SOCIOL 2LL3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Antonio Gramsci, Intersectionality, Asiatic Exclusion League
11 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
The biological perspective: until the 1920s most scientist believed that human beings could be divided into real and objective sub-divisions or so called races. These subdivisions of human beings were based on physical and genetic characteristics (skin colour, metabolic rates). There were a number of different typologies that emerged and one that became more popular. Some of these so-called races were viewed as superior and others as inferior. Current conceptions: things began to change in the 1930s, scientist began to question if we could really divide people up in these race categories. By the 1950s and beyond there has been a scientific consensus that racial classifications are arbitrary, genetic difference between groups are small and these genetic differences are behaviorally insignificant. Most scientist concluding that races are a biological myth. Despite this outside of academia people on the street and even many government agencies will still talk or act as if there are biologically determined races.
