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Boasians at War

Anthropology, Race, and World War II

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

Authors:
  1. Anthony Q. Hazard, Jr.

    1. Ethnic Studies Department, Santa Clara, USA

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  • Explores debates around ideas of racial and cultural difference, especially as used in political contexts

  • Expands research in the area of anthropology and race to grapple with Boasian anthropologists in a comparative volume

  • Provides an untold history of “race” and anti-racism that combines US History, Anthropology, and African-American Studies

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Introduction

    • Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
    Pages 1-13

  3. Papa Franz: “The Most Grotesque Fictions”

    • Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
    Pages 15-58

  4. Ashley Montagu: The Negro Question and the Myth of Race

    • Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
    Pages 59-100

  5. Margaret Mead: “A Fairly Typical Old American” on Race and Racism

    • Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
    Pages 101-138

  6. Melville Herskovits: The Negro Past and Present

    • Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
    Pages 139-173

  7. Ruth Benedict: The “Darker Side of America” and Scientific Absurdities

    • Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
    Pages 175-223

  8. Epilogue

    • Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
    Pages 225-234

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 235-261
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Keywords

About this book

This volume seeks to recover a specific historical moment within the tradition of anthropologists trained in the United States under Franz Boas, arguably the father of modern American anthropology. Focusing on Boasians Ashley Montagu, Margaret Mead, Melville Herskovits, and Ruth Benedict, Anthony Hazard highlights the extent to which the Boasians offer historicized explanations of racism that move beyond a quest to reshape only the discipline: Boasian war work pointed to the histories of chattel slavery and colonialism to theorize not just race, but the emergence of racism as both systemic and interpersonal. The realities of race that continue to plague the United States have direct ties to the anthropological work of the figures examined here, particularly within the context of the 20th-century black freedom struggle. Ultimately, Boasians at War offers a detailed glimpse of the long troubled history of the concept of race, along with the real-life realities of racism, that have carried on despite the harnessing of scientific knowledge to combat both. 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ethnic Studies Department, Santa Clara, USA

    Anthony Q. Hazard, Jr.

About the author

Anthony Hazard, Jr. is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies & History at Santa Clara University, USA.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Boasians at War

  • Book Subtitle: Anthropology, Race, and World War II

  • Authors: Anthony Q. Hazard, Jr.

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40882-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-40881-7Published: 21 April 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-40884-8Published: 21 April 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-40882-4Published: 20 April 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 261

  • Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Social Anthropology, Ethnicity Studies, Historical Sociology, Intellectual Studies

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