This article questions the degree to which the social cognition perspective allows one to explore and critique contemporary racism. In the first section, the authors consider the way in which the social cognition perspective talks of “racial” categorization and the processes of racism, and note how these reproduce the key themes to be found in “new racism.” In the second section, the authors interrogate the adequacy of this approach through exploring how a police officer engages with the charge of police racism. On the one hand, this analysis illustrates the importance of exploring the ways in which racialized social categories are constructed strategically to advance particular understandings of the genesis of social conflict. On the other hand, it provides a concrete example of how many of the arguments advanced by the social cognition perspective may be used for reactionary purposes (in this case a defense against the charge of racism). It is argued that there is a need to resist taking categories for granted and to develop a social psychological analysis of the processes of racialization.
