Racism is as pertinent an issue today as it was twenty years ago. This fully updated new edition of Racism provides a thought-provoking account of the history and debate about the concept. Combining historical and theoretical analysis, it surveys the history of the ways in which European peoples have described and experienced non-Europeans, and summarizes the emergence and evolution of the concept of racism within the Western sociological tradition. This edition brings the book up to date by looking at examples such as the war in the former Yugoslavia and the cases of Stephen Lawrence and Rodney King, and by considering Islamophobia in Western societies. It also looks more widely at recent developments in the debate. This book will be essential reading for students studying racism or ethnicity in sociology, anthropology and politics.