Towards a critical race methodology in algorithmic fairness

TLDR

Current algorithmic fairness methods treat race as a fixed attribute, ignoring its socially constructed, structural, institutional, and relational nature, thereby minimizing structural aspects of algorithmic unfairness. The study examines how race and racial categories are adopted in algorithmic fairness frameworks and argues that researchers must account for race’s multidimensionality, the processes of conceptualizing and operationalizing it, the social processes that produce racial inequality, and the perspectives of those most affected. The authors ground their conceptualization of race in critical race theory and sociological studies of race and ethnicity, drawing lessons from public health, biomedical research, and social survey research.

Abstract

We examine the way race and racial categories are adopted in algorithmic fairness frameworks. Current methodologies fail to adequately account for the socially constructed nature of race, instead adopting a conceptualization of race as a fixed attribute. Treating race as an attribute, rather than a structural, institutional, and relational phenomenon, can serve to minimize the structural aspects of algorithmic unfairness. In this work, we focus on the history of racial categories and turn to critical race theory and sociological work on race and ethnicity to ground conceptualizations of race for fairness research, drawing on lessons from public health, biomedical research, and social survey research. We argue that algorithmic fairness researchers need to take into account the multidimensionality of race, take seriously the processes of conceptualizing and operationalizing race, focus on social processes which produce racial inequality, and consider perspectives of those most affected by sociotechnical systems.