1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781485703321

Autore

Morning Ann

Titolo

The Nature of Race : How Scientists Think and Teach about Human Difference / / Ann Morning

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, CA : , : University of California Press, , [2011]

©2011

ISBN

1-283-27840-5

9786613278401

0-520-95014-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (326 p.)

Disciplina

305.8

Soggetti

Race

Racism in anthropology

Racism in education

Racism in textbooks

Anthropology

Social Sciences

Physical Anthropology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- ONE. Introduction: what is race? -- TWO. What Do We Know about Scientific and Popular Concepts of Race? -- THREE. Textbook Race: Lessons on Human Difference -- FOUR. Teaching Race: Scientists on Human Difference -- FIVE. Learning Race: Students on Human Difference -- SIX. Race Concepts beyond the Classroom -- SEVEN. Conclusion: the redemption of essentialism -- APPENDIX A: Textbook Sample Selection and List -- APPENDIX B: Interview Research Design and Methodology -- APPENDIX C: Faculty Questionnaire -- APPENDIX D: Student Questionnaire -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

What do Americans think "race" means? What determines one's race-appearance, ancestry, genes, or culture? How do education, government, and business influence our views on race? To unravel



these complex questions, Ann Morning takes a close look at how scientists are influencing ideas about race through teaching and textbooks. Drawing from in-depth interviews with biologists, anthropologists, and undergraduates, Morning explores different conceptions of race-finding for example, that while many sociologists now assume that race is a social invention or "construct," anthropologists and biologists are far from such a consensus. She discusses powerful new genetic accounts of race, and considers how corporations and the government use scientific research-for example, in designing DNA ancestry tests or census questionnaires-in ways that often reinforce the idea that race is biologically determined. Widening the debate about race beyond the pages of scholarly journals, The Nature of Race dissects competing definitions in straightforward language to reveal the logic and assumptions underpinning today's claims about human difference.