Beschreibung
Details
Format
ePUB 3
Kopierschutz
Ja
Family Sharing
Ja
Text-to-Speech
Ja
Erscheinungsdatum
21.05.2019
Verlag
Beacon PressSeitenzahl
240 (Printausgabe)
Dateigröße
1518 KB
Sprache
Englisch
EAN
9780807076941
2019 Best-Of Lists: 10 Best Science Books of the Year (Smithsonian Magazine) · Best Science Books of the Year (NPR's Science Friday) · Best Science and Technology Books from 2019" (Library Journal)
An astute and timely examination of the re-emergence of scientific research into racial differences.
Superior tells the disturbing story of the persistent thread of belief in biological racial differences in the world of science.
After the horrors of the Nazi regime in World War II, the mainstream scientific world turned its back on eugenics and the study of racial difference. But a worldwide network of intellectual racists and segregationists quietly founded journals and funded research, providing the kind of shoddy studies that were ultimately cited in Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's 1994 title The Bell Curve, which purported to show differences in intelligence among races.
If the vast majority of scientists and scholars disavowed these ideas and considered race a social construct, it was an idea that still managed to somehow survive in the way scientists thought about human variation and genetics. Dissecting the statements and work of contemporary scientists studying human biodiversity, most of whom claim to be just following the data, Angela Saini shows us how, again and again, even mainstream scientists cling to the idea that race is biologically real. As our understanding of complex traits like intelligence, and the effects of environmental and cultural influences on human beings, from the molecular level on up, grows, the hope of finding simple genetic differences between "races"-to explain differing rates of disease, to explain poverty or test scores, or to justify cultural assumptions-stubbornly persists.
At a time when racialized nationalisms are a resurgent threat throughout the world, Superior is a rigorous, much-needed examination of the insidious and destructive nature of race science-and a powerful reminder that, biologically, we are all far more alike than different.
An astute and timely examination of the re-emergence of scientific research into racial differences.
Superior tells the disturbing story of the persistent thread of belief in biological racial differences in the world of science.
After the horrors of the Nazi regime in World War II, the mainstream scientific world turned its back on eugenics and the study of racial difference. But a worldwide network of intellectual racists and segregationists quietly founded journals and funded research, providing the kind of shoddy studies that were ultimately cited in Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's 1994 title The Bell Curve, which purported to show differences in intelligence among races.
If the vast majority of scientists and scholars disavowed these ideas and considered race a social construct, it was an idea that still managed to somehow survive in the way scientists thought about human variation and genetics. Dissecting the statements and work of contemporary scientists studying human biodiversity, most of whom claim to be just following the data, Angela Saini shows us how, again and again, even mainstream scientists cling to the idea that race is biologically real. As our understanding of complex traits like intelligence, and the effects of environmental and cultural influences on human beings, from the molecular level on up, grows, the hope of finding simple genetic differences between "races"-to explain differing rates of disease, to explain poverty or test scores, or to justify cultural assumptions-stubbornly persists.
At a time when racialized nationalisms are a resurgent threat throughout the world, Superior is a rigorous, much-needed examination of the insidious and destructive nature of race science-and a powerful reminder that, biologically, we are all far more alike than different.
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Saini offers with this in-depth analysis a strong rebuttal to race "science" and eugenics, showing the history of the field beginning in the 19th century. Carefully and eloquently explaining how and why "race science" came to be, she traces this school of thought throughout the 20th century, showing how these racist idea outlived Nazi Germany and were discussed among eugenicists until today. All of the journals and publications were funded by the wealthiest people in the US, all of which were White and Republicans.
These privately funded publications were based on false data and racist assumptions and citations were circular, meaning that they remained withing their small bubble and referenced each other constantly.
Saini also shows how these ideas never truly died, how they found place within right-wing conservative parties, such as the GOP, and how these ideas are being reused today and published online by mainstream media. People from these inner fascist cirles get attention and airtime to present their racist and long debunked ideas to a wide audience, popularising eugenics and thus genocide and mass murder again.
It's a relevant and important read. Saini writes in an engaging and clear way, explaining complex ideas and untangling hazy networks so that every reader understands the intricate web.
Superior is fantastic in every way and I urge everyone to read it, as it perfectly shows how dangerous ideas survive over centuries and how we are experiencing how they're gaining popularity.
An important wake-up call for anyone still in denial about the dangers and longevity of racism.