To what extent are contemporary global conflicts influenced by race? – PO-253- Megan Salter
Race has been considered a socially constructed concept, born with the rise of
European global dominance in the sixteenth century (Acharya, 2022). It is ‘one
of the main groups to which people are often considered to belong, based on
physical characteristics that they are perceived to share such as skin colour’
(Acharya, 2022, p.25). The concept has remained a fundamental concern and
topic of discussion within the study of International Relations for many centuries
and indeed, the prevalence of the concept is embodied by the role it has played
in the founding of the discipline as a whole (Shilliam, 2022). Although race is a
social construct, it has become a major justification for colonialism, the slave
trade and many global conflicts that have occurred subsequently.
Throughout the course of this paper, it will be argued that to a large extent
contemporary global conflicts are influenced by race. In order to argue this, the
paper will firstly examine the way in which the concept of race is used to
manipulate opinion and justify violence through an investigation into the
instrumentalisation of race by political actors and the media. The paper will also
consider the legacies of colonialism and imperialism in order to establish how
race can be an underlying motivation for why conflicts arise and how the
international community can play a role in their trajectory. To illustrate these
points and draw to a meaningful conclusion, the paper will also facilitate the use
of a counter-argument and relevant case studies covering the War on Terror and
the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
It can be argued that the instrumentalisation of race by political actors and the
media has had a considerable impact on the justification of violence in
contemporary global conflicts today. Cultural theorist Stuart Hall, particularly
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