An Historical Perspective on “Race” and “Culture,” and the Role of Anthropology in Defining Children

Abstract

The modern concept of race arose as a colonial-industrial era attempt to impose scientific order upon a biologically and socially complex species. The concept of culture arose in the 19th century to tease apart the group-level human differences rooted in biology or nature, from those acquired through experience and learning. Children were included in these concepts as were adults, although the prevailing idea was often that children were simply “small adults.” The task of modern anthropology is to reconfigure the study of human variation by maintaining the distinction between historically constituted and natural differences, but at the same time by examining the interplay of the sets of distinctions with one another. This task can expand our perspectives on children by reducing the overdominance of presumed genetics and recognizing the important role of environment in shaping both children and adults.