Melville J. Herskovits and the racial politics of knowledge Jerry Gershenhorn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gershenhorn, Jerry.

Series:

Critical studies in the history of anthropology

Critical studies in the history of anthropology Melville J. Herskovits

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Self-determination, National--Africa, West.

Self-determination, National.

African diaspora.

Cultural relativism--Africa, West.

Cultural relativism.

Racism in anthropology--United States.

Racism in anthropology.

African Americans--Social life and customs.

African Americans.

African Americans--Anthropometry.

Anthropologists--Africa, West--Biography.

Anthropologists.

Anthropologists--United States--Biography.

Africa, West--Social life and customs.

Africa, West.

Herskovits, Melville J. (Melville Jean), 1895-1963.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 338 p., [8] p. of plates ) ill. ;

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2012

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

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 racial hierarchy, Melville J. Herskovits (1895-1963) employed physical anthropology and ethnographyy 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. While Herskovits promoted African and African American studies, he criticized some activist black scholars, most notably Carter G. Woodson and W.E.B. Du Bois, whom he considered propagandists because of their social reform orientation." "After World War II, Herskovits became an outspoken public figure, advocating African independence and attacking American policymakers who treated Africa as an object of Cold War strategy. 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."--Jacket.

Contents:

The making of an anthropologist

The attack on pseudoscientific racism

Transforming the debate on Black culture

Subverting the myth of the Negro past

Objectivity and the development of Negro studies

The postwar expansion of African studies

Foreign policy critic.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 305-327) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9786610424115

9781280424113

1280424117

9780803203952

0803203950

OCLC:

54860175