Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides are Wrong in the Race Debate [Hardcover]

Kenan Malik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2008

The debate about race is back - and with a vengeance. In the past scientific ideas of race reflected political ideas of inferiority and superiority, whereas today it reflects contemporary notions of diversity. Malik challenges both sides of the race debate, controversially revealing that it is not through the scientific study of human differences but through our political obsession with identity and diversity that racial ideas are once more catching fire.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In 1996, a 9,000-year-old skull was excavated near Kennewick, Wash., and quickly became the focus of a charged debate between scientists and Native American groups who battled over the race of the skeleton and which group could claim ownership. The controversy over race, biology and genealogy is an ideal touchstone for this smart and sensible book that brilliantly encapsulates the incident, asking: Who owns knowledge? and why antiracism has come to be defined in opposition to scientific rationality. While race is increasingly regarded as a social construct, not biological reality, Malik (Man, Beast and Zombie) demonstrates how the contemporary obsession with identity has propelled a dangerous—and liberal—tendency to romanticize race. Commonalities are being downplayed, according to the author, as individuals are seeking answers in terms of history and heritage. Malik's argument will likely stimulate further controversy—he wrestles with Enlightenment and Romantic philosophies, political correctness, identity politics and racism, not to mention the repatriation of cultural artifacts. A neat summary of the history of thinking behind race, the book projects not a milquetoast middle ground but rational approaches for moving forward in a racialized world. (Aug.)
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Review

"Kenan Malik delivers a withering critique of what he sees as the racial view of the world. In doing so his arguments are a challenge to all those who seek to better understand the continuing debates about race and racism in our changing global environment." -- John Solomos, Head of the Sociology Department, City University, London and author of Race and Racism in Britain (2003)

"Stripping away layers of pseudo-science and taken-for-granted prejudices, paying no dues to political correctness, he has written a penetrating critique." -- Adam Kuper, Professor of Anthropology, Brunel University, London

"For anyone who finds themselves confused or bemused by the 'race debate', and perhaps even more so for those who know exactly where they stand, Strange Fruit, Kenan Malik's excellent new book, is essential reading. Malik is one of the most interesting and perceptive voices operating in the disputed territory where science, culture and politics meet. A stalwart defender of free speech, he is a formidable enemy of fuzzy or wishful thinking." -- The Observer, 29 June, 2008

"Kenan Malik's argument will probably not end the race debate just yet, but that will not be for want of eloquence or cogency: far from it" -- A.C. Grayling, Literary Review, July 2008

"Society changes, science moves on, but race remains the most uneasy and confused of topics. Cutting through the confusion, Kenan Malik's lucid and vivid account is essential reading for anybody who wants to think sensibly about race and human diversity." -- Marek Kohn, Journalist and author of The Race Gallery: The Return of Racial Science

"Three cheers for Malik's rationalism" -- New Scientist, June 21, 2008

"[Malik's] tone is measured and his arguments well grounded. And underpinning his lucid and important book is a fundamental belief in universal human dignity." -- Financial Times, June 16, 2008

"A nicely provocative and stylish polemic." --The Guardian

'Body Shopping' contains salutary lessons in medical ethics, and demonstrates the frightening speed with which the formerly grotesque can become accepted as the norm. The interested layman, medical or biomedical student will find the book informative and thought-provoking. --Bionews - Journal of the Progress Educational Trust

"A timely book, Donna Dickenson's intelligent and disturbing polemic attacks the complacency of doctors and legislators across the political spectrum who see the increasing commoditisation of human tissue-from gene patenting and egg donation to transplant tissue and modern-day grave robbing as inevitable and irreversible." --Review (supp to The Observer)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oneworld (June 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185168588X
• ISBN-13: 978-1851685882
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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