Living Color is the first book to investigate the social history of skin color from prehistory to the present; showing how our body’s most visible feature influences our social interactions in profound and complex ways. Nina Jablonski begins this fascinating and wide-ranging work with an explanation of the biology and evolution of skin pigmentation; tracing how skin color changed as humans moved around the globe; exploring the relationship between melanin and sunlight; and examining the consequences of mismatches between our skin color and our environment due to rapid migrations; vacations; and other life-style choices. Aided by plentiful illustrations; this book also explains why skin color has become a biological trait with great social meaning—a product of evolution perceived differently by different cultures. It considers how we form impressions of others; how we create and use stereotypes; and how prejudices about dark skin developed and have played out through history—including as justification for the transatlantic slave trade. Offering examples of how attitudes toward skin color differ in the United States; Brazil; India; and South Africa; Jablonski suggests that a knowledge of the evolution and social importance of skin color can help eliminate color-based discrimination and racism.
#1166756 in Books 2011-01-10Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .80 x 6.00l; .83 #File Name: 0520272641288 pages
Review
3 of 7 people found the following review helpful. An excellent; scholarly; detailed review of the history of Islam's orthodox nonsensical fantasy beliefs.By xxxI have read translations of the orthodox texts of Islam; the Sahih of Bukhari and Abu Muslim; the Sira of Ishaq; and the Qur'an. And; I have read "The Spirit of Islamic Law" by Weiss; so I have evidence to assent to a judgement for myself that Islam is a barbaric fantasy ideology of theft and conquest . But; not until I read this book did I fully comprehend the extremes of Islamic delusion and depths of nonsensical fantasies upon which modern Islam is founded.Read this excellent; scholarly book for an in-depth understanding of the nonsensical fantasy thinking that powers Islam ... and then; as I have done; read books that are translations of what exactly is written in orthodox Islamic texts and how those written details are turned into Islamic law; and you might assent to a judgement based on evidence and reason similar to my judgement;Islam is evil. Islam is truly evil.Further; I have assented to a judgement of truth to the statement that if the rest of us; the secular; the science minded; the tolerant of tolerance; don't make oil valueless as quickly as possible by switching to another type propulsion energy; then with the money from the sale of oil that feeds Islam's spread; Islam will eventually destroy human civilization's forward progress; and quite possible civilization itself.11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Accessible; scholarly; smartBy C. A. CameronI have a detailed review of this book up on Aaron Zelin's Jihadology site; so I'll just give you the gist of it here...I open with these two paragraphs:Jean-Pierre Filiu's book; Apocalypse in Islam (University of California Press; 2011) makes a crucially important contribution to our understanding of current events - it illuminates not just one but a cluster of closely-related blind-spots in our current thinking; and it does so with scholarship and verve.Al-Qaida's interest in acquiring nuclear weapons -- and Iran's - and the safety of Pakistan's nuclear materiel - and the situation in Jerusalem - depending how you count `em; there are a half dozen or so glaring world problems where one spark in the Mahdist underbrush might transform a critical situation. And yet as Ali Allawi put it in his talk to the Jamestown Foundation on Mahdism in Iraq a few years back; Mahdists ferments still tend to be "below our radar".and close with this conclusion:Filiu's book offers a powerful; accessible; and scholarly introduction to a set of critical issues that have largely escaped our notice until recently. Glenn Beck is about to thrust the topic of Mahdism before his core audience with an hour-long documentary this week; and the popular Christian fiction writer Joel Rosenberg's most recent novel is titled The Twelfth Imam - so Mahdism is seeping into popular awareness; particularly (and perhaps not surprisingly) in its Shi'ite form.Filiu's book is well placed to serve as an antidote; both to the popular misrepresentations and overstatements of Rosenberg and Beck; and to the casual dismissal that has characterized much scholarly consideration of these topics. It is an important book - and though the year is less than a month old; will very likely wind up being my choice for book of the year.Full review here:[…]
