The Invisibility of Race in Sociological Research on Contemporary Russia: A Decolonial Intervention

Yusupova, Marina

Abstract

This essay provides a critical decolonial intervention into the prevalent state of racial exceptionalism in mainstream sociological research on contemporary Russia. Following critical race theory's understanding of race as relationally constituted and rooted in discourses of Europeanness, modernity, and civilization, the essay shows that race is highly prevalent but unacknowledged in sociological studies of Russia. It is argued that dismissing race as analytically irrelevant in Russia seriously limits the sociological ability to explain social inequalities, engage with current global challenges and inadvertently gives racism new legitimacy. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial critiques of sociology as a form of knowledge production, the essay points towards some ways of decolonizing sociological research concerning the inequalities associated with race and ethnicity in Russia and overcoming racial exceptionalism.

Citation

Yusupova, M. (2021). The Invisibility of Race in Sociological Research on Contemporary Russia: A Decolonial Intervention. Slavic Review, 80(2), 224-233. https://doi.org/10.1017/slr.2021.77

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 12, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Sep 6, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 2, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 27, 2023
• Journal: Slavic Review
• Print ISSN: 0037-6779
• Electronic ISSN: 2325-7784
• Publisher: Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 80
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 224-233
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/slr.2021.77
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2994466