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⚫ | {{for|the peoples actually from the Caucasus|Peoples of the Caucasus}} | ||
''See ] for other meanings of the term.'' | |||
] (]) shows the "Caucasian race" (in blue) as comprising "]s", "]" and "]". "Aryans" are further sub-divided into "European Aryans" and "Indo-Aryans" (the latter corresponding to the group now designated ]).]] | |||
⚫ | |||
⚫ | ]) divides "Caucasiod types" into: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ].]] | ||
{{Articleissues|unbalanced=July 2008|disputed=March 2008}} | |||
⚫ | The '''Caucasian race''', sometimes |
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⚫ | The '''Caucasian race''', sometimes the '''Caucasoid race''',<ref>The ] defines ''Caucasoid'' as as noun or adjective meaning ''Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Caucasian race.''</ref><ref>http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50034773?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=Caucasoid&first=1&max_to_show=10</ref> is defined by the ] as "relating to a broad division of humankind covering peoples from ], the ], and parts of ], and ]" or "]; of European origin" or "relating to the region of the ] in SE ]".<ref>http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/caucasian?view=uk</ref> The concept's existence is based on the now disputed typological method of racial classification.<ref>O'Neil, Dennis. "Biological Anthropology Terms." 2006. May 13, 2007. Palomar College.</ref><ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/gill.html Does Race Exist? A proponent's perspective by George W. Gill.</ref> | ||
The term ] survives along with the similar classification “white” in many sociological studies. It is also retained with the corresponding terms '']'' and '']'' in a scientific sense in ]. | |||
In Europe, especially in Russia and nearby, ''Caucasian'' usually describes ''exclusively'' people who are from the ] region or speak the ]. | |||
== Origins of the term== | == Origins of the term== | ||
] |
] girl (1881 photograph).]] | ||
The term |
The term ''Caucasian'' originated as one of the racial categories recognized by 19th century ] and is derived from the region of the ] mountains<ref>University of Pennsylvania </ref>.The concept of a "Caucasian race" or ''Varietas Caucasia'' was first proposed under those names by the German scientist and classical anthropologist, ] (1752-1840).<ref>University of Pennsylvania </ref> His studies based the classification of the Caucasian race primarily on skull features, which Blumenbach claimed were optimized by the ].<ref name=Blumenbach>Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, The anthropological treatises of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, | ||
translated by Thomas Bendyshe. 1865. November 2, 2006. </ref> Blumenbach writes: | |||
The 18th century German philosopher ] first named the concept of the Caucasian race<ref name=Painter /><!-- p. 34 -->, but the term was more widely popularized in the 19th c. under the name "Varietas Caucasia" by the German scientist and naturalist, ] (1752-1840) who "''borrowed the name Caucasian''" from Meiners<!--p.9-->.<ref>University of Pennsylvania </ref> Blumenbach based the classification of the Caucasian race primarily on skull features, which Blumenbach claimed were optimized by the ],<ref name=Blumenbach>Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, The anthropological treatises of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, | |||
translated by Thomas Bendyshe. 1865. November 2, 2006. </ref> particularly a single skull from the Caucasia which resembled German skulls.<ref name=Gossett>Gossett, Thomas F. <u>New Edition Race The History of an Idea in America. </u> New York:Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-509778-5 p. 38</ref> It was from this similarity that he conjectured Europeans having arisen in the Caucasia.<ref name=Gossett /> Blumenbach wrote about the "''primeval''"<!--p.24--><ref name=Painter /> Caucasian race which he believed was “''the oldest race of man''”<ref name=Painter /><!--p.20--> and the "''first variety of humankind''"<!--p.23--><ref name=Painter />. | |||
<blockquote>''Caucasian variety |
<blockquote>''Caucasian variety - I have taken the name of this variety from Mount Caucasus, both because its neighborhood, and especially its southern slope, produces the most beautiful race of men, I mean the ]; and because all physiological reasons converge to this, that in that region, if anywhere, it seems we ought with the greatest probability to place the autochthones (birth place) of mankind''.<ref>Blumenbach , ''De generis humani varietate nativa'' (3rd ed. 1795), trans. Bendyshe (1865). Quoted e.g. in Arthur Keith, ''Blumenbach's Centenary'', ''Man'', Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1940). | ||
</ref> |
</ref></blockquote> | ||
⚫ | The Caucasus was historically an area of fascination for Europeans; ] and ] were myths featured in the Caucasus.<ref name=caucasus>Caucasus, Historical Notes </ref> Greek mythology considered women from the Caucasus to have magical powers.<ref>Painter, p. {{page number}}</ref> In Greek mythology, this area was thought of as a kind of hell since ] imprisoned many Titans who opposed him (e.g. ]) there. | ||
⚫ | ==Physical anthropology== | ||
In 1855, French diplomat and man of letters Arthur de Gobineau popularized ideas about race: "I must say, once and for all, that I understand by white men the members of those races which are also called Caucasian<!--146--><ref name=Gob /> … white races … had their first settlement in the Caucasus."<!--p.141--><ref name=Gob>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JeM_1BCeffAC|year=1915|publisher=Putnam|last=Gobineau|first= Arthur|title=The Inequality of Human Races|accessdate=2007-10-18}}</ref> | |||
⚫ | ''Caucasoid race'' is a term used in ] to refer to people of a certain range of ] measurements <ref>Reinhard, K.J., & Hastings, D. (Annual 2003) Learning from the ancestors: the value of skeletal study.(study of ancestors of Omaha Tribe of Nebraska). In American Journal of Physical Anthropology, p177(1).</ref>. | ||
⚫ | The Caucasus was historically an area of fascination for Europeans |
||
19th century ] considered the ] of non-Caucasoid stock, as "]" (] 1865) or a separate "Dravida" race (]) and assumed a gradient of miscegenation of high-caste Caucasoid "]" and indigenous Dravidians. ] in his 1939 '']'' classifies the Dravidians as Caucasoid as well, due to their "Caucasiod skull structure" and other physical traits (e.g. noses, eyes, hair), in his 1969 ''The Living Races of Man'' stating that "India is the easternmost outpost of the Caucasian racial region". | |||
==Populations included== | |||
===Nordic, Alpine, and Mediterranean=== | |||
Among the main racial group of Caucasians there are three subgroups; ], ], and ]. | |||
]’s map of racial categories from ''On the Geographical Distribution of the Chief Modifications of Mankind'' (]). {{legend|#a14308|1: Bushmen}} | |||
{{legend|#682b05|2: Negroes}} | |||
{{legend|#060606|3: Negritoes}} | |||
{{legend|#ffcccc|4: Melanochroi}} | |||
{{legend|#328a85|5: Australoids}} | |||
{{legend|#ff0000|6: Xanthochroi}} | |||
{{legend|#efc417|7: Polynesians}} | |||
{{legend|#c6520a|8: Mongoloids A}} | |||
{{legend|#cb780a|8: Mongoloids B}} | |||
{{legend|#cb970a|8: Mongoloids C}} | |||
{{legend|#f9b90d|9: Esquimaux}} | |||
Huxley states: “It is to the Xanthochroi and Melanochroi, taken together, that the absurd denomination of ‘Caucasian’ is usually applied”.<ref>] “” (1870) ''Journal of the Ethnological Society of London''</ref>]] | |||
Eighteenth century anthropologist Christoph Meiners, who first defined the Caucasian race, posited a “''binary racial scheme''”<!--p.34--> of two races<!--p.19--> with the Caucasian whose racial purity was exemplified by the “''venerated … ancient Germans''”<!--p.34-->, although he considered some Europeans as impure “''dirty whites''”<!-- page 36 -->; and “''Mongolians''”, who consisted of everyone else.<ref name=Painter /><!-- page 34 --> Meiners did not include ]s as Caucasians and ascribed them a “''permanently degenerate nature''”.<ref>Eigen, Sara. <u>The German Invention of Race.</u> Suny Press:New York, 2006. ISBN 0-79146-677-9 p.205 </ref> Anthropologist Johann Blumenbach, Meiners’ contemporary, stated, “''to this first variety belong the inhabitants of Europe (except the ]) and those of Eastern Asia, as far as the ], the ], the ] and the ]; and lastly, those of North Africa''” <ref name=Painter /><!--p.21-->. French doctor and pharmacist Jean Joseph-Virey<!--p.4--><ref>Chapman, Herrik. <u>Race in France.</u> Berghahn Books:2004. ISBN 157181857X </ref> also known as “''Julien-Joseph Virey''”<ref>Guerdon, Martial. Arts and Societies. “the physiognomy of jean-baptiste delestre (1800-1871): ideal beauty and autopsy of the social body.” 2004. October 22, 2007. </ref> or “''Jean-Julien Virey''”<!--p. 84--><ref name=Franzieka /> followed Meiners’ racial system. Hannah Franzieka identified 19th c. writers who believed in the “Caucasian hypothesis” and noted that “Jean-Julien Virey and Louis Antoine Desmoulines were well-known supports of the idea that Europeans came from Mount Caucasus.”<!--p.84--><ref name=Franzieka>Franzieka, Hannah. Berghahn Books: 2004. ISBN 157181857X <u>James Cowles Prichard’s Anthropology: Remaking the Science of Man in Early</u></ref> In his political history of racial identity, Bruce Baum wrote, “Jean-Joseph Virey (1774-1847), a follower of Chistoph Meiners, claimed that ‘the human races … may divided … into those who are fair and white and those who are dark or black.”<!--p. 98--><ref name=Baum>Baum, Bruce David. <u>The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race: A Political History of Racial Identity.</u> New York University: 2006. ISBN 0814798926 </ref> | |||
With the turn away from ] in the late 20th century, the term ''Caucasian'' as a racial classification fell into disuse in Europe. Thus, in the ], ''Caucasian'' is more likely than in the ] to describe people from the Caucasus, although it may still be used as a racial classification.<ref>Katsiavriades, Kryss. Qureshi, Talaat. English Usage in the UK and USA. 1997. October 26, 2006. ; see also Pearsell, Judy and Trumble, Bill (Eds) Oxford English Reference Dictionary. 2002.</ref> | |||
⚫ | ==Physical |
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⚫ | ]) divides |
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Eighteenth century anthropologist Christoph Meiners, who first defined the term, characterized the “Caucasian” as having the characteristics of “lightness”, “beauty” and being “handsome”<!--p.19--> with the “ancient Germans” having the “whitest, most blooming and most delicate skin” because they were the most racially pure Caucasians.<ref name=Painter /><!-- p. 34--> 18th century anthropologist Johann Blumenbach, the second person to define the term, considered Caucasians to be the top of “''racial hierarchy''”<!--p.19--> he organized where, ''“the white color holds the first place, such as it is that most Europeans. The redness of cheeks in this variety is almost peculiar to it: at all events it is but seldom seen in the rest.”''<!--p.20--> and described Caucasians as, ''“Color white, Cheeks rosy; hair brown or chestnut-colored; head subglobular; face oval, straight, its parts moderately defined, forehead smooth, nose narrow, slightly hooked, mouth small. The primary teeth placed perpendicularly to each jaw: the lips (especially the lower one) moderately open, the chin full and rounded.”''<!-- page 21--><ref name=Painter /> ''“Blumenbach … e took as the normal type the skull of the Caucasian race, which is distinguished by harmony of the individual parts, none being unduly prominent: with roundness (mesocephaly) are united a massive high forehead, narrow cheek-bones, round alveolar arch, and an orthognathous upper jaw.”''<ref><u>Catholic Encyclopedia. “Human Race.”</u> 1913. </ref> In 1912, ''“osteologist”''<ref>Thompson, Keith. 1991. Clark University. Piltdown Man: The Great English Mystery Story. </ref> ] offered his expert testimony on the ] case that ''“the Caucasian has a well-developed chin”'' with an ''“enlargement of the mouth cavity”''.<ref name=Pycraft /> He mentioned that this was not seen in some other races’ skulls.<ref name=Pycraft>Pycraft, William. Clark University. The Rise of Piltdown Man </ref> Forensic anthropologist Caroline Wilkenson says that Australoids have the largest brow ridges ''“with moderate to large supraorbital arches”''<!--pg87-->.<ref name=Wilkenson /> Caucasoids have the second largest brow ridges with ''“moderate supraorbital ridges”''<!--pg 84-->.<ref name=Wilkenson /> Negroids have the third largest brow ridges with an ''“undulating supraorbital ridge”''.<ref name=Wilkenson /> Mongoloids are ''“absent browridges”''<!--pg86-->, so they have the smallest brow ridges.<ref name=Wilkenson>Wilkenson, Caroline. Forensic Facial Reconstruction. Cambridge University Press. 2004. ISBN:0521820030</ref> ''“The Mongoloid skull has proceeded further than in any other people.”''<!--pg. 13--><ref name=Montagu /> ''“The Mongoloid skull, whether Chinese or Japanese, has been rather more neotenized than the Caucasoid or European.”''<!--pg. 13--><ref name=Montagu /> ''“The female skull, it will be noted, is more pedomorphic in all human populations than the male skull.”'' <!--pg. 13--> <ref name=Montagu>Montagu, Ashley. Growing Young. Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 1989 | |||
ISBN 0897891678</ref> ''“Increased body hair is a normal hereditary trait in many Caucasian women of Mediterranean origin.”''<ref>Singh, Jasvinder P. MD. Albermarle Pulminary Medical Associates. Hirsuitism. 2000. Accessed August 9, 2008. </ref> ''“Dr. Robert Greenblatt, M.D., Professor of Endocrinology … noted that in men of older age, hairs on the ears were more pronounced in the Caucasian as compared with the Asian males of the same age.<ref name=Owens /> In the Caucasian males, male pattern baldness occurred earlier, more commonly, and more extensively.”''<ref name=Owens>Owens, Shelby. INHERENT METABOLIC INFLUENCE ON HAIR GROWTH AN ELECTROLOGIST TALKS ABOUT HAIR GROWTH 1999. Accessed August 9, 2008. </ref> | |||
Sarah A Tishkoff and Kenneth K Kidd state, "Despite disagreement among anthropologists, this classification remains in use by many researchers, as well as lay people."<ref>http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36/n11s/full/ng1438.html</ref> According to Leonard Lieberman, Rodney C. Kirk, and Alice Littlefield, the concept of race has all but been completely rejected by modern mainstream anthropology.<ref>Leonard Lieberman, Rodney C. Kirk, and Alice Littlefield, "Perishing Paradigm: Race—1931-99," ''American Anthropologist'' 105, no. 1 (2003): 110-13</ref> | |||
⚫ | |||
The ] used the term Caucasian as a race in the past, but has discontinued its usage in favor of the term "European".<ref>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd03/nd03_med_data_changes.html</ref> | |||
==Usage== | |||
With the turn away from ] in the late 20th century, the term “Caucasian” as a racial classification fell into disuse in Europe. In Germany and Russia, the term “Europid” or “Europoid” is used. Consequently, in the ], the term “Caucasian” is more likely than in the ] to describe people from the Caucasus, although it may still be used as a racial classification.<ref>Katsiavriades, Kryss. Qureshi, Talaat. English Usage in the UK and USA. 1997. October 26, 2006. ; see also Pearsell, Judy and Trumble, Bill (Eds) Oxford English Reference Dictionary. 2002.</ref> Sarah A Tishkoff and Kenneth K Kidd state, ''“Despite disagreement among anthropologists, this classification remains in use by many researchers, as well as lay people.”''<ref></ref> According to Leonard Lieberman, Rodney C. Kirk, and Alice Littlefield, the concept of race has all but been completely rejected by modern mainstream anthropology.<ref>Leonard Lieberman, Rodney C. Kirk, and Alice Littlefield, “Perishing Paradigm: Race—1931-99,” ''American Anthropologist'' 105, no. 1 (2003): 110-13</ref> In 2003, ] stopped using the term Caucasian race in favor of the term “European”.<ref></ref> In the ], “Caucasian” has been mainly a distinction based on skin color with “white” or light complexion (see ], ]). | |||
==United States == | |||
In the ], '']'' has been mainly a distinction, based on ], for a group commonly called '']s'', as defined by the government and ].<ref>Painter, p. {{page number}}</ref> | |||
Between ] and ], immigration to the USA was restricted by "national origins quota". | |||
The ] in '']'' (1923) decided Indians were not Caucasian, because most common people did not consider them to be Caucasian. | |||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
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*{{cite web |last=Lewonin |first=R. C. |year=2005 |url=http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Lewontin/ |title=Confusions About Human Races |publisher=Race and Genomics, Social Sciences Research Council |accessdate=2006-12-28}} | *{{cite web |last=Lewonin |first=R. C. |year=2005 |url=http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Lewontin/ |title=Confusions About Human Races |publisher=Race and Genomics, Social Sciences Research Council |accessdate=2006-12-28}} | ||
*{{cite paper |last=Painter |first=Nell Irvin |title=Collective Degradation: Slavery and the Construction of Race. Why White People are Called Caucasian |publisher=Yale University |year=2003 |accessdate=2006-10-09 |url=http://www.yale.edu/glc/events/race/Painter.pdf |format=PDF}} | *{{cite paper |last=Painter |first=Nell Irvin |title=Collective Degradation: Slavery and the Construction of Race. Why White People are Called Caucasian |publisher=Yale University |year=2003 |accessdate=2006-10-09 |url=http://www.yale.edu/glc/events/race/Painter.pdf |format=PDF}} | ||
*{{cite journal |last=Risch |first=Neil |coauthors=Burchard, Esteban; Ziv, Elad and Tang, Hua |year=2002 |title=Categorization of humans in biomedical research: genes, race and disease |journal=Genome Biology |volume=3 |issue=7 |pages= comment2007.2001 - comment2007.2012 |url=http://genomebiology.com/2002/3/7/comment/2007 |doi=10.1186/gb-2002-3-7-comment2007}} | *{{cite journal |last=Risch |first=Neil |coauthors=Burchard, Esteban; Ziv, Elad and Tang, Hua |year=2002 |title=Categorization of humans in biomedical research: genes, race and disease |journal=Genome Biology |volume=3 |issue=7 |pages= comment2007.2001 - comment2007.2012 |url=http://genomebiology.com/2002/3/7/comment/2007 |doi=doi:10.1186/gb-2002-3-7-comment2007}} | ||
*{{cite journal |first=Noah A. |last=Rosenberg |coauthors=Pritchard, Jonathan K.; Weber, James L.; Cann, Howard M.; Kidd, Kenneth K.; Zhivotovsky, Lev A.; Feldman, Marcus W. |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/5602/2381 |date=] |pages=2381–2385 |issue=5602 |volume=298 |title=Genetic structure of human populations |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.1078311 |
*{{cite journal |first=Noah A. |last=Rosenberg |coauthors=Pritchard, Jonathan K.; Weber, James L.; Cann, Howard M.; Kidd, Kenneth K.; Zhivotovsky, Lev A.; Feldman, Marcus W. |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/298/5602/2381 |date=] |pages=2381–2385 |issue=5602 |volume=298 |title=Genetic structure of human populations |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.1078311}} | ||
*{{cite journal |first=Noah A. |last=Rosenberg |coauthors=Mahajan, Saurabh; Ramachandran, Sohini; Zhao, Chengfeng; Pritchard, Jonathan K.; Feldman, Marcus W. |title=Clines, Clusters, and the Effect of Study Design on the Inference of Human Population Structure |journal=PLoS Genet |volume=1 |issue=6 |pages=e70 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0010070 |
*{{cite journal |first=Noah A. |last=Rosenberg |coauthors=Mahajan, Saurabh; Ramachandran, Sohini; Zhao, Chengfeng; Pritchard, Jonathan K.; Feldman, Marcus W. |title=Clines, Clusters, and the Effect of Study Design on the Inference of Human Population Structure |journal=PLoS Genet |volume=1 |issue=6 |pages=e70 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.0010070}} | ||
*{{cite journal |last=Templeton |first=Alan R. |year=1998 |month=September |title=Human races: A genetic and evolutionary perspective |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=632–650 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7294%28199809%292%3A100%3A3%3C632%3AHRAGAE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7&size=LARGE |accessdate=2007-01-01 |
*{{cite journal |last=Templeton |first=Alan R. |year=1998 |month=September |title=Human races: A genetic and evolutionary perspective |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=632–650 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7294%28199809%292%3A100%3A3%3C632%3AHRAGAE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7&size=LARGE |accessdate=2007-01-01}} | ||
* {{cite news |last=Camberg |first=Kim |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4525352.stm |title=Long-term tensions behind Sydney riots |publisher=] |date=] |accessdate=2007-03-03}} | * {{cite news |last=Camberg |first=Kim |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4525352.stm |title=Long-term tensions behind Sydney riots |publisher=] |date=] |accessdate=2007-03-03}} | ||
{{Refend}} | {{Refend}} | ||
==Literature== | ==Literature== | ||
* Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, |
* Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, ''On the Natural Varieties of Mankind'' (]) — the book that introduced the concept | ||
* Stephen Jay Gould, |
* Stephen Jay Gould, ''The Mismeasure of Man'' — a history of the pseudoscience of race, skull measurements, and IQ inheritability | ||
* L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, |
* L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, ''The History and Geography of Human Genes'' — a major reference of modern population genetics | ||
* L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, |
* L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, ''Genes, Peoples, and Languages'' | ||
* H. F. Augstein, |
* H. F. Augstein, "From the Land of the Bible to the Caucasus and Beyond," in Waltraud Emst and B. Harris, ''Race, Science and Medicine, ]-]'' (London: Routledge, ]): 58-79. | ||
* Bruce Baum, |
* Bruce Baum, ''The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race: A Political History of Racial Identity'' (New York: New York University Press, 2006) | ||
* Paul Lawrence Guthrie, |
* Paul Lawrence Guthrie, ''The Making of the Whiteman: From the Original Man to the Whiteman'' (Paperback), ISBN 0-948390-49-2 | ||
* The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley, by John W. Cole (Author), Eric R. Wolf University of California Press; 1 edition (October 11, 1999) ISBN-10: 0520216814 ISBN-13: 978-0520216815 | * The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley, by John W. Cole (Author), Eric R. Wolf University of California Press; 1 edition (October 11, 1999) ISBN-10: 0520216814 ISBN-13: 978-0520216815 | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* ] | |||
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* ] | * ] | ||
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* ] | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
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* ] | * ] | ||
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* ] | |||
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* ] | |||
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Revision as of 16:18, 10 September 2008
For the peoples actually from the Caucasus, see Peoples of the Caucasus.The Caucasian race, sometimes the Caucasoid race, is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "relating to a broad division of humankind covering peoples from Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia, and South Asia" or "white-skinned; of European origin" or "relating to the region of the Caucasus in SE Europe". The concept's existence is based on the now disputed typological method of racial classification.
In Europe, especially in Russia and nearby, Caucasian usually describes exclusively people who are from the Caucasus region or speak the Caucasian languages.
Origins of the term
The term Caucasian originated as one of the racial categories recognized by 19th century craniology and is derived from the region of the Caucasus mountains.The concept of a "Caucasian race" or Varietas Caucasia was first proposed under those names by the German scientist and classical anthropologist, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840). His studies based the classification of the Caucasian race primarily on skull features, which Blumenbach claimed were optimized by the Caucasian Peoples. Blumenbach writes:
Caucasian variety - I have taken the name of this variety from Mount Caucasus, both because its neighborhood, and especially its southern slope, produces the most beautiful race of men, I mean the Georgian; and because all physiological reasons converge to this, that in that region, if anywhere, it seems we ought with the greatest probability to place the autochthones (birth place) of mankind.
The Caucasus was historically an area of fascination for Europeans; Prometheus and Jason and the Argonauts were myths featured in the Caucasus. Greek mythology considered women from the Caucasus to have magical powers. In Greek mythology, this area was thought of as a kind of hell since Zeus imprisoned many Titans who opposed him (e.g. Prometheus) there.
Physical anthropology
Caucasoid race is a term used in physical anthropology to refer to people of a certain range of anthropometric measurements .
19th century classifications of the peoples of India considered the Dravidians of non-Caucasoid stock, as "Australoid" (Thomas Huxley 1865) or a separate "Dravida" race (Edgar Thurston) and assumed a gradient of miscegenation of high-caste Caucasoid "Aryans" and indigenous Dravidians. Carleton S. Coon in his 1939 The Races of Europe classifies the Dravidians as Caucasoid as well, due to their "Caucasiod skull structure" and other physical traits (e.g. noses, eyes, hair), in his 1969 The Living Races of Man stating that "India is the easternmost outpost of the Caucasian racial region".
With the turn away from racial theory in the late 20th century, the term Caucasian as a racial classification fell into disuse in Europe. Thus, in the United Kingdom, Caucasian is more likely than in the United States to describe people from the Caucasus, although it may still be used as a racial classification.
Sarah A Tishkoff and Kenneth K Kidd state, "Despite disagreement among anthropologists, this classification remains in use by many researchers, as well as lay people." According to Leonard Lieberman, Rodney C. Kirk, and Alice Littlefield, the concept of race has all but been completely rejected by modern mainstream anthropology.
The United States National Library of Medicine used the term Caucasian as a race in the past, but has discontinued its usage in favor of the term "European".
United States
In the United States, Caucasian has been mainly a distinction, based on skin color, for a group commonly called White Americans, as defined by the government and Census Bureau.
Between 1917 and 1965, immigration to the USA was restricted by "national origins quota". The Supreme Court in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) decided Indians were not Caucasian, because most common people did not consider them to be Caucasian.
Notes
- The Oxford English Dictionary defines Caucasoid as as noun or adjective meaning Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Caucasian race.
- http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50034773?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=Caucasoid&first=1&max_to_show=10
- http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/caucasian?view=uk
- O'Neil, Dennis. "Biological Anthropology Terms." 2006. May 13, 2007. Palomar College.
- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/gill.html Does Race Exist? A proponent's perspective by George W. Gill.
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pennsylvania
- Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, The anthropological treatises of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, translated by Thomas Bendyshe. 1865. November 2, 2006.
- Blumenbach , De generis humani varietate nativa (3rd ed. 1795), trans. Bendyshe (1865). Quoted e.g. in Arthur Keith, Blumenbach's Centenary, Man, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1940).
- Caucasus, Historical Notes
- Painter, p.
- Reinhard, K.J., & Hastings, D. (Annual 2003) Learning from the ancestors: the value of skeletal study.(study of ancestors of Omaha Tribe of Nebraska). In American Journal of Physical Anthropology, p177(1).
- Katsiavriades, Kryss. Qureshi, Talaat. English Usage in the UK and USA. 1997. October 26, 2006. ; see also Pearsell, Judy and Trumble, Bill (Eds) Oxford English Reference Dictionary. 2002.
- http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36/n11s/full/ng1438.html
- Leonard Lieberman, Rodney C. Kirk, and Alice Littlefield, "Perishing Paradigm: Race—1931-99," American Anthropologist 105, no. 1 (2003): 110-13
- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd03/nd03_med_data_changes.html
- Painter, p.
References
- Leroi, Armand Marie (2005-03-14). "A Family Tree in Every Gene". The New York Times. p. A23.
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(help) - Lewonin, R. C. (2005). "Confusions About Human Races". Race and Genomics, Social Sciences Research Council. Retrieved 2006-12-28.
- Painter, Nell Irvin (2003). "Collective Degradation: Slavery and the Construction of Race. Why White People are Called Caucasian" (PDF). Yale University. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
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(help) - Risch, Neil (2002). "Categorization of humans in biomedical research: genes, race and disease". Genome Biology. 3 (7): comment2007.2001 - comment2007.2012. doi:doi:10.1186/gb-2002-3-7-comment2007.
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suggested) (help) - Rosenberg, Noah A. (2002-12-20). "Genetic structure of human populations". Science. 298 (5602): 2381–2385. doi:10.1126/science.1078311.
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suggested) (help) - Rosenberg, Noah A. "Clines, Clusters, and the Effect of Study Design on the Inference of Human Population Structure". PLoS Genet. 1 (6): e70. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0010070.
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suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - Templeton, Alan R. (1998). "Human races: A genetic and evolutionary perspective". American Anthropologist. 100 (3): 632–650. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
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ignored (help) - Camberg, Kim (2005-12-13). "Long-term tensions behind Sydney riots". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
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Literature
- Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, On the Natural Varieties of Mankind (1775) — the book that introduced the concept
- Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man — a history of the pseudoscience of race, skull measurements, and IQ inheritability
- L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, The History and Geography of Human Genes — a major reference of modern population genetics
- L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Genes, Peoples, and Languages
- H. F. Augstein, "From the Land of the Bible to the Caucasus and Beyond," in Waltraud Emst and B. Harris, Race, Science and Medicine, 1700-1960 (London: Routledge, 1999): 58-79.
- Bruce Baum, The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race: A Political History of Racial Identity (New York: New York University Press, 2006)
- Paul Lawrence Guthrie, The Making of the Whiteman: From the Original Man to the Whiteman (Paperback), ISBN 0-948390-49-2
- The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley, by John W. Cole (Author), Eric R. Wolf University of California Press; 1 edition (October 11, 1999) ISBN-10: 0520216814 ISBN-13: 978-0520216815
See also
- Scientific racism
- Craniofacial anthropometry
- Race and genetics
- Race (U.S. Census)
- Race (historical definitions)
- Caucasian peoples
- White people
- European people
- White American
- Caucasian-American
- European American