Mark Nathan Cohen – författare

Civilized nations popularly assume that “primitive” societies are poor, ill, and malnourished and that progress through civilization automatically implies improved health.  In this provocative book, Mark Nathan Cohen challenges this belief.  Using findings from epidemiology, anthropology, and archaeology, Cohen provides fascinating evidence about the actual effects of civilization on health, suggesting that some aspects of “progress” create as many health problems as they prevent or cure. “[This book] is certain to become a classic—a prominent and respected source on this subject for years into the future…. If you want to read something that will make you think, reflect, and reconsider, Cohen’s Health and the Rise of Civilization is for you.”—S. Boyd Eaton, Los Angeles Times Book Review“A major accomplishment.  Cohen is a broad and original thinker who states his views in direct and accessible prose…. This is a book that should be read by everyone interested in disease, civilization, and the human condition.”—David Courtwright, Journal of the History of Medicine“Cohen has done his homework extraordinarily well, and the coverage of the biomedical, nutritional, demographic, and ethnographic literature about foragers and low energy agriculturalists is excellent…. The book deserves a wide readership and a central place in our professional libraries.  As a scholarly summary it is without parallel.”—Henry Harpending, American Ethnologist“Deserves to be read by anthropologists concerned with health, medical personnel responsible for communities, and any medical anthropologists…. Indeed, it could provide great profit and entertainment to the general reader.”—George T. Nurse, Current Anthropology

Americans increasingly blame the failures of minority individuals in our society on "racial" inferiority. Anthropologist Mark Nathan Cohen argues cogently that the problems are cultural, not "racial," and that they are rooted in the assumptions of mainstream American culture, not in the biological or cultural failings of "others."By summarizing scientific evidence proving that "races" do not exist and that few biological traits actually correlate with the color of one’s skin, Cohen shows that differences in ability cannot be linked to "race." The growing gap between rich and poor and the economic subordination of minority groups, he says, are rooted in the arbitrary rules that govern American society. Culture constrains our ability to understand and appreciate the actions of others and often prevents us from seeing the consequences of our own actions or realizing our alternatives. American perceptions of what constitute merit, health, hygiene, freedom, progress, property, economics, justice—and even our own history—are distorted. Our insistence that ours is the best or only view promotes intolerance and racism. Cohen shows that definitions of intelligence, IQ tests, hiring practices, and evaluations of job performance contain many more cultural biases than we recognize and thus restrict the opportunities of minority individuals.By breaking down American cultural assumptions, Cohen offers a strong defense of affirmative action and multicultural education. He concludes with some suggestions for the future—to end the racism and indifference to one another that mark our society.