Culture of Prejudice: Arguments in Critical Social Science

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

The authors of this well-researched, forcefully argued book set out to
expose and dispel some of the myths and falsehoods surrounding what they
call “the culture of prejudice ... the antithesis of human freedom and
the mortal enemy of human self-realization.” In the introduction, they
explain the difference between bias and prejudice, outline the necessity
for a book of this nature, and examine the role of social science in
ridding the world of prejudice.

The topics discussed in the chapters that follow include nationalism,
racism, fundamentalism, and terrorism; colonialism and globalization;
poverty and social dispossession; social class; feminism and the
women’s movement; health, sexuality, and reproduction; policing the
culture of prejudice; ecology and animal liberation; and the economy and
politics and ideology. In the final chapter, the authors (all of whom
teach sociology at Brock University) assert: “The mortal enemy of ...
the cultures of prejudice ... is the human capacity to rise above
primitive passions and recurrent cycles of hatred and violence—to
embrace a rational, critical, and egalitarian worldview that is informed
by the best social science has to offer.”

Each chapter includes footnotes and a suggested readings list, and
there is an invaluable glossary at the end the book, which would be an
excellent adjunct to undergraduate social/cultural studies courses.