On human nature : biology, psychology, ethics, politics, and religion

Thanks to the progress made by modern genomics, human populations and individuals can be finely characterized. Genomics confirms that geographical populations are not strictly separated and that their boundaries overlap. This makes it possible to reject the typological race concept, which states that races tend to be homogeneous and strictly separated from each other. Moreover, human geographical populations do not fit strict phylogenetic criteria based on thresholds of evolutionary divergence. However, population genetics and anthropology have long dismissed the typological concept and have not traditionally relied on threshold-based phylogenetic criteria. The classic view of population genetics, zoology, and physical anthropology was instead that human races could be equated with subspecies, a notion that does not clash with modern genomics. So deciding whether or not human races exist is a matter of definition, the criteria used, and semantic choice. There is no final response that meets consensus about the validity of the race concept among scientists. This chapter discusses the social aspects of the race debate as well as alternative strategies for effectively fighting racism