Racism is often thought of as both primordial and pathological. Racist states, such as Apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany, are usually considered to be exceptions rather than the rule and mainly a thing of the past. This subject examines the ways in which, despite the challenge to racism, race remains a fundamental organising idea in modern western states, one that has a direct affect on our everyday realities. We will examine how race is reproduced through politics, culture, socialisation and economic structures. We will consider the effects this has on individual and societal lived experience in complex post-immigration, postcolonial societies.