Culture of Intolerance: Chauvinism, Class, and Racism in the United States [Paperback]

Professor Mark Nathan Cohen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300080662 | ISBN-13: 978-0300080667 | Publication Date: August 11, 1999

This timely book shows that a series of arbitrary misperceptions and inappropriate assumptions in American culture generate racism, the enormous gap between rich and poor, and a host of other social problems. Americans are not taught the real meaning of "freedom, " "property, " "efficiency, " "progress, " and "law." We fail to understand that other people's goals, values, and workstyles can be different from ours without being wrong, or that terms as basic as "father" or "family" may mean very different thi (all equally correct) to different people even within the United States.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

In addressing questions of how we confuse cultural difference with biological inferiority, anthropologist Cohen attacks the sacred cows of American conservatism, including strict constitutional constructionism, ``canons'' of literary discourse, and IQ testing. ``We often cannot imagine that other people might prefer their ways to ours or derive satisfaction from things that appear to us to be `quaint' and `primitive,' '' Cohen (State Univ. of New York, Plattsburgh) writes, regarding his theory that we fabricate racial hierarchies to support our cultural narrowmindedness. As an anthropologist, Cohen is accustomed to imagining just such preferences, his role being to study, without judging, other cultures. In his consequent support of multiculturalism, Cohen argues that ``the much more difficult but potentially far more rewarding challenge is to comprehend the real depth and subtlety of differences and to permit others to be different yet still coexist.'' In the area of IQ testing, without presenting new research but capably marshalling existing studies, Cohen rebuts the idea that class stratifications along racial lines are a result of differences in intelligence and dismisses even the idea that intelligence is a finite quantity that can be measured with tests that are demonstrably biased. Cohen is able to make a very convincing case for affirmative action by showing how so-called corporate welfare and the inherent benefits of being a white male in American society are themselves a form of affirmative action. Readers will find this book a strong response to such ideologues as Richard Herrnstein, Charles Murray, and Allan Bloom. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300080662
• ISBN-13: 978-0300080667
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,032,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, Readable and Insightful Account of Modern Bias, March 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Culture of Intolerance: Chauvinism, Class, and Racism in the United States (Hardcover)

This is a tremendous achievement: the book is readable, insightful, and original in the way it describes bias and inequality in America today. The book adds to a large number of books in the social sciences that try to understand why there is so much inequality today -- so few African-Americans, women and others at the top -- when so many people say that they don't intend to discriminate. Social psychologists have spent lots of time developing elaborate experimental theories of ingroup favoritism and concepts like aversive racism. This book, however, makes very similar points without getting bogged down in the technical details of experiments. It is an excellent book for an introduction to thinking about bias -- a superb book for an undergraduate course and many graduate seminars.

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!, December 1, 2002

By 

K. Johnson "Sparta" (Oakland, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Culture of Intolerance: Chauvinism, Class, and Racism in the United States (Hardcover)

Gives great definitions of basic but much confused terms like nation,culture, state etc. Beyond , it is wise, learned and and a real call for an end to hierarchy and domination , superior and inferior statuses in our thought and in society. We need more books like this that really critique American society.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A scholar's deconstruction of intolerance, July 15, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Culture of Intolerance: Chauvinism, Class, and Racism in the United States (Hardcover)

"Culture of Intolerance: Chauvinism, Class, and Racism in the United States," by Mark Nathan Cohen, is a fascinating book. Cohen writes in a clear, accessible style, and handles controversial issues with a firm and non-sensational confidence.

Cohen begins by considering the impact of the controversial book "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life," by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray. Cohen goes on to deconstruct prevailing notions about "race." He claims "'Races' as depicted in the popular imagination do not exist and have never existed" (chapter 2) and considers such scientific evidence as data about blood types in order to support his assertion.

Cohen examines human culture, language in particular, and considers the often arbitrary nature of cultural phenomena. Among the phenomena he discusses are "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," breast feeding, IQ tests, and the debate over "Ebonics." Overall, an intelligent, thought-provoking book.