The Equality of Human Races: Positivist Anthropology

Rediscovering an early scientific challenge to racism

This is the first paperback edition of the only English-language translation of the Haitian scholar Anténor Firmin''s The Equality of the Human Races, a foundational text in critical anthropology first published in 1885 when anthropology was just emerging as a specialized field of study. Marginalized for its "radical" position that the human races were equal, Firmin''s lucid and persuasive treatise was decades ahead of its time. Arguing that the equality of the races could be demonstrated through a positivist scientific approach, Firmin challenged racist writings and the dominant views of the day. Translated by Asselin Charles and framed by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban''s substantial introduction, this rediscovered text is an important contribution to contemporary scholarship in anthropology, pan-African studies, and colonial and postcolonial studies.