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Social Anthropology in Economic Literature at the End of the 19 th Century: Eugenic and Racial Explanations of Inequality
Author(s) -
Maccabelli Terenzio
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2008.00584.x
Subject(s) - eugenics , sociology , racism , inequality , positive economics , social stratification , pareto principle , social inequality , social science , veblen good , social darwinism , politics , anthropology , neoclassical economics , epistemology , gender studies , political science , economics , philosophy , law , mathematical analysis , operations management , mathematics
A bstract . At the end of the 19 th century, Georges Vacher de Lapouge and Otto Ammon founded a school of thought denominated “social anthropology” or “anthropo‐sociology,” aimed at placing racism on a scientific basis. Their intent was to create a new discipline into which the themes of biological heredity, natural selection, social stratification, and political organization were to converge. This paper intends to demonstrate the wide resonance that anthroposociology had in the economic literature, analyzing the thought of authors such as Carlos C. Closson, Vilfredo Pareto, and Thorstein Veblen. A particular focus will be on the racial and eugenic arguments used as explanation of social and economic inequality.