Lecture 8- Racism and antisemitism Flashcards
(26 cards)
What period marks the birth of racist science?
1750-1850
What was the Enlightenment’s impact on racist science?
Imposition of order on the natural world through identification of patterns and classification
What are the two attempts to explain human variation in racist science?
- Monogenism
- Polygenism
What did ‘racial taxonomy’ rely on?
Ranking characteristics with white Europeans at the very top
Who is known for the ‘Systema Natura’ and what was its significance?
Carl Linnaeus; it considered humans in the same order as primates
How did Linnaeus subdivide humans?
- White European
- Dark Asian
- Black African
- Red American
What was Linnaeus’s ethnocentric bias regarding governance?
Described white Europeans as governed by laws and black Africans as governed by caprice
What is the term for Blumenbach’s idea that all races could improve?
Perfectability
What is the relationship between racist science and slavery?
Roots can be found in the European slave trade and attempts to justify slavery
What was the belief of humanitarian racism?
Those at the bottom of the racial hierarchy would benefit from civilization and Christianity
Who argued that races remained unchanged throughout history?
Robert Knox in ‘The Races of Men’ (1850)
What did racist stereotyping say about character and race?
‘Sly, sluggish, neglectful’ (Linnaeus on Africans)
What concepts of beauty were influenced by race?
Based on Greek and Roman ideals favoring paleness and classical features
What stereotype was attributed to black women?
Deemed to have excessive sexuality and more emotional, irrational, dumb
What significant work did Charles Darwin publish in 1859?
‘On the Origin of Species’
What major theory did Darwin’s work provide?
Theory of evolutionary interconnectedness
What term was coined by Francis Galton?
Eugenics
What was the role of anti-liberalism in scientific racism?
Contributed to mass political mobilization and growth of nationalism
What did the Dreyfus affair lead to in France?
Antisemitic violence in major cities
What was the Jewish population of France in the early 19th century?
Less than 1% of the population
What was the response of Jews in Russia to the 1881 assassination of Tsar Alexander?
Triggered massive pogroms and migration to the West
What false document circulated in 1903 regarding Jews?
Protocols of the Elders of Zion
What was Vienna’s Jewish population by 1869?
Just over 40,000
What did rising nationalism in Germany contribute to?
Intensified antisemitism
