Beyond race?

While at the moment the world seems to be divided along racial lines and ‘race’
appears to be a central axe of social inclusion and exclusion, in this article we ask
whether it is thinkable to go ‘beyond race’. We want to explore the idea of going
‘beyond race’ in four diferent ways: (1) ‘Beyond race’ as a demographic reality when
people of mixed origin form the majority of population; (2) ‘Beyond race’ in regard to
policies that aim at combatting inequalities also along color lines, yet are no longer
dependent on a notion of race. (3) ‘Beyond race’ in terms of political mobilizations, e.g.
the possibility or desirability of anti-racist movements not grounded in identity politics
and (4) ‘Beyond race’ as a conceptualization of race that is decoupling biology and culture, or even to stop thinking in racial categories altogether, yet without de-politicizing
any marginalised group’s, history and experience. We are aware that this questioning
of race, and by implication of ethnicity, may be a typical hang-up of two authors based
in Europe. We have invited authors from diferent parts of the world, and with diferent academic backgrounds to refect in a commentary on the issues we raise and to
explain their position.