The notion of a superior ‘Germanic’ or ‘Nordic’ race was a central theme in Nazi ideology. But it was also a commonly accepted idea in the early twentieth century, an actual scientific concept originating from anthropological research on the physical characteristics of Europeans. The Scandinavian Peninsula was considered to be the historical cradle and the heartland of this ‘master race’. Measuring the Master Race investigates the role played by Scandinavian scholars in inventing this so-called superior race, and discusses how the concept stamped Norwegian physical anthropology, prehistory, national identity and the eugenics movement. It also explores the decline and scientific discrediting of these ideas in the 1930s as they came to be associated with the genetic cleansing of Nazi Germany. This is the first comprehensive study of Norwegian physical anthropology. Its findings shed new light on current political and scientific debates about race across the globe.
Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe challenges a view of Nordic societies as homogenously white, and as human rights champions that are so progressive that even the concept of race is deemed irrelevant to their societies. The book places African Diasporas, race and legacies of imperialism squarely in a Nordic context. How has a nation as peripheral as Iceland been shaped by an identity of being white? How do Black Norwegians challenge racially conscribed views of Norwegian nationhood? What does the history of jazz in Denmark say about the relation between its national identity and race? What is it like to be a mixed-race black Swedish woman? How have African Diasporans in Finland navigated issues of race and belonging? And what does the widespread denial of everyday racism in Nordic societies mean to Afro-Nordics? This text is a must read for anyone interested in issues of race in the Nordic region and Europe writ large. As Paul Gilroy writes in his foreword, it is a book that "should be studied with care and profit inside the Nordic countries and also outside them by the broader international readership that has been established around the study of racism and 'critical race theory'."
This book represents a comprehensive effort to understand discrimination, racialization, racism, Islamophobia, anti-racist activism, and the inclusion and exclusion of minorities in Nordic countries. Examining critical media events in this heavily mediatized society, the contributors explore how processes of racialization take place in an environment dominated by commercial interests, anti-migrant and anti-Muslim narratives and sentiments, and a surprising lack of informed research on national racism and racialization. Overall, in tracing how these individual events further racial inequalities through emotional and affective engagement, the book seeks to define the trajectory of modern racism in Scandinavia.
This long-suppressed work by one of Germany's foremost racial thinkers was first published in English in 1927. The author, an unabashed Nordicist, provides a remarkable oversight of the concept of race, defines five different European races and discusses their physical and mental characteristics. He then discusses non-European racial influences in Europe, the effect of environment, inheritance and racial mixture, before moving into an outline of the distribution of these races. The longest part of the book is taken up with a fascinating and referenced overview of European racial history, with a strong emphasis on the role played by the Nordic subgroup. Finally he looks at the future racial situation in Europe. Although this book displays the Nordicist sentiment so common at the time, it contains many eye-opening revelations and theories, including the claim that the original homeland of the Nordic race was North Western Europe, and that Sweden is the most Nordic country on earth, whereas Germany--the author's home--was only 55% Nordic at time of writing. This is a fascinating historical document and provides a remarkable insight into pre-World War II German racial thought. Over 300 illustrations and maps highlight racial types and historical events. About the author: Hans Friedrich Karl Günther (1861 - 1968) taught at the universities of Jena, Berlin, and Freiburg, writing numerous books and essays on racial theory. In 1931 he was appointed to a new chair of racial theory at Jena and in 1935, became professor at the University of Berlin, teaching race science, human biology and rural ethnography. From 1940 to 1945 he was the professor at Albert Ludwigs University. After World War II, Günther interned for three years before being released without charge. After the war, he continued to publish on eugenics and race. Contents I. Remarks on the Term 'Race, ' On the Determination of Five European Races, And On Skull Measurement II. The Bodily Characteristics of the European Races III. The Mental Characteristics of the European Races IV. Racial Strains from Outside Europe V. Environment, Inheritance, Racial Mixture VI. The Distribution of the European Races in Europe VII. The European Races in Prehistory VIII. The Nordic Race in Prehistory and In History IX. The Denordization of the Peoples of Romance Speech X. The Denordization of the Peoples of Germanic Speech XI. The Present Day from the Racial Point Of View XII. The Nordic Ideal-A Result of the Anthropological View of History Acknowledgments Index Cover image: Bronze statue, 1st Century A.D., in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
Scandinavian immigrants encountered a strange paradox in 1890s Chicago. Though undoubtedly foreign, these newcomers were seen as Nordics--the "race" proclaimed by the scientific racism of the era as the very embodiment of white superiority. As such, Scandinavians from the beginning enjoyed racial privilege and the success it brought without the prejudice, nativism, and stereotyping endured by other immigrant groups. Erika K. Jackson examines how native-born Chicagoans used ideological and gendered concepts of Nordic whiteness and Scandinavian ethnicity to construct social hegemony. Placing the Scandinavian-American experience within the context of historical whiteness, Jackson delves into the processes that created the Nordic ideal. She also details how the city's Scandinavian immigrants repeated and mirrored the racial and ethnic perceptions disseminated by American media. An insightful look at the immigrant experience in reverse, Scandinavians in Chicago bridges a gap in our understanding of how whites constructed racial identity in America.
NAMED THE #1 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, A WITTY, INFORMATIVE, AND POPULAR TRAVELOGUE ABOUT THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES AND HOW THEY MAY NOT BE AS HAPPY OR AS PERFECT AS WE ASSUME Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another. Why are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders as feral as they sometimes appear? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? In The Almost Nearly Perfect People Michael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, and what their quirks and foibles are, and he explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism, and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian.
