The Silent War: Imperialism and the Changing Perception of Race / Frank Feuredi. - Hardcover

FUREDI

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813526116 ISBN 13: 9780813526119

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 1999

Synopsis

Racial identity is one of the defining characteristics of the 20th century. In this study, Frank Furedi traces the history of Western colonial racist ideology and its role in the subjugation of the peoples of the non-West. His central theme is the changing perception of racism in the West and how the use of "race" has altered during the course of the 20th century. Focusing on World War II as the crucial turning point in racist ideology, Furedi argues that the defeat of Nazism left the West uneasy with its own racist past. He assesses how this was redefined in the postwar period, especially during the Cold War, and demonstrates that although white supremacist views became obsolete in international affairs, Western nations sought to portray racism as a natural part of the human condition. As a result the West continued to adopt the moral high ground well into the postwar period, to the ultimate detriment of the nations of the non-West.

About this title

Review

'An important work that asks important questions about the struggle for racial equality today, and adds new insights into the history of racial thinking' -- Independent on Sunday 'Provides a critical account of the changing balance of power between western nations and the Third World since the second world war and the unspoken racial fears of ruling elites over that period ... an unusually candid critique of the 'fashionable' obsession with prejudice' -- Times Higher Education Supplement

About the Author

Frank Furedi is a professor of sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He has written widely on history, sociology, and politics and is the author of The New Ideology of Imperialism: Renewing the Moral Imperative and Mythical Past, Elusive Future: History and Society in an Anxious Age.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813526116
• ISBN 13: 9780813526119
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 282