Racism, Marxism, Psychology

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Abstract
Locating a revised, multiple and shifting conceptualization of racism, the paper outlines ways in which Marxist theorizing may challenge the individualism and reductionism which are characteristic of mainstream psychology. Approaches to racism from emerging alternatives to main-stream social psychology in the form of two contrasting streams, inter-group theorizing and social constructionism, are sketched, along with a few remarks on psychoanalysis. A revised Marxism drawing on Cornel West's notion of genealogical materialism offers a broader vision which could potentially merge progressive elements from the psychological realm with a thoroughgoing materialism, and point towards an appropriately critical stance against racism.