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Melville J. Herskovits and the racial politics of knowledge
- Author / Creator
- Available as
- Online
- Summary
-
Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge is the first full-scale biography of the trailblazing anthropologist of African and African American cultures. Born into a world of racia...
Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge is the first full-scale biography of the trailblazing anthropologist of African and African American cultures. Born into a world of racial hierarchy, Melville J. Herskovits (1895-1963) employed physical anthropology and ethnography to undermine racist and hierarchical ways of thinking about humanity and to underscore the value of cultural diversity. His research in West Africa, the West Indies, and South America documented the far-reaching influence of African cultures in the Americas. He founded the first major interdisciplinary American program in African studies in 1948 at Northwestern University, and his controversial classic The Myth of the Negro Past delineated African cultural influences on American blacks and showcased the vibrancy of African American culture. He also helped forge the concept of cultural relativism, particularly in his book Man and His Works. Drawing extensively on Herskovits's private papers and published works, Jerry Gershenhorn's biography recognizes Herskovits's many contributions and discusses the complex consequences of his conclusions, methodologies, and relations with African American scholars.
Details
- Creator
- Jerry Gershenhorn
- Format
- Books
- Language
- English
- Publication
-
- Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, ©2004
- Physical Details
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- 1 online resource (xvii, 338 pages) : illustrations
- data file
- ISBNs
- 0803203950, 9780803203952, 0803221878, 9780803221871, 1280424117, 9781280424113, 9786610424115, 661042411X, 0803221878
- OCLC
- ocm54860175
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-327) and index.
- English.
- List of Illustrations; 1. Herman Herskovits; 2. Franz Boas; 3. Melville and Frances Herskovits; 4. Herskovits with Suriname artifact; 5. Carter G. Woodson; 7. Ralph Bunche; 8. Gunnar Myrdal; 9. E. Franklin Frazier; 10. Herskovits at Northwestern University; 11. Herskovits and J. Roscoe Miller with Liberian president William V.S. Tubman; 12. Frances Herskovits; Series Editors' Introduction; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The Making of an Anthropologist; 2. The Attack of Pseudoscientific Racism; 3. Transforming the Debate on Black Culture; 4. Subverting the Myth of the Negro Past
- 5. Objectivity and the Development of Negro Studies6. The Postwar Expansion of African Studies; 7. Foreign Policy Critic; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y; Z
Subjects
- Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963.
- Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963.
Children's Subject Heading
- Anthropologists -- United States -- Biography.
- Anthropologists -- Africa, West -- Biography.
- African Americans -- Anthropometry.
- African Americans -- Social life and customs.
- Racism in anthropology -- United States.
- Cultural relativism -- Africa, West.
- African diaspora.
- Self-determination, National -- Africa, West.
- Africa, West -- Social life and customs.