Article ID: CBB001201592

Ruth Benedict, Boasian Anthropology, and the Problem of the Colour Line (2014)

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Ruth Benedict is a major figure in twentieth-century anthropology but her writings on race and racism have been neglected. This article provides a critical reading of Race: Science and Politics (New York: Modern Age Books, 1940), and subsequent articles on the race problem in the USA. On the one hand, Benedict made original contributions to Boasian anthropology by developing a historical account of racism as a form of oppression particular to modernity and her own approach to combating racism that went beyond proscriptions of education and tolerance. On the other hand, we can identify paradoxes in her approach to anti-racism in the USA that revolve around her understanding of racial categories, whiteness, and American culture. By modelling the solution to racial discrimination in the USA on the assimilation of European immigrants, Benedict elides the differential effects of racial distinctions on the possibilities of national inclusion while rendering American racism distinct from American culture.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001201592/

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Authors & Contributors
Redman, Samuel J.
Zumwalt, Rosemary Lévy
Teslow, Tracy
Parezo, Nancy
Miller, Ethan Zane
Jones, Angelina
Concepts
Science and race
Anthropology
Science and culture
Cultural anthropology
African Americans and science
Racism
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
20th century
20th century, late
18th century
Places
United States
Germany
Philadelphia, PA
Eastern Europe
Americas
Belgium
Institutions
Columbia University
Smithsonian Institution
American Museum of Natural History, New York
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