How to conceptualise a postmodern unterstanding of identity in relation to 'Race'

Essay from the year 2005 in the subject Sociology - Political Sociology, Majorities, Minorities, grade: 1,5, University of Leicester (Department of Sociology), course: Identity and Society, language: English, abstract: The issue about 'race' is still of great significance in today's societies. Recent incidents like racist slurs at football games show how deep racist tendencies are still embedded in people's minds - in spite of consistent awareness raising and information. However, these examples show only the peak of racist tendencies. Racial imagery in media and arts is central to the organisation of the modern world (Dyer 1997: 1). Furthermore, the scientific 'foundation' of theories of 'race' continues to be a disputed question for biology as well as for the social sciences (Lang 2000: x). This essay is about the implications of the term 'race' and the coherence of 'race' and identity. It implements a postmodern approach to the understanding of identity and applies this concept to the representation of 'the other' in a recent newspaper article.