Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology

Please note: Eduardo has left the "African & African American Studies" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

I am trained in class analysis, political sociology, and sociology of development (globalization). However, my work in the last 20 years has been in the area of race. I have published on racial theory, race and methodology, color-blind racism, the idea that race stratification in the USA is becoming Latin America-like, racial grammar, HWCUs, race and human rights, race and citizenship, whiteness, and the Obama phenomenon among other things. In all my work, I contend that racism is fundamentally about "racial domination," hence, racism is a collective and structural phenomenon in society (see my 1997 ASR on this matter).

Contact Info:

Office Location:	Sociology, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone:	(919) 660-5607
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://www.aas.duke.edu/aaas/~silva

Teaching (Fall 2025):

• SOCIOL 215.01, SOCIOLOGY OF RACISM IN AMERICA Synopsis

  Social Sciences 119, TuTh 11:45 AM-01:00 PM

  (also cross-listed as AAAS 246.01, EDUC 215.01, LSGS 316.01, RIGHTS 215.01)

• SOCIOL 765S.01, PROSEM: SOCIAL STRAT (TOP) Synopsis

  Erwin 746, Th 01:25 PM-03:55 PM

Education:

Ph.D.	University of Wisconsin, Madison	1993
M.A.	University of Wisconsin, Madison	1987
B.A.	University of Puerto Rico	1984

Research Interests:

Currently I am working on two books entitled, Anything but Racism: How Social Analysts Limit the Significance of Race (with Gianpaolo Baiocchi and Hayward Horton) and White Logic, White Methods: Racism and Methodology (with Tukufu Zuberi). I am also working on a project entitled, "We are All Americans! The Latin Americanization of Race Relations in the USA," where I explore the changing dynamics of racial stratification in the United States.

Areas of Interest:

Racial Stratification and
Race Relations

Keywords:

Human Rights • Ideology • Latin America • Methodology • Muser Mentor • Phenotype • Political science • Puerto Rico • Race • Racism

Current Ph.D. Students  

• Reece, Robert  
• Arriaga, Felicia  
• Louise Seamster  
• TRENITA CHILDERS  
• AUSTIN ASHE  
• Inseo Son  
• Victor Ray  
• Rose Buckelow  

Postdocs Mentored

• John Eason (2008-2010)  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Kramer, R; Ray, V; Bonilla-Silva, E, Introduction to the Special Issue: Racism of Omission, Social Problems, vol. 72 no. 2 (May, Accepted, 2025), pp. 331-340 [doi]  [abs]
2. Brown, TH; Lee, HE; Hicken, MT; Bonilla-Silva, E; Homan, P, Conceptualizing and Measuring Systemic Racism., Annual review of public health, vol. 46 no. 1 (April, Accepted, 2025), pp. 69-90 [doi]  [abs]
3. Fairfax, FG; Kwesi, J; McFalls, E; Razon, RL; Thursland, A; Peoples, CE; Daily, SB; Washington, AN; Bonilla-Silva, E; Prefontaine, BE, Work in Progress: The Role of Student Backgrounds in Understanding Racial Disparities in Computing, ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Conference Proceedings (June, 2024)
4. Fairfax, FG; McFalls, E; Rogers, A; Kwesi, J; Washington, AN; Daily, SB; Peoples, CE; Xiao, H; Bonilla-Silva, E, Work In Progress: A Novel Approach to Understanding Perceptions of Race among Computing Undergraduates, ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Conference Proceedings (June, 2023)
5. Bonilla-Silva, E, It's not the rotten apples! Why family scholars should adopt a structural perspective on racism, Journal of Family Theory and Review, vol. 15 no. 2 (June, Accepted, 2023), pp. 192-205 [doi]  [abs]