The legacy of Malthus: The social costs of the new scientific racism

by Allan Chase

This is the first comprehensive account of scientific racism—its origins in the Industrial Revolution, its theorists, its propagandists, and its destructive effects on past and present American life. The Legacy of Malthus is at one a narrative history and a thorough dissection of the pseudoscientific “proofs” that particular social groups—in various times and the poor and the middle classes, the Jews, the Irish, the Italians, the blacks, and the poor southern whites—are genetically inferior. Above all, this book is an awesomely documented revelation of the many sensitive areas of American life today –from child care to public health—where the malignant doctrines of scientific racism influence public policy. Meticulously and passionately, Chase demonstrates the extent to which the pseudoscientific myths that shaped past horrors find voice today in the theories of influential scientists, educators, and governmental decision-makers. –From inside dust jacket.

Genres: Science, History, Philosophy, Race, Politics, Nonfiction

686 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1980

Reviews

[Steve Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book that I read well over twenty years ago.

Chase writes about the American eugenics movement and how grew from intelligence tests administered during the early 20th century.

Some years ago somebody loaned me David Duke's book "My Awakening". Duke, an overt racist, justified his racial views by using many of the questionable studies that Chase brings up in "The Legacy of Malthus."

Sadly, Chase's book is out of print. My copy was loaned to a professor years ago, and he lost it...and all the other books I loaned him. Chase's book is now offered used for about thirty dollars on Amazon. I highly recommend it.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhaustively traces the trajectory of eugenics from Malthus to the environmental movement of the 1970s.