The Reinvention of Humanity: A Story of Race, Sex, Gender and the Discovery of Culture

• Main Author: Carey, John
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Yale University Press 2022
• Subjects: inuits
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300266689.003.0044

This chapter details Charles King's new book The Reinvention of Humanity: A Story of Race, Sex, Gender and the Discovery of Culture . The book focuses on Franz Boas, who invented modern anthropology. After living with Inuits and depending on them for survival, even though the West deemed them as savages, Boas figured that categories like races and gender are artificial constructs. Moreover, Boas' groups figured the weakness of anthropology for depending on hearsay instead of science. The chapter considers the notion of cultural relativism by referencing how its tolerance enraged conservatives. It also mentions how far Nazi racist theories originated in America.