The Smart Culture: Society, Intelligence, and Law (Critical America Series)

Book Description

"Powerful."
--Mary Frances Berry, Journal of American History

"A painstakingly researched, scientific, psychological, sociocultural, and constitutional history of race. The Smart Culture is one of ourgeneration's most powerful indictments of insidiousracism and meritocracies."
--The Law and Politics Book Review

"A passionate attack on pervasive American cultural assumptions of natural inequality. The book provides a fine history of antiblack discrimination and of the racist and nativist basesof the developers of standardized intelligence tests."
--Choice

What exactly is intelligence? Is it social achievement? Professional success? Is it common sense? Or the number on an IQ test?

Interweaving engaging narratives with dramatic case studies, Robert L. Hayman, Jr., has written a history of intelligence that will forever change the way we think about who is smart and who is not. To give weight to his assertion that intelligence is not simply an inherent characteristic but rather one which reflects the interests and predispositions of those doing the measuring, Hayman traces numerous campaigns to classify human intelligence. His tour takes us through the early craniometric movement, eugenics, the development of the IQ, Spearman's "general" intelligence, and more recent works claiming a genetic basis for intelligence differences.

What Hayman uncovers is the maddening irony of intelligence: that "scientific" efforts to reduce intelligence to a single, ordinal quantity have persisted--and at times captured our cultural imagination--not because of their scientific legitimacy, but because of their longstanding political appeal. The belief in a natural intellectual order was pervasive in "scientific" and "political" thought both at the founding of the Republic and throughout its nineteenth-century Reconstruction. And while we are today formally committed to the notion of equality under the law, our culture retains its central belief in the natural inequality of its members. Consequently, Hayman argues, the promise of a genuine equality can be realized only when the mythology of "intelligence" is debunked--only, that is, when we recognize the decisive role of culture in defining intelligence and creating intelligence differences. Only culture can give meaning to the statement that one person-- or one group--is smarter than another. And only culture can provide our motivation for saying it

With a keen wit and a sharp eye, Hayman highlights the inescapable contradictions that arise in a society committed both to liberty and to equality and traces how the resulting tensions manifest themselves in the ways we conceive of identity, community, and merit.

Customer Reviews:

A great integrative work........2002-01-25

I'm impressed with Hayman's ease in presenting challenging material in an integrated framework that is made remarkably easy to understand. This is an important work that challenges various assumptions you never realized you had, but that now you can't deny having made, and made without real justification. It is by provoking that kind of analysis that Hayman's work has the potential to make us all "smarter." It's rare to find a book that conveys such moral passion for a truly egalitarian society, yet argues for that society using such carefully constructed rational arguments, often citing emprirical and historical resources, while also tapping into the author's personal experiences. Highly recommended.

A penetrating, provocative, and probing look at intelligence.......2001-10-09

Professor Hayman looks at an issue in our society that is rampant with misunderstanding and rife with malaise, the basing of intelligence among our myriad cultures. His work engages the reader with common sense and personal experience as well as superb research. I can only recommend this text in the highest of glowing terms, an essential read for any individual seeking to uncover one critical reason why our society is unjust and in need of balancing.

A penetrating, provocative, and probing look at intelligence.......2001-10-09

THE MYTHS OF MERIT AND EQUALITY UNDER LAW.......1998-08-05

Nancy Levit *

In 1993 the Educational Testing Service renamed the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Amid controversy that the test contained racial and cultural biases, did not measure intelligence, and thus was inappropriately called an "aptitude" test, test officials changed the name of the SAT to the Scholastic Assessment Test. In 1997, the testing service again renamed its college entrance examination: the SAT became simply the SAT - initials only, no acronym, no squabbles over the meaning of aptitude, achievement, or intelligence. The same thing happens in workplaces all over the country. Employers pronounce that they make hiring decisions based on "merit" - and everyone nods.

In The Smart Culture: Society, Intelligence, and Law, law professor Robert L. Hayman, Jr., explodes the myths that everyone has come to accept about "intelligence," "merit," and "race." He then shows the ways in which law has been complicit ! in keeping these myths unexamined.

Hayman's thesis is simple and straightforward. We have bought into the very idea that there is a meritocracy, and that the meritocracy reflects a natural order. We assume that people succeed based on "merit." In actuality, those people who succeed - for reasons of race, property-ownership, and power - have been the ones who get to define "merit." Merit, as Hayman points out, is largely a definitional tautology: we identify certain characteristics we deem worthy (such as test-taking ability), and then call people who can perform those tasks laudatory labels ("smart"). We thus reward people who are worthy, based, of course, on the possession of the previously identified characteristics. Merit is not natural, Hayman says, "It is the carefully crafted product of centuries of cultural propaganda, a myth of natural inequality perpetuated by men in power - by a political, economic, and intellectual elite.&qu! ot;

Hayman makes the all-important link between race, me! rit, and intelligence. While our nation formally commits to equality under law, our culture still possesses deeply held beliefs about the natural inequalities of its citizens. From the time of its founding documents, our country promised equality. But declaring all men equal was not only a promise unfulfilled, it was a promise founded on a contradiction: the principle did not apply to women, slaves, and those without property. "A nation committed now to equality," Hayman writes, "remained fundamentally convinced that its people were, by nature, unequal."

This idea of natural differences between the races was promoted not only by Southern congressmen in the Reconstruction debates, but by the Western European "race scientists" of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the American eugenicists of the early 1900s, and the Aryan supremacists in 1930s Germany. It is a debate that has been resurrected in late twentieth century Americ! a by The Bell Curve.

The Smart Culture is a political history of the concept of intelligence. Hayman traces various projects of classifying human intelligence, demonstrating that the equation of intelligence and merit has little scientific validity, but enormous cultural appeal. Given the popularly accepted assumption that intelligence differences are a naturally occurring phenomenon, Hayman argues that racial equality will not occur until the myths surrounding intelligence are dismantled.

The Smart Culture is also a cultural history of the construction of race. This new racism, which is tied to our concepts of intelligence, and defended by arguments about "merit," is, as Hayman explains, really the old racism. The modern, righteously indignant and seemingly egalitarian calls for a color-blind society ignore the history and tradition of our treatment of race in America.

Despite evidence that the biological, genetic, and anthropological significance of raci! al classifications is modest, in America what we have chose! n to make count are the visible characteristics of race, such as skin color. For the Supreme Court, race is an immutable characteristic because of descent, ancestry, morphology, and physiognomy. Race, for the Court, and for most of America - white America, that is - is not a matter of culture, politics, economic enfranchisement, or lived experiences. "Racism," Hayman argues, "thus embraces not only the continued tendency to make of race what it is not - something biological, immutable, and inferior; racism embraces as well the refusal to recognize what race is - a powerfully significant social and political reality."

This review must come with a disclaimer, or perhaps a warning label. Reviews are supposed to be evaluations of merit. Having read what has gone before, you can probably sense the irony that is coming. Let me compound the irony of assessing the worth of Hayman's book with a confession: Bob Hayman and I have co-authored articles together! in the past. So for those of you who suspect that bias might infect this review, you may wish to stop reading before the descriptive project lapses explicitly into laudation.

Hayman's original research brings to life the actual debates of the Reconstruction Congress on slavery and racial differences, and he amasses the anthropological and genetic research regarding race and intelligence, but he drives his point home with stories. Hayman uses narratives to offer readers a glimpse into the formation of meritocracies. Each of the chapters in The Smart Culture contains a story, and in his stories you may recognize your childhood. The stories of Stephen and the Binky Fairy, Louis and the Jewish boy at the lunch table, Mrs. Sweeney's "retards," and Buddy, the impossibly stupid dog, all share a theme: the people in power are the ones who make the rules, who create insiders and outsiders, who name certain qualities or attributes and thereby make them important. The st! ories - sweet, wistful retrospectives, at times painfully s! elf-deprecating - are not to be missed, rivaling those from the great raconteurs of literature: Mark Twain meets Camus on the courthouse steps. In Hayman's stories, and his careful tracing of the political, scientific, and legal naturalization of race, are much broader implications than simply issues of racial inferiority. Systems of merit are everywhere, says Hayman. He describes how the territorial imperative of second graders at the school lunch table is learned, from aunts and uncles, from moms and dads. Hayman tells a story of schoolboys arguing whether the Phillies will take the pennant, and in the background, the girls in the class are a Greek chorus: "yea." Mini-meritocracies operate in sports (soccer games, football, sandlot games, Wall Ball), in school cliques, in gendered speech patterns, and in cocktail party conversations. They are manufactured. They are dangerous and destructive. And we make them.

The Smart Culture is more than a deconstruction! of the concept of intelligence. It is more than a painstakingly researched scientific, psychological, socio-cultural, and constitutional history of race. The Smart Culture is one of our generation's most powerful indictments of insidious racism and meritocracies - the kind in which we all participate, everyday.

* Nancy Levit is a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the author of The Gender Line: Men, Women, and the Law (New York University Press 1998).

Book Description

Recognition of the importance of soil organic matter (SOM) in soil health and quality is a major part of fostering a holistic, preventive approach to agricultural management. Students in agronomy, horticulture, and soil science need a textbook that emphasizes strategies for using SOM management in the prevention of chemical, biological, and physical problems. Soil Organic Matter in Sustainable Agriculture gathers key scientific reviews concerning issues that are critical for successful SOM management. This textbook contains evaluations of the types of organic soil constituents-organisms, fresh residues, and well-decomposed substances. It explores the beneficial effects of organic matter on soil and the various practices that enhance SOM. Chapters include an examination of the results of crop management practices on soil organisms, organic matter gains and losses, the significance of various SOM fractions, and the contributions of fungi and earthworms to soil quality and crop growth. Emphasizing the prevention of imbalances that lead to soil and crop problems, the text also explores the development of soils suppressive to plant diseases and pests, and relates SOM management to the supply of nutrients to crops. This book provides the essential scientific background and poses the challenging questions that students need to better understand SOM and develop improved soil and crop management systems.

Chemistry of Marine Water and Sediments (Environmental Science and Engineering / Environmental Science)

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Interesting supplemental book

Chemistry of Marine Water and Sediments (Environmental Science and Engineering / Environmental Science)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 354042055X

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The book deals with the processes in marine environment with particular emphasis on the interface processes (sediments- water and atmosphere-water) regarding organic matter and energy fluxes, carbon dioxide intake and transformation. Particular analytical methodologies concerning biosensors for analysis in situ are discussed.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting supplemental book.......2004-06-02

A collection of lectures by professors attending a conference in Ustica Italy in 2000, this book covers a broad range of subjects including many that are often overlooked. We use this as a supplement to our textbook (Libes) in Marine Biogeochemistry/Chemical Oceanography. The chapters on aerosols, photochemical processes and a collection of chapters on toxicants (endrocrine-disrupting, organic and organometallic compounds) round out holes in the Libes book. Additionally, the other chapters present an up-to-date view of marine chemistry and organic matter cycling. This is not a true replacement for a more traditional textbook, but it is a great readings supplement.

Advances in Soil Organic Matter Research: The Impact on Agriculture and the Environment (Proceedings of a Joint Symposium Organised By the Agricultu)

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Advances in Soil Organic Matter Research: The Impact on Agriculture and the Environment (Proceedings of a Joint Symposium Organised By the Agricultu)

Manufacturer: Royal Society of Chemistry
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Managing Organic Matter in Tropical Soils: Scope and (Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences)

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Managing Organic Matter in Tropical Soils: Scope and (Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1402004559

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Soil organic matter is a reservoir for plant nutrients, provides water-holding capacity, stabilizes soil structure against compaction and erosion, and thus determines soil productivity. All agriculture to some degree depends on soil organic matter. It has long been known that soil organic matter declines when land is taken into cultivation, and that the productivity of new agricultural land is governed by fertility contributions from decomposing natural organic matter. The expansion of agriculture to ever new and more fragile lands, particularly in tropical and developing regions, causes environmental degradation with local effects on soil quality, regional effects on landscape integrity and water quality, and global effects on carbon cycles and the atmosphere.

This book summarizes current knowledge of the properties and dynamics of soil organic matter in the tropics, its role in determining soil quality, its stability and turnover, and the options for management in the context of tropical landuse systems, for a readership of resource scientists, economists and advanced students. Maintenance of organic matter is critical for preventing land degradation. Case studies and practical applications are therefore an important part of the book, as are the exploration of future directions in research and management.

The Role of Nonliving Organic Matter in the Earth's Carbon Cycle (Dahlem Workshop Reports -- Environmental Sciences)

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The Role of Nonliving Organic Matter in the Earth's Carbon Cycle (Dahlem Workshop Reports -- Environmental Sciences)

Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471954632

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Nonliving organic matter (NLOM) comprises the bulk of the organic carbon stored in the terrestrial biosphere and a major part of the organic carbon in the sea. Organic substances, which include litter, marine detritus, dissolved organic matter, and soil organic matter, have diverse effects on the Earth’s biogeochemical processes and serve as a major reservoir of biospheric carbon, which can be transformed to carbon dioxide, methane, and other "greenhouse" gases. Given this broad spectrum of effects, efforts to adapt to or perhaps benefit from global change require a better understanding and an ability to predict the role of NLOM in the global environment. The overall objective of this volume is to provide experimental and modeling strategies for the assessment of the sensitivity of the global carbon cycle to changes in nonliving organic pools in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The discussions in this volume consider how best to characterize and quantify pools and fluxes of NLOM, the role of NLOM cycling on a global scale, human and climatic perturbations of interactions between NLOM and nutrients, and biological, chemical, and physical processes that control the production and degradation of NLOM, with an emphasis on processes that affect the persistence of NLOM in the environment. One of the most unique aspects of this volume is that it represents extensive exchanges between leading international scientists from both aquatic and terrestrial backgrounds. It will be of particular interest to organic geochemists, microbiologists, ecologists, soil scientists, agricultural scientists, marine chemists, limnologists, and modelers. Goal of this Dahlem Workshop: to devise experimental and modeling strategies for assessment of the sensitivity of the global carbon cycle to changes in nonliving organic pools.

Soil Mineral-Organic Matter-Microorganism Interactions and Ecosystem Health : Dynamics, Mobility and Transformation of Pollutants and Nutrients (Developments in Soil Science)

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Soil Mineral-Organic Matter-Microorganism Interactions and Ecosystem Health : Dynamics, Mobility and Transformation of Pollutants and Nutrients (Developments in Soil Science)

Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0444510389

Book Description

623435-28a.gif
Volume A deals with the dynamics, mobility and transformation of pollutants and nutrients. Soil is a dynamic system in which soil minerals constantly interact with organic matter and microorganisms. Close association among abiotic and biotic entities governs several chemical and biogeochemical processes and affects bioavailability, speciation, toxicity, transformations and transport of xenobiotics and organics in soil environments. This book elaborates critical research and an integrated view on basic aspects of mineral weathering reactions; formation and surface reactivity of soil minerals with respect to nutrients and environmental pollutants; dynamics and transformation of metals, metalloids, and natural and anthropogenic organics; effects of soil colloids on microorganisms and immobilization and activity of enzymes, and metabolic processes, growth and ecology of microbes. It offers up-to-date information on the impact of such a processes on soil development, agricultural production, environmental protection, and ecosystem integrity.

Soil Mineral-Organic Matter-Microorganism Interactions and Ecosystem Health : Ecological Significance of the Interactions among Clay Minerals, Organic ... Soil Biota (Developments in Soil Science)

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Soil Mineral-Organic Matter-Microorganism Interactions and Ecosystem Health : Ecological Significance of the Interactions among Clay Minerals, Organic ... Soil Biota (Developments in Soil Science)

Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0444510397

Book Description

623435-28b.gif
Volume B covers the ecological significance of the interactions among clay minerals, organic matter and soil biota. Soil is a dynamic system in which soil minerals constantly interact with organic matter and microorganisms. Close association among abiotic and biotic entities governs several chemical and biogeochemical processes and affects bioavailability, speciation, toxicity, transformations and transport of xenobiotics and organics in soil environments. This book elaborates critical research and an integrated view on basic aspects of mineral weathering reactions; formation and surface reactivity of soil minerals with respect to nutrients and environmental pollutants; dynamics and transformation of metals, metalloids, and natural and anthropogenic organics; effects of soil colloids on microorganisms and immobilization and activity of enzymes, and metabolic processes, growth and ecology of microbes. It offers up-to-date information on the impact of such a processes on soil development, agricultural production, environmental protection, and ecosystem integrity.

Sustainable Management of Soil Organic Matter

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Sustainable Management of Soil Organic Matter

Manufacturer: CABI
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0851994652

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The functioning of soils and their ability to supply nutrients, store water, release greenhouse gases, modify pollutants, resist physical degradation and produce crops within a sustainable management system is profoundly influenced by their organic matter content. This volume contains papers from an international conference held by the British Society of Soil Science in Edinburgh in September 1999. It explores the results of recent research studies examining how organic matter functions in soils, factors affecting organic matter quality and quantity and how management of organic matter can be optimized in order to achieve sustainable farming practices.

Potential net soil N mineralization and decomposition of glycine-^1^3C in forest soils along an elevation gradient [An article from: Soil Biology and Biochemistry]

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Potential net soil N mineralization and decomposition of glycine-^1^3C in forest soils along an elevation gradient [An article from: Soil Biology and Biochemistry]
C.T. Garten
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000RQZPV6

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Soil Biology and Biochemistry, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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The objective of this research was to better understand patterns of soil nitrogen (N) availability and soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition in forest soils across an elevation gradient (235-1670 m) in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Laboratory studies were used to determine the potential rate of net soil N mineralization and in situ studies of ^1^3C-labelled glycine were used to infer differences in decomposition rates. Nitrogen stocks, surface soil (0-5 cm) N concentrations, and the pool of potentially mineralizable surface soil N tended to increase from low to high elevations. Rates of potential net soil N mineralization were not significantly correlated with elevation. Increasing soil N availability with elevation is primarily due to greater soil N stocks and lower substrate C-to-N ratios, rather than differences in potential net soil N mineralization rates. The loss rate of ^1^3C from labelled soils (0-20 cm) was inversely related to study site elevation (r=-0.85; P <0.05) and directly related to mean annual temperature (+0.86; P <0.05). The results indicated different patterns of potential net soil N mineralization and ^1^3C loss along the elevation gradient. The different patterns can be explained within a framework of climate, substrate chemistry, and coupled soil C and N stocks. Although less SOM decomposition is indicated at cool, high-elevation sites, low substrate C-to-N ratios in these N-rich systems result in more N release (N mineralization) for each unit of C converted to CO"2 by soil microorganisms.

The role of ultraviolet radiation in litter decomposition in arid ecosystems [An article from: Applied Soil Ecology]

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The role of ultraviolet radiation in litter decomposition in arid ecosystems [An article from: Applied Soil Ecology]
M.E. Gallo , R.L. Sinsabaugh , and S.E. Cabaniss
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000P6OMXA

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Applied Soil Ecology, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
In arid ecosystems, as much as 75% of solar radiation that penetrates the atmosphere hits the surface of the soil. The combination of high irradiance, high temperature, and low moisture puts constraints on the activity and organization of microbial communities. To separate the direct effects of UV absorbance on litter decomposition from the indirect effects of microbial selection, we placed mixed cohorts of senescent pinon (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) litter into triplicate microcosms assigned to four treatments: UV irradiated (0.6mW/cm^2 UV-A and UV-B for 12h/day), with and without water additions, and non-irradiated with and without water additions. After 26 weeks, mass loss rates did not differ significantly among treatments with 90% organic matter remaining for pinon litter and 60% for juniper. The distribution and abundance of functional groups as assessed by FTIR spectra did not reveal any differences in relation to treatment, but differences were observed in the quantity and quality of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) extracted from the samples. The amount of DOC extracted increased by 56% for pinon litter and decreased by 32% for juniper in the UV-only treatment compared to initial values. Litter treated with UV and water had the lowest concentration of DOC with a decrease of 69% for juniper litter and 28% for pinon. The largest concentration of reactive phenols was found in the UV-only treatment with a 309% increase for pinon litter and a 10% reduction for juniper when compared to initial values. The treatments receiving water in the presence or absence of UV showed a similar response for both litter types, a reduction of 20-30% in phenolic concentration. Five extracellular enzyme activities, used, as indicators of microbial activity, were higher in the treatments that received water, but activities did not show an interaction with UV irradiation. The results suggest that UV radiation alone, or in combination with microbial activity, was as effective at decomposing litter as microbial activity alone. Thus, solar radiation can be an important contributor to litter degradation in arid systems.

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