Race, Intersectionality, and Diversity in European Political Science

The issue of race within European political science has been largely ignored. People of colour are silenced through their marginalisation and fruitful knowledge and expertise is lost from the discipline. Eurocentric dominance in the (re)production of ‘legitimate’ knowledge and knowers (Almeida 2015, 81), generates othering based on race, feelings of isolation, and experiences of exclusion. The purpose of this chapter is to address the issue of race and ethnicity within European political science. Though this debate is usually on the fringes of academia (Law 2017), we bring it to the fore; the chapter establishes race and ethnicity as a fundamental aspect of the debate on diversity, and diversity a fundamental aspect of political science. Therefore, on the occasion of ECPR’s 50 year anniversary, we ask: can we celebrate our current position of diversity within European political science? At first glance there does not seem much to celebrate. However, these discussions are becoming more visible and so there is reason to be hopeful for change.