, in order to indicate its illusory, unscientific character, but too often move swiftly on without reflecting on exactly what this means for all of us, and why race, despite its unscientific status, retains social purchase. In short, while race may be unreal – an idea or an invention – its effects are real and significant. Those effects are neither historically peripheral nor merely decorative; they are internal to modernity (and postmodernity) and continue to order society in profound ways. As Frantz Fanon, a key influence on Bell and his CRT peers, well understood, race is not something that exists within us; it exists between us, both attaching us to and alienating us from each other. So it is that this book tries to confront race as a form of sociocultural mediation, as a ‘fully social relationship’ (Apple, 2001: 204).

Chapter 2 begins by exploring social theories of race and racism, in order to map a framework for understanding race and racism critically, a framework through which to begin interrogating Britain's recent conversion to postracialism. This involves thinking both about the origins of modern ideas of race and about the social reproduction of race thinking and practice. In terms of origins, a central concern of critical race studies and Black Atlantic thought more broadly has been with uncovering the modern history of the idea of race and particularly its ‘symbolism of colours’ (Gilroy, 1993: 1). Ties between race and colour are a more recent development than we sometimes acknowledge but the emergence of colour-coded racism was an epochal turning point. Its vast imperial sweep gave rise to race science and racial essentialism. The tangle of beliefs about colour, culture and belonging continue to shape residual ideas about race and ‘races’ and still function as a political tool for structuring power (though we should also note the ambiguity of this socially constructed category: as something which is oppressive but also open to subversion).

The second half of Chapter 2 discusses leading edge thought in contemporary critical race studies, examining different approaches to race and criticality.