Abstract
In this article, I explore the reasons why the need to conceptualize racism has developed in this century within the social science tradition, as well as the reasons why this conceptualization is still highly controversial today. This leads me to discuss the relationship between racism and race, and the development of the analytical use of the term race in the social sciences. In making this argument, I will defend two simple but radical theses: that there is no way to conceptualize racism without reference to race, just as there is no racism without human agency.
Keywords:
Race; Racism; Sociology of racism; Racialization