At the
beginning of the 21st century, genes are used to
explain almost every aspect of human life, from
social inequalities to health, sexuality, and
criminality. Although few people have studied
genetics, our culture is full of casual references to
them.
The
Darwinian, if asked to comment on our evident 'love
of shopping,' would declare it to be in our genes. As
former hunters and gatherers, they would say, there
is no qualitative difference between gathering fruits
and shopping for food, clothes, housewares or
knickknacks. One can read not only about the
"shopping gene," but also about the
"reading gene," the "humility
gene," the "coaching gene." Pop
science, fostered by Darwinian psychology, run amok.
This
book is a critique of Darwinian psychology--alias
evolutionary psychology, alias sociobiology--the
study of the social behavior of animals and people
based on evolution. In this provocative work, Innis
Dagg, an eminent and outspoken critic of this
ideology, first presents an overview of the theory
and its popularity both among professionals and lay
people, then she examines concepts of social
behavior--based on 'genes vs culture'--including:
aggression in the form of rape, infanticide,
homicide, gang violence and war, and general
criminality; homosexuality in both the human and the
animal world; and race, IQ, and environment.
Focusing
on the problems present in much Darwinian
psychological research--flawed data, faulty analysis,
and political motives--this controversial book offers
the first comprehensible critique of the most popular
scientific theory of the late 20th century:
Evolutionary Psychology. In the end, Innis Dagg
presents a new perspective which acknowledges the
complexity of life by placing at its center the
living organism, in its environment, rather than the
gene.
Table of Contents
ANNE
INNIS DAGG has an MA in Genetics and a Ph.D. in
Animal Behavior. She is the author of numerous books,
including The Camel: Its
Ecology, Behavior and Relationship With Man, Canadian
Wildlife and Man, and Harems
and Other Horrors: Sexual Bias in Behavioral Biology.
She is currently a Biological Consultant to World
Book and an Academic Advisor in
the Independent Studies Program of the University of
Waterloo in Ontario.
256
pages, 6x9, illustrations, bibliography, index
Paperback ISBN: 1-55164-256-5 $24.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-55164-257-3 $53.99
Cultural Studies
November
2004
