Socio-philosophical understanding of the phenomenon of race: from notion to concept

Authors

  • Olga V. Kurbacheva Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

race, racism, neoracism, ethnicity, raceogenesis, racial classification

Abstract

The concept of «race» and the concept of race in a socio-philosophical context are considered. Various versions of the interpretation of the concept of «race» are accumulating. The phenomenon of race is systematically investigated, semantic boundaries in its interpretation are revealed, ideas about race as a concept are explicated, and a comparative analysis of the concepts of «race» and «ethnicity» is carried out. The author identifies the appearance of different versions of racial classification, their nature and future prospects, and draws a clear line between the concepts of «ethnicity» and «race». The article reveals the dichotomous nature of race as a concept which is due to the accumulation of its biological and social nature. The article attempts to explain the reason for the actualisation of the understanding of race as a social phenomenon which has influenced the formation and exacerbation of neo-racism in the modern world.

Author Biography

  • Olga V. Kurbacheva, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    PhD (philosophy), docent; associate professor at the department of philosophy and methodology of science, faculty of philosophy and social sciences

References

  1. Курбачёва ОВ. Идеология расизма: сущность, становление и трансформация в современных условиях. Журнал Белорусского государственного университета. Философия. Психология. 2021;1:31–38. EDN: XNBAPZ.
  2. Boulle PH. François Bernier and the origins of the modern concept of race. In: Peabody S. The color of liberty: histories of race in France. Durham: Duke University Press; 2003. p. 11–27.
  3. Дробышевский СВ. Происхождение человеческих рас. Москва: URSS; 2022. 400 с.
  4. Негашева МА, Дробышевский СВ. Происхождение человека: просто о сложном. Москва: Илекса; 2024. 107 с.
  5. Пежемский ДВ, Макрицкая ТА. Франсуа Бернье: к истории первой расовой классификации. Вестник антропологии. 2013;2:145–157.
  6. Юм Д. Сочинения. Том 2. Церетели СИ, переводчик. Москва: Мысль; 1996. 799 с.
  7. Кант И. Собрание сочинений. Том 2. Москва: Чоро; 1994. Наблюдения над чувством прекрасного и возвышенного; с. 85–182.
  8. ван ден Берге П. Раса и этничность: социобиологическая перспектива. Вопросы национализма. 2014;4:89–96.
  9. Sahlins M. The use and abuse of biology. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; 1976. 120 p.
  10. Курбачёва ОВ. Раса как понятие и концепт: дихотомия колониального наследия. В: Лазаревич АА, редактор. Интеллектуальная культура Беларуси: от Просвещения к Современности. Материалы 8-й Международной научной конференции. Том 1; 21–22 ноября 2024 г.; Минск, Беларусь. Минск: Четыре четверти; 2024. с. 227–230.
  11. Брубейкер Р. Этничность без групп. Борисова И, переводчик. Москва: Высшая школа экономики; 2012. 408 с.

Downloads

Published

2025-07-10

Issue

No. 2 (2025): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology

Section

Social Philosophy

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)

How to Cite

[1]
Kurbacheva, O.V. 2025. Socio-philosophical understanding of the phenomenon of race: from notion to concept. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology. 2 (Jul. 2025), 23–28.