Race And Culture: A World View (Paperback)

by Thomas Sowell (Author) "Racial, ethnic, and cultural differences among peoples play a major role in the events of our times, in countries around the world, and have played..." (more)
Key Phrases: mental test results, offshoot societies, middleman minorities, United States, Western Hemisphere, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Sowell ( Ethnic America ) draws on a worldwide range of examples and more than a decade of research in this intriguing exploration of the role of cultural attributes on group advancement. He aims to demonstrate the "reality, persistence, and consequences of cultural differences--contrary to many of today's grand theories based on the supposed dominant role of 'objective conditions,' 'economic forces' or 'social structures.' " He tackles a host of issues: the costs and benefits of residential segregation; how affirmative action primarily helps better-off members of preferred groups; how prominent political leaders are not crucial to group success; how low-scoring groups on intelligence tests do their worst on abstract questions devoid of "cultural bias." Sowell's observations have force, but he sometimes sacrifices depth for breadth. Although he claims to avoid policy prescriptions, he includes facile swipes against multiculturalism and argues, with varying degrees of plausibility, against liberal policies on race. Conservative Book Club selection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Sowell, a black conservative and senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, moves beyond the domestic focus of his Ethnic America (LJ 6/1/81) to analyze the interplay between the cultural capital and social position of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities around the world. Observing ethnic and racial minorities migrating from country to country, Sowell postulates that existing intergroup cultural values play a predominate role in social status. These values determine which groups follow advances in science, technology, and organization, which fall behind, and which become societal leaders. Sowell concludes that the economic and social condition of many minorities lies not in social and political programs such as affirmative action but in the internal cultural values of the group. Sowell's study undoubtedly will arouse controversy and provoke debate. A valuable addition to minority studies collections in public and academic libraries alike.
Michael A. Lutes, Univ. of Notre Dame Lib., Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465067972
• ISBN-13: 978-0465067978
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,948 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Balanced, scholarly treatment of a difficult subject, May 25, 2000

By	Christopher A. Smith (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Race and Culture" would more accurately be titled "Culture and Race". The book is a masterful treatment of cultural differences worldwide and how they have directed the course that our world's societies have taken. Race (the hot-button) get's a less extensive treatment.

On this topic of race, the book is most provocative in Sowell's chapter "Race and Intelligence". Sowell is clear in his analysis and the reader comes away feeling that he has presented a balanced set of findings. Sowell is careful with his assumptions; he extensively reports the results of IQ tests worldwide without going so far as to suggest that these tests actually measure innate intellectual ability. Although he unflinchingly points to differences which fall along racial lines, he also points to the fact that these test scores change over time (dramatically in some cases, with some American immigrant groups acquiring 18 points of IQ as their racial group assimilated into American culture and the academic tradition.)

Differences in test scores, therefore, are presented as differences in performance. It is undeniable that some groups, such as African Americans, consistently score lower on certain standardized tests. It takes a balanced look at all the data to understand why. As an African American who is interested in such issues, I came away feeling that Sowell had not ducked the hard issues, considered all of the evidence, and reached valid conclusions.

At the end of the day it is clear that Sowell is an economist; one can almost see supply and demand curves superimposed on the page behind the wording. If there is a flaw in the book it is that his academic viewpoint as an economist skews his view of human nature. We're presented with repeated examples of the un-economic results of discrimination. While we know that this is true, we also know that people often make un-economic decisions for emotional reasons.

This, however is nit-picking (it is easy to bash economists). Overall this is a balanced treatment and an impressive work of scholarship that will leave the reader thinking. This is a book to which I'll refer in the future.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TRIUMPH OF LOGIC!!!!!!, January 10, 2006

By	Steve Guardala "Support The ASPCA. Ignore All... (?????) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Mr. Sowell is an erudite scholar. He presents his no excuse thesis with logic, research, and a keen instinct for interpreting human behavior. Historical facts illuminate every point." The distorting censorship of political correctness thankfully was not found here." Every factor is brought in, climate, geography, cultural norms, etc. That all these things play a role in the successes and failures of both the individual and the group,is proven beyond doubt in this seminal book. This should be required reading in all of our schools.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes the case for culture, June 16, 2006

By	Justin Bond (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Thomas Sowell more than succeeds in making the case for culture. Some examples of culture overcoming the limits of geography and even external oppression include the following:

(1) The widespread loss of technology in Europe in goods such as cloth, iron and construction techniques that occurred after the fall of the Roman Empire. It took about 1000 years for Europe to catch back up.

(2) The success of middleman minorities, which includes the Jews almost everywhere, Koreans in the United States, Gujaratis and Chettyars in India, Lebanese, and Armenians. Their successes collectively show that there are entrepreneurial opportunities that are neglected by the majority ethnic groups which they serve (Sowell does not argue that this is genetic, rather that different ethnicities have different cultures)

(3) Encapsulated minorities such as the Amish in America or the Black Sea Germans in Russia, cultures that form their own isolated enclave and then have different degrees of success or failure than the surrounding groups, despite sharing geography. Surely geography is not destiny for the Amish!

(4) Different cultures have different degree of receptivity to innovations. For example, Christian missionaries also spread education, and they had more luck with animist cultures than they did with Islamic and Buddhist cultures. Since the missionaries also spread education, being receptive to missionaries ushered in improved success in the economic realm. A different example occurs in Great Britain. The Scots embraced England's superior education whereas Wales and Ireland largely rejected English ways, including education. This led to Scottish advances upon English traditions (see also: David Hume and James Watts), while Wales and Ireland languished.

The weakness of this book is that is fairly long and fairly dry. I would recommend the much shorter book Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality for most readers. It makes many of the same points about the importance of culture.