Ideas of 'Race' in the History of the Humanities

This volume is concerned with the hitherto neglected role of the humanities in the histories of the idea of race.

Its aim is to begin to fill in this significant lacuna.

If, in the decades following World War II and the Holocaust - years that witnessed European decolonisation and the African-American civil rights movement - the concept of 'race' slowly but surely lost its legitimacy as a cultural, political and scientific category, for much of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century concepts of race enjoyed widespread currency in numerous fields of knowledge such as the history of art, history, musicology or philosophy.

Bringing together some of the most distinguished scholars in their respective fields, this book addresses the history of notions of race in the humanities as a whole.