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?In the compass of this short volume Franz Boas accomplishes the annihilation of the bases of almost all the prejudices and passions on which modern society rests, and arrives by the least spectacular kind of reasoning at revolutionary and yet strangely hopeful conclusions.?-Nation
--This text refers to the
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racism. He was passionately concerned about individual liberty, freedom of inquiry and speech, equality of opportunity, and the defeat of prejudice and chauvinism. His Anthropology and Modern Life shows how Boas uses science in the service of humanity, hoping to break down racial and cultural barriers. From the book's very opening, Boas shatters the myth that anthropology is simply a collection of curious facts about exotic peoples and their customs and belief systems. He asserts that a clear understanding of the principles of anthropology illuminates the social processes of our own times and may show us what to do and what to avoid. Boas proceeds to discuss issues that have had resounding signifi cance in our own time: the problem of defining race; the subjective view of racial types; heredity versus environment; alleged physiological and mental differences between races; the significance of intelligence tests; the importance of one's cultural experience; open versus closed societies; nationality and nationalism; the mixed descent of European nations; eugenics; social conditions versus heredity in the committing of crimes; intolerance; and the infl uence of race and sex on a successful education. While he outwardly acknowledges that his book runs contrary to popular prejudices, Boas was an optimist, and hoped that dissenters, in reading Anthropology and Modern Life, would come to reexamine their own viewpoints dispassionately and critically. This new edition of Anthropology and Modern Life is enhanced by an introduction and afterword by Herbert S. Lewis, who details Franz Boas' life, influence, and ideals. This volume will be a welcome contribution to the libraries of anthropologists, sociologists, and those concerned with human rights.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The modern "science" of racism was born quite recently, with the treatises by R. Knox (The races of men, 1850) and A. de Gobineau (Essai sur l'inegalite' des races humaines, 1853-1855). The anthropological concepts introduced by Knox and several other students were soon demonstrated untenable by R. Virchow, whose first study on the subject was carried out in 1865.
Franz Boas was born in Germany and was a great admirer of Virchow; after moving to the USA he contributed to found the science of anthropology in the Americas, made several field studies (notably on the esquimo people of Greenland) and fiercely opposed racism.
Anthropology and modern life is a late work by Boas, which appeared in 1928, when its author was seventy years old. It is not a scientific treatise of anthropology; rather it is a divulgative book in which Boas demonstrates how anthropological studies can correct prejudices and wrong ideas on society, and plainly shows why racial theories cannot be applied to humans. The text is easily readable to everybody and uses statistical concepts to an absolute minimum; yet it is rigorous and makes clear that race is an artificial category that can be created through inbreeding in farming animals and plants, but is not observed in natural populations. It is a sad observation that the racist laws enforced by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in the XX century were based on concepts that had been demonstrated obsolete since several decades.
Franz Boas was born in Germany and was a great admirer of Virchow; after moving to the USA he contributed to found the science of anthropology in the Americas, made several field studies (notably on the esquimo people of Greenland) and fiercely opposed racism.
Anthropology and modern life is a late work by Boas, which appeared in 1928, when its author was seventy years old. It is not a scientific treatise of anthropology; rather it is a divulgative book in which Boas demonstrates how anthropological studies can correct prejudices and wrong ideas on society, and plainly shows why racial theories cannot be applied to humans. The text is easily readable to everybody and uses statistical concepts to an absolute minimum; yet it is rigorous and makes clear that race is an artificial category that can be created through inbreeding in farming animals and plants, but is not observed in natural populations. It is a sad observation that the racist laws enforced by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in the XX century were based on concepts that had been demonstrated obsolete since several decades.
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1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
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18 Jan 2008
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Key work to have in your library. One of the foundational works of American anthropology.
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