The Problematic Use of Race in Facial Reconstruction

Abstract

ABSTRACT Facial reconstructions have gained importance in museum exhibitions and in forensic sciences in recent years. These objects aim to represent faces from the past and present to elicit recognition in the public. Even though the face is a highly individual object, its reconstruction depends on the application of a number of general categories. One of the most central is race. When reconstructing a face, experts carry out a particular way of seeing – a skilled vision – that interprets visible differences in bodies as racial differences. This makes race a crucial component in the process of reconstructing a face, even though experts try to downplay its importance and rarely consider race to be biologically real. In addition, experts introduce alternative naming strategies, which nevertheless do not overcome the logic of understanding skull shapes and facial traits as markers of racial difference. These practices involve a paradox: a tension between practicing race and disavowing it. In other words, experts attempt to ‘make race absent,’ but with little success. As a consequence, the reconstruction of faces reiterates a racial perspective on human differences, as museums and forensic investigations present these race-based images to the public. Therefore, looking closer at facial reconstruction helps to understanding the complex ways that race arises in contemporary anthropology and the biosciences, as well as in public and social spheres.