and lse is supposed to be a progressive institution! farida On Fri, May 20, 2011 at 9:31 AM, Venugopalan K M <[email protected]>wrote:
> K M Venugopalan spotted this on the guardian.co.uk site and thought > you should see it. > > ------- > Note from K M Venugopalan: > > Does this take one closer to the idea of 'alternative > modernities' or to anchor him/herself more firmly to the > epistemologic links of modernism? > > To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk site, > go to > http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/19/lse-academic-triggers-race-row > > LSE academic's claim 'black women less attractive' triggers race row > > Social scientist made remarks on his blog claiming he had analysed > data from an online study of physical attractiveness > > Ian Sample, science correspondent > Friday May 20 2011 > The Guardian > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/19/lse-academic-triggers-race-row > > > Student groups at the London School of Economics are calling for the > dismissal of a social scientist who has become embroiled in a racism > row after claiming that a study showed black women to be less > attractive than women of other races. > > Dr Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the institution, > published his comments on a blog and claimed he had analysed data from > an online study of physical attractiveness. > > In his article for Psychology Today [http://www.psychologytoday.com/"; > title="], Kanazawa wrote: "Black women are ? far less attractive than > white, Asian, and Native American women." The piece drew a barrage of > complaints from readers and has since been removed from the site. > > The row has prompted the University of London Union Senate, the > union's legislative body, which represents more than 120,000 students, > to vote unanimously for the dismissal of Kanazawa, and to condemn his > research. > > Sherelle Davids, anti-racism officer-elect of the LSE students' > union, said: "Kanazawa deliberately manipulates findings that justify > racist ideology. As a black woman I feel his conclusions are a direct > attack on black women everywhere who are not included in social ideas > of beauty." > > Amena Amer, incoming LSE students' union education officer, added: "We > support free speech and academic freedom, but Kanazawa's research > fuels hate against ethnic and religious minorities promoted by > neo-Nazi groups. Not only does he use the LSE's credentials to > legitimise his 'research' but this jeopardises the academic > credibility of the LSE." > > The LSE launched an internal investigation into Kanazawa's comments > after senior academics at the school, including the new director, > Judith Rees, received letters of complaint over the remarks. Dr > Kanazawa is abroad on sabbatical this year. > > > > The incident is the latest embarrassment for the LSE, following the > resignation of previous director Sir Howard Davies, in March > [ > http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/mar/03/lse-director-resigns-gaddafi-scandal > " > title="] after admitting that the institution's reputation had been > damaged by the acceptance of a ?1.5m donation from a foundation > controlled by Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam. > > The investigation will look at the data Kanazawa analysed and the > quality of his work, before deciding what punitive action, if any, it > can take. > > In a statement, the LSE sought to distance itself from the > researcher's comments, but acknowledged freedom of academic > expression. > > "The views expressed by this academic are his own and do not in any > way represent those of the LSE as an institution. The important > principle of academic freedom means that authors have the right to > publish their views ? but it also means the freedom to disagree. We > are conducting internal investigations into this matter," the > statement said. > > Kanazawa has been criticised in the past for substandard research in > the area of race and intelligence. > > > If you have any questions about this email, please contact the > guardian.co.uk user help desk: [email protected]. > > > guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2011 > Registered in England and Wales No. 908396 > Registered office: PO Box 68164, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1P 2AP > Please consider the environment before printing this email. > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > Visit guardian.co.uk - newspaper website of the year > www.guardian.co.uk www.observer.co.uk > > On your mobile, visit http://m.guardian.co.uk or download the new Guardian > iPhone app http://www.guardian.co.uk/iphone > > > To save up to 30% when you subscribe to the Guardian and the Observer > visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/subscriber > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > This e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may also > be privileged. If you are not the named recipient, please notify > the sender and delete the e-mail and all attachments immediately. > Do not disclose the contents to another person. You may not use > the information for any purpose, or store, or copy, it in any way. > > Guardian News & Media Limited is not liable for any computer > viruses or other material transmitted with or as part of this > e-mail. You should employ virus checking software. > > Guardian News & Media Limited > > A member of Guardian Media Group plc > Registered Office > PO Box 68164 > Kings Place > 90 York Way > London > N1P 2AP > > Registered in England Number 908396 > > > > -- > > > You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot > build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you > will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a > whole. > -AMBEDKAR > > > > http://venukm.blogspot.com > > http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur > > http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Green Youth Movement" group. > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
