Critical Realist Reflections on Race Pedagogy in a University English for Liberal Arts Course in Japan

A key challenge in addressing race ideas and racialisation today lies in educating the public about race-related structural inequalities and exclusionary ideologies. Anti-racist educators employing Critical Race Pedagogy (CRP) are increasingly rejecting so-called ‘colourblind’ and universalist views of racial harmony, to instead argue that racial inequality is rooted in institutions, ideologies, and norms, and possesses a certain permanence. From a critical realist perspective, the chapter argues that such explanations may overlook certain aspects of racism, overlooking the complex interplay between systems and lifeworld phenomena (Layder, 2018) in relation to global and transnational racial dynamics. Drawing from Layder’s Domain Theory, the chapter presents a CR-based alternative for the conceptualisation, design, and delivery of an English for Liberal Arts Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) course in Japan created to raise awareness of the global sociology of race ideas and racialisation. The benefits of this critical realist-informed, well-situated, and culturally responsive course design are highlighted.