The Cultivation Of Whiteness: Science, Health, And Racial Destiny In Australia

by Warwick Anderson

In nineteenth-century Australia, the main commentators on race and biological differences were doctors. But the medical profession entertained serious anxieties about the possibility of "racial denigration" of the white population in the new land, and medical and social scientists violated ethics and principles in pursuit of a more homogenized Australia. The Cultivation of Whiteness examines the notions of "whiteness" and racism, and introduces a whole new framework for discussion of the development of medicine and science. Warwick Anderson provides the first full account of the shocking experimentation in the 1920s and '30s on Aboriginal people of the central deserts -- the Australian equivalent of the infamous Tuskegee Experiment. Lucid and entertaining throughout, this pioneering historical survey of ideas will help to reshape debate on race, ethnicity, citizenship, and environment everywhere.

Genres: Race, Australia, History, Anthropology

400 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Raz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter is quite interesting, but the academic style of writing is really dry and REALLY hard to slog through a lot of the time.

I also found it kind of uncomfortable how the author never really challenges the blatant racism that drove us to try and overtly exterminate or assimilate the Aboriginal population for so long. I get why he didn't, as this book is really a record of history more than a statement about it, but it still left me feeling uncomfortable.

This would be a great study resource, but unless you're SUPER into Australian history I wouldn't recommend reading it otherwise.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly dense but (for me) worth the slog. The book reiterates and crystallizes in great detail the artificiality of whiteness... the immense institutional effort and force that goes into producing and reproducing, packaging and repackaging, normalizing and invisibilizing whiteness (as a measure of health and citizenship).

Definitely a great read for history buffs.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book. Undeniably very challenging and dense to read but so so worth it to understand the deep-seated racial origins of Australian national visions. Anderson traces the entirety of medical and anthropological racial theory in Australia from early environmental anxieties, to germ anxieties to the white australia policy and stolen generations. At times in the middle it gets uncomfortable reading as there seems no escape from continuous racism but then we’re reminded in the conclusion of Anderson’s brilliant vision of how race science was fundamentally incorrect and a pseudoscience, as well as revealing that even at the worst of times there was diversity of opinion and those who disagreed (even if only in part) with racist theories or ideas.

It is a challenging book and may incredibly bore some people. However if the topic interests you and have a background in academia or Australian colonial history, particularly in Queensland, or an interest in the racial theories behind the stolen generations, then the book will be extremely valuable and important.