authors:
- Malik, Kenan
content: Kenan Malik reviews the fascinating, scary and winding ways that race thinking
  has mutated during the last 500 or so years in the primarily Western debate. The
  book is 10 years old but has lost none of its urgency and timeliness. If anything,
  its arguments are needed more than ever. First he debunks the popular postmodern
  myth that Enlightenment thinking was basically racist. Then he describes how a complex
  interplay of Romantic thought, pre-Darwinian notions and other influences created
  the overtly racist science of eugenics. Today, the postcolonial movement proposes
  "respect" for other cultures. Malik shows how this entails taking up some of the
  same arguments that were used to buttress older conservative and fascist ideas of
  race. It is a development that is as ironic as it is tragic. Those supportive of
  the aspirations of Enlightenment universalism must confront this double-pronged
  attack.
date: '2018-03-16'
edition:
  published: '2008'
  publisher: Oneworld Pubns Ltd
goodreads: '3496693'
html: '<p>Kenan Malik reviews the fascinating, scary and winding ways that race thinking
  has mutated during the last 500 or so years in the primarily Western debate. The
  book is 10 years old but has lost none of its urgency and timeliness. If anything,
  its arguments are needed more than ever. First he debunks the popular postmodern
  myth that Enlightenment thinking was basically racist. Then he describes how a complex
  interplay of Romantic thought, pre-Darwinian notions and other influences created
  the overtly racist science of eugenics. Today, the postcolonial movement proposes
  &quot;respect&quot; for other cultures. Malik shows how this entails taking up some
  of the same arguments that were used to buttress older conservative and fascist
  ideas of race. It is a development that is as ironic as it is tragic. Those supportive
  of the aspirations of Enlightenment universalism must confront this double-pronged
  attack.</p>

  '
isbn: '9781851685882'
language: en
lastmod: '2018-03-16'
path: /library/malik-2008.html
published: '2008'
rating: 5
reference: Malik 2008
reviewed: '2018-03-16'
subjects:
- enlightenment
- human-evolution
- liberalism
- political-philosophy
- science
title: 'Strange Fruit: Why Both Sides are Wrong in the Race Debate'
type: book
year: 2008