The racial state and the violent (re)production of educational inequality

This article defines and situates the concept of the racial state within the sociological literature on educational inequality. Currently, much of the sociology of education literature fails to engage with theories of the state or does so in undertheorized ways. Drawing on theories of the racial state and forms of state violence, this article contributes to literature in political sociology, race and racism, and education. It does so by arguing that the U.S. is a racial state that violently produces and reproduces educational inequality through structural, symbolic, and institutional violence. In charting a research program for a racial state analysis of educational inequality, it provides examples of each kind of state violence and provides suggestions for future research, which may be termed a political sociology of education. The article concludes by noting the value of the state violence framework presented for sociological studies of state authority and comparative work that looks across geographical and historical contexts.