Paris Ethnology and the Perfectibility of "Races"

• Published in: Canadian journal of history Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 453 - 472
• Main Author: Staum, Martin S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Saskatoon University of Toronto Press 01.12.2000; Journal of History Co
• Subjects: Anthropology; Associations; Black people; Black White Relations; d Eichthal, Gustave; Egypt; Ethnic Identity; Ethnology; France; History; Intelligence; Minority & ethnic groups; Nineteenth Century; Race relations; Slavery; White people; France; Paris France
• ISSN: 0008-4107; 2292-8502
• DOI: 10.3138/cjh.35.3.453

A study of the debates on "appropriate relations between the black and white races" of the Paris Ethnology Society (active from 1839 to 1848) and of the manuscripts of its secretary, Gustave d’Eichthal, reveals a continuity of discourse with the early discussions in the more successful Paris Anthropology Society (founded 1859). Despite an intentional eclipse of the earlier group, both societies treated similar themes of the perfectibility of "races," the supposed physical indicators of intelligence, and the unity of the human species. The racial theory of the ethnologists could not be aligned on a progressive-conservative political axis. The ambivalent heritage of Saint-Simonianism for some leading members could promote egalitarianism, but more typically, could suggest a functional, organic view of the role of various "races." There was a symbiotic relationship of Paris ethnologists to the "American" pro-slavery anthropological school, and aspects of the discussion on Egyptian monuments anticipated recent controversies on the racial identity of Egyptians.