The Ending of the Slave Trade and the Evolution of European Scientific Racism

Drescher, Seymour

doi:10.2307/1171358

Cited by 19 publications

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“…As Fields and Fields (2012: 17) remind us, “ race is the principal unit and core concept of racism .” But the discourse of race hides the social practice of racism, and in the nineteenth century the turn to natural history, Linnean taxonomy, and Lamarckian and Darwinian accounts of evolution all gave race a seemingly neutral scientific gloss. Race was so central a concept in the nineteenth century that even abolitionist thinkers tended to accept the general frame of reference that linked the physical, intellectual, and moral characteristics of human groups (Drescher, 1992: 364–366).…”

Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The one living black brought into the Society was a resident of Paris who posed as a model for local artists. He was brought in for visual observation” (Drescher, 1992: 383). The Society, founded in 1841, counted among its members Saint-Simonians, naturalists, historians, physical anthropologists, and even representatives of French colonial plantations (Blanckaert, 1988).…”

Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its secretary, Gustave d’Eichthal, opened the 1847 sessions by presenting three interrelated claims, all of which shaped subsequent discussions of race. He asserted that the difference between whites and blacks was fundamental to all other human differences; that the white race was superior; and that whites and blacks were not only physically different but also different in terms of their mental capacity, social relations, and even their role in the economy (Drescher, 1992: 379–380).…”

Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some members of the Society suggested Schoelcher’s evidence could be explained by the so-called civilizing influence that white groups had on blacks. Others simply asserted that slavery itself was proof of innate difference, showing clearly who was superior (the master) and who was inferior (the slave), an argument that reiterated Aristotle’s quite durable claim that some people are naturally born to be slaves (Drescher, 1992: 382–385). In both cases, the reaction to Schoelcher’s position showed just how much the question of race in France was connected to colonialism and slavery (Peabody and Stovall, 2003: 4).…”

Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The abolition of all privilege: Race, equality, and freedom in the work of Anténor Firmin

Beckett

2017

Critique of Anthropology

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Anthropology has done much to challenge the idea of the natural inferiority of races, but at times this challenge has ignored the problem of racism. This article explores an important but largely ignored foundational text about race and equality written by Anténor Firmin, a Haitian intellectual who in 1885 set out to critique the categories and concepts of nineteenth-century French anthropology. I show how Firmin’s critique of race thinking and the doctrine of racial inequality were rooted in a broader critique of colonialism, racism, and inherited privilege. Drawing on Firmin’s argument that the end of racism would facilitate the abolition of all privilege, I suggest ways in which the discipline of anthropology might build on his critique to develop a more powerful response to the reemergence of ideas of innate difference and inequality.

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Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Race and Inequality In Nineteenth-century French Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The abolition of all privilege: Race, equality, and freedom in the work of Anténor Firmin

Beckett

2017

Critique of Anthropology

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“…Indeed, both activists and philosophers relied on the reports of travel writers as the basis for the empirical evidence they needed to buttress their theoretical propositions (Strack 1996). Thus, abolitionist initiatives led to an upsurge of writings on the possibility of improvements in Africa and the Americas, whose rebirth would begin with the ending of the slave trade (Drescher 1990). …”

Section: The Campaigns For Abolitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Never look back: political thought and the abolition of slavery

Mayblin

2013

Cambridge Review of International Affairs

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The campaigns for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, spanning over 40 years, represented one of the major political issues of the late Enlightenment, and drew in people of all backgrounds. The very idea of humanity was at stake and this was an issue of broad-based concern. For the abolitionists, the humanity of black slaves was not in doubt, it was the actions of a society who condoned the practice, active or passive, that they saw as inhuman. Against this backdrop, Enlightenment thinkers were working on theories of justice, rights and humanity which would have an enduring influence on politics, society and academic thought for hundreds of years to come. This article addresses this historical context which, it is argued, is vital in reading, interpreting and applying Enlightenment thought in international relations today. The article presents primary and secondary historical evidence to this end and proposes that Spivak's conceptualization of 'sanctioned ignorance' offers much for understanding how it can be that European political thought has been so divorced from the context of slavery, from whence it emerged.

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Born This Way: Thinking Sociologically about Essentialism

Schilt

2015

Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

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“Born this way” has become a rallying cry for many LGBTQ people, and a succinct slogan for the political logic behind mainstream US‐based gay and lesbian equality activism in the late 2000s. This short phrase—“born this way”—invokes the idea that sexual orientation is an innate, essential part of a person that cannot be changed or acted upon by others. Following this logic, homosexual people and their relationships must be incorporated as a valid part of the social fabric and be afforded the same state‐based rights and benefits as heterosexual people and their relationships. Such an understanding of homosexuality as an innate essence stands in contrast to much sociological theorizing that situates sexual identity categories—as with all identity categories—as social constructs that emerge and shift across particular political, historical, and geographical contexts. In this essay, I argue that sociologists need to find ways to think empirically about this essentialist logic. I pose the question, what cultural work does “born this way” logic perform in everyday interactions around social difference, and how does it shape popular, academic, and legislative ideas about such differences? I offer a comparative analysis of the use of essentialism as an explanatory framework for social difference in four cases—race, gender, sexual orientation, and weight. I unpack the ways in which invoking “born this way” as a frame or strategy can be used both to discount the possibility of social interventions into inequality and to make a claim that inequality can only be alleviated through social interventions. Within this analysis, I further explore how social constructionist critiques of biological determinism are taken up or dismissed. I end with ideas for an empirical agenda that highlights the variations in social reactions to different identity‐based claims of biological essentialism and illustrates the importance of using an intersectional lens when examining the social outcomes of such logic.

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The Ending of the Slave Trade and the Evolution of European Scientific Racism

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

The abolition of all privilege: Race, equality, and freedom in the work of Anténor Firmin

The abolition of all privilege: Race, equality, and freedom in the work of Anténor Firmin

Never look back: political thought and the abolition of slavery

Born This Way: Thinking Sociologically about Essentialism

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