'The Bell curve' in perspective : race, meritocracy, inequality and politics / William H. Tucker

Includes index

1.Foreword -- 2.The Bell Curve, Then and Now -- 3.Meritocracy: Places, Everyone! -- 4.Politics and Intelligence: Running Against the Cognitive Elite -- 5.Conclusion: addressing inequality

This open access book examines the implications of The Bell Curve for the social, economic, and political developments of the early 21st century. Following a review of the reception of The Bell Curve and its place in the campaign to end affirmative action, Professor Tucker analyses Herrnstein's concept of the "meritocracy" in relation to earlier 20th century eugenics and the dramatic increase in economic inequality over the past 30 years. Tucker demonstrates how, contrary to The Bell Curve's predictions, the reallocation of these huge sums was neither rational nor beneficial for society. The book moves on to situate The Bell Curve within contemporary politics and shows how it can be seen to have played a role in the 2016 US election. This compelling analysis will appeal to scholars and those with an interest in the history of scientific racism, the history of psychology and the sociology of knowledge and science. William H. Tucker (1940-2022) was Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University, Camden, USA. He was the author books including: The Cattell Controversy: Race, Science, and Ideology (2009), The Intelligence Controversy (2005), The Funding of Scientific Racism (2002), and The Science and Politics of Racial Research (1994). Professor Tucker sadly died before publication could be completed. This work has been prepared for publication by his colleague Professor Daniel Hart with the permission of his widow Monica Drozd