ANTH1001 Lecture Notes - Indentured Servant, Formal Language, Isomorphism
27 May 2018
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Lecture11 Race, Racism, Culture and Governance
Why do anthropologists need to talk about race?
○Anthropologists are primarily concerned to understand the nature and
dynamics of cultural difference
○Race, as a way of talking about human biological variation, does not explain
cultural variation
Ideas about race as part of culture
○Dodson demonstrates that the contemporary definition of aboriginal people by
non-aboriginal people is governed by ideas about race
○These ideas govern the perception of himself as an individual and his
capacity to act
○Ideas about race govern the perception of aboriginal cultures and claims
made about their value
○These ideas remain embedded in law and policy in many parts of the world
•Dominant ideas, recognize social establish idea have power
•Homogenous space and a constrain of diversify, the discourse of species which are
more value and aspects
•Government force — Have different constrain to force is much harder to entangle
Human Variation is not Racial: Key arguments
○The key biological category is the human species as a whole
○Pure races, in the sense of genetically homogenous populations, have never
existed
○There are no typical members of geographically separated human populations
○87.6% of the total modern human genetic diversity is accounted for by the
differences between individuals, and only 9.2% between continents
○There are no clear discontinuities in the geographical distribution of the
pattern of genetic variation of the species as a whole
○Race is not naturally formed but it is culturally constructed
○To sum up, as it is commonly understood, there are no races
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Two final key points
○Human populations adapt to specific environments, but they have not evolved
differently in relationship to them. Flexibility is a key evolutionary advantage
of our species
○“The human features which have universal biological value for the survive
of the species are not known to occur more frequently in one population that
in any other. Therefore it is meaningless from the biological point of view to
attribute a general inferiority or superiority to this or to that race”
Race is not a natural category
○Race as an idea is not simply a reaction or difference nor an explanation of
difference
○Ideas about race are matters of fine distinctions within established systems
of relationships
○Race is about making and sustaining difference
○So the biological claims of the category of race are not about the naturalness of
the category but about making the category seem natural to people
Scientific Racism
○In the 19th century if race was to be natural then it had to be scientifically
established —nature was the domain of science it had to be measured
○If it was to be scientifically established
○It is a scientific racism that Boas is arguing against
Race: One naturalized, measured difference among many
1. Race
2. Class
3. Gender
4. Intelligence
Difference as hierarchy
○All these differences rendered a hierarchical relationships of superiority and
inferiority
○The big idea of the 18th century was equality as natural
○The big idea of the 19th century was reestablishing natural hierarchies
○The big problem of 20th century was disentangling difference from hierarchy
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Anthropologists are primarily concerned to understand the nature and dynamics of cultural di erence. Race, as a way of talking about human biological variation, does not explain cultural variation. Dodson demonstrates that the contemporary de nition of aboriginal people by non-aboriginal people is governed by ideas about race. These ideas govern the perception of himself as an individual and his capacity to act. Ideas about race govern the perception of aboriginal cultures and claims made about their value. The key biological category is the human species as a whole. Pure races, in the sense of genetically homogenous populations, have never existed. There are no typical members of geographically separated human populations. 87. 6% of the total modern human genetic diversity is accounted for by the di erences between individuals, and only 9. 2% between continents. There are no clear discontinuities in the geographical distribution of the pattern of genetic variation of the species as a whole.
