ABSTRACT
The Invention of Race explores the genesis of scientific conceptions of race and their accompanying impact on the taxonomy of human collections as evidenced in ethnographic museums and ethnic shows or exhibitions. Scientific theories pertaining to race and their dissemination in eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century societies have been the subject of several studies. This book argues that a deep epistemological change took place in Europe in this domain toward the end of the eighteenth century, producing new scientific representations of race and thereby triggering a radical transformation in the European visual economy relating to race and its inscription in the body. New technological innovations during this period made it possible to refine the representation of racialized bodies, including a range of pre-anthropometric techniques that made the systematic and scientific classification of races possible. These techniques were soon accompanied by various indicators, notably Campers facial angles or Blumenbachs cranial volumetrics.
