The "Racial" Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future (Race, Gender, and Science) [Paperback]

Sandra Harding (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0253208106 | ISBN-13: 978-0253208101

"The classic and recent essays gathered here will challenge scholars in the natural sciences, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and women's studies to examine the role of racism in the construction and application of the sciences. Harding... has also created a useful text for diverse classroom settings." —Library Journal

"A rich lode of readily accessible thought on the nature and practice of science in society. Highly recommended." —Choice

"This is an excellent collection of essays that should prove useful in a wide range of STS courses." —Science, Technology, and Society

"... important and provocative... " —The Women's Review of Books

"The timeliness and utility of this large interdisciplinary reader on the relation of Western science to other cultures and to world history can hardly be overemphasized. It provides a tremendous resource for teaching and for research... " —Ethics

"Excellent." —The Reader's Review

"Sandra Harding is an intellectually fearless scholar. She has assembled a bold, impressive collection of essays to make a volume of illuminating power. This brilliantly edited book is essential reading for all who seek understanding of the multicultural debates of our age. Never has a book been more timely." —Darlene Clark Hine

These authors dispute science's legitimation of culturally approved definitions of race difference—including craniology and the measurement of IQ, the notorious Tuskegee syphilis experiments, and the dependence of Third World research on First World agendas.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Have Western sciences been entirely progressive, particularly in regards to "race?" Or is their inherent Eurocentrism responsible for perpetuating a "racial economy"--that is, for parceling out along racial lines the benefits of these sciences to the West and the drawbacks to the Third World? By addressing these questions, this book should move the social studies of science into a dimension that editor Harding admits has been largely absent in Western critiques of science, even the feminist critiques for which Harding is noted. In fact, the classic and recent essays gathered here will challenge scholars in the natural sciences, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and women's studies to examine the role of racism in the construction and application of the sciences. Harding ( Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Thinking from Women's Lives , Cornell Univ. Pr., 1991) has also created a useful text for diverse classroom settings. Recommended for academic libraries.
- Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

By racial economy Harding means those institutions, assumptions, and practices that are responsible for disproportionately distributing along 'racial' lines the benefits of Western science to the haves and the bad consequences to the have—nots, thereby enlarging the gap between them. Challenging traditional views of Western science as a progressive force and pure intellectual endeavor, she instead locates it as a Eurocentric institution shaped by the racist, sexist, and imperialist character of the dominant social order (from which ranks its practitioners are still largely drawn), and disserving the needs and interests of the peoples of the Third World and minorities in Western society. She further suggests that science itself has suffered as a creative force by neglecting the potential of non—Western contributions. An impressively broad array of scholarship has been assembled to explore these issues, drawn from scientists and historians of science, activists, and public policy analysts. The essays address themes of non—Western scientific traditions, scientific views of race, who gets to do science, regressive effects of technology on peoples of non—European origin, the supposed value neutrality of science, and the possibilities for a different relationship between science and society. A rich lode of readily accessible thought on the nature and practice of science in society. Highly recommended. General; undergraduate; graduate.L. W. Moore, formerly, University of Kentucky, Choice, May 1994

(L. W. Moore, formerly, University of Kentucky Choice 1994)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (October 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253208106
• ISBN-13: 978-0253208101
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #626,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!!, June 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The "Racial" Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future (Race, Gender, and Science) (Paperback)

This excellent book will uncover for you the dangers inhent with the modern paradigm of science. The "S knows that P" model, and the atrocities that it can alow will become evident after reading just a few essays in the Racial Economy of Science. Chanllenge yourself to face the problems that feminism presents.