The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race: A Political History of Racial Identity Hardcover - 2006

From the publisher

Add[s] a needed dimension to the study of race in political science that I hope scholars beyond the field of theory will take to heart. -Perspectives on Politics An indispensable book. The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race takes the study of whiteness to a new level both historically and theoretically. No previous study of the familiar racial category-'white'-has attained such global breadth and analytical depth. It remedies a significant gap in the social scientific study of race, providing an intellectual history of whiteness that is both erudite and accessible.-Howard Winant, author of The New Politics of Race: Globalism, Difference, Justice Clearly and stylishly written and argued. . . well-supported by wide-ranging research and striking knowledge. . . . The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race ranges across centuries and continents and moves from intellectual to political and social history gracefully.-David Roediger, author of The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class In racial discourse, the term 'Caucasian' has always had a scientific aura and a prestige elevated above that of the simpler colloquial 'white.' Bruce Baum's fascinating and extensively researched genealogy of the concept and its subsequent career provides an eye-opening history of the utter bogusness of these pretensions. As such, the book is not merely an invaluable addition to the recent 'whiteness' literature and a documentation of the myriad shifting possibilities of racialization, but a salutary reminder of the political economy that always underlies the category 'race.'- Charles W. Mills, author of The Racial Contract In charting the course of the 'Caucasian race' from a despised, barely European peoples to a scientific classification for white identity, Bruce Baum illuminates the socially constructed nature of race and the role of science in shaping it. His analysis of the changing fortunes of this curious concept demonstrates that even scientific inquiry is deeply influenced by the social and political assumptions of its time. By showing that the Caucasian race is a product of power rather than a racial group descended from the Caucasus region, The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race makes an important contribution to the study of race and whiteness. -Joel Olson, author of The Abolition of White Democracy The term Caucasian is a curious invention of the modern age. Originating in 1795, the word identifies both the peoples of the Caucasus Mountains region as well as those thought to be Caucasian. Bruce Baum explores the history of the term and the category of the Caucasian race more broadly in the light of the changing politics of racial theory and notions of racial identity. With a comprehensive sweep that encompasses the understanding of race even before the use of the term Caucasian, Baum traces the major trends in scientific and intellectual understandings of race from the Middle Ages to the present day. Baum's conclusions make an unprecedented attempt to separate modern science and politics from a long history of racial classification. He offers significant insights into our understanding of race and how the Caucasian race has been authoritatively invented, embraced, displaced, and recovered throughout our history.