RAI RESEARCH SEMINAR
SEMINAR SERIES AT THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Seligman, the RAI and the Race Debate 1933-1945
Dr Peter Rohrbacher, Anthropology, University of Vienna
Wednesday 25 April at 5.30 pm
Charles Gabriel Seligman (1873-1940) undoubtedly represented an outstanding founding figure in British anthropology. The RAI and the LSE remain those two institutions his name was most closely associated with. He first began to teach Ethnology at the London School of Economics, which he continued from 1910 until his retirement in 1934. At the Royal Anthropological Institute he was elected a fellow in 1900 and served as its president 1923-25. Seligman mentored a generation of cosmopolitan students and followers.
This lecture will discuss Seligman’s position on the subject of race, which appears as quite an ambivalent theme in his texts. On the one hand, he was a main proponent of the racist “Hamite hypothesis”. In that context, his anthropological publications helped to sustainably legitimize the colonial administration of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in order to classify people as “black” or “white”. On the other hand, as of 1933 Seligman was a leading figure in fighting National Socialism’s racial doctrine. Exemplary correspondences from various archives will be discussed in order to trace these dimensions in Great Britain’s race debate.
This event is free, but tickets must be booked. To book tickets please go to https://rohrbacher.eventbrite.co.uk
Location : Royal Anthropological Institute
50 Fitzroy Street
London
W1T 5BT
United Kingdom
http://www.therai.org.uk
