The nature of race how scientists think and teach about human difference

Morning, Ann Juanita 1968- (Author).

Summary: "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, the author 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, she 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, this book dissects competing definitions in straightforward language to reveal the logic and assumptions underpinning today's claims about human difference"--Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 1283278405
ISBN: 9781283278409
ISBN: 0520270312
ISBN: 9780520270312
ISBN: 0520270304
ISBN: 9780520270305
ISBN: 0520950143
ISBN: 9780520950146
Physical Description: 1 online resource (xiii, 310 pages) : illustrations, maps
remote
electronic resource
Publisher: Berkeley : University of California Press, ©2011.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-303) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Introduction: what is race? -- What do we know about scientific and popular concepts of race? -- Textbook race: lessons on human difference -- Teaching race: scientists on human difference -- Learning race: students on human difference -- Race concepts beyond the classroom -- Conclusion: the redemption of essentialism.
Source of Description Note:	Print version record.