Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion Constellation
Sylvia Wynter brings to light a structural entanglement between race and religion that is fundamental to identifying racism’s logic. This logic is continuous albeit often masked in particular in European race–religion constellations such as antisemitism and islamophobia. Focusing on the Americas, Wy...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/43 |
| _version_ | 1797342677561245696 |
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| author | Anya Topolski |
| author_facet | Anya Topolski |
| author_sort | Anya Topolski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sylvia Wynter brings to light a structural entanglement between race and religion that is fundamental to identifying racism’s logic. This logic is continuous albeit often masked in particular in European race–religion constellations such as antisemitism and islamophobia. Focusing on the Americas, Wynter reveals a structural epistemic continuity between ‘religious’, rational and scientific racism. Nonetheless, Wynter marks a discontinuity between pre- and post-1492, by distinguishing between the Christian subject and Man, the overrepresentation of the human. In this essay, which focuses on European entanglements of race and religion, a process of dehumanization and its historical and geographic continuities is more discernible. As such, I question Wynter’s discontinuity, arguing that the Christian subject was conceived of as the only full conception of the human (although not without debate or inconsistencies), which meant that non-Christians were de-facto and de-jure excluded from the political community and suffered degrees of dehumanization. Within the concept of dehumanization, I focus on the entanglement of race and religion, or more specifically Whiteness and Christianity, as distinct markers of supremacy/difference and show that the Church had, and asserted, the power to produce both lesser and non-humans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:36:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be28e2ac2a804e49863398fa0b99368f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:36:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-be28e2ac2a804e49863398fa0b99368f2024-01-26T18:14:44ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-12-011514310.3390/rel15010043Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion ConstellationAnya Topolski0Faculty of Philosophy, Religion and Theology, Radboud University, 6525 XZ Nijmegen, The NetherlandsSylvia Wynter brings to light a structural entanglement between race and religion that is fundamental to identifying racism’s logic. This logic is continuous albeit often masked in particular in European race–religion constellations such as antisemitism and islamophobia. Focusing on the Americas, Wynter reveals a structural epistemic continuity between ‘religious’, rational and scientific racism. Nonetheless, Wynter marks a discontinuity between pre- and post-1492, by distinguishing between the Christian subject and Man, the overrepresentation of the human. In this essay, which focuses on European entanglements of race and religion, a process of dehumanization and its historical and geographic continuities is more discernible. As such, I question Wynter’s discontinuity, arguing that the Christian subject was conceived of as the only full conception of the human (although not without debate or inconsistencies), which meant that non-Christians were de-facto and de-jure excluded from the political community and suffered degrees of dehumanization. Within the concept of dehumanization, I focus on the entanglement of race and religion, or more specifically Whiteness and Christianity, as distinct markers of supremacy/difference and show that the Church had, and asserted, the power to produce both lesser and non-humans.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/43Sylvia Wynterdehumanizationrace–religion constellationsEuropeChristian subjectMan |
| spellingShingle | Anya Topolski Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion Constellation Religions Sylvia Wynter dehumanization race–religion constellations Europe Christian subject Man |
| title | Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion Constellation |
| title_full | Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion Constellation |
| title_fullStr | Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion Constellation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion Constellation |
| title_short | Unsettling Man in Europe: Wynter and the Race–Religion Constellation |
| title_sort | unsettling man in europe wynter and the race religion constellation |
| topic | Sylvia Wynter dehumanization race–religion constellations Europe Christian subject Man |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/43 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anyatopolski unsettlingmanineuropewynterandtheracereligionconstellation |