Blumenbach reconsidered - the epistemic space of race science in the nineteenth century

Viewing Johannes Blumenbach as the founder of modern race science reflects a style of intellectual history that emphasises the role of individuals in the transmission and communication of ideas. The limitations of this approach were highlighted in the 1960s by Quentin Skinner and Michel Foucault. The archaeological method developed by Foucault in the 1960s, along with his lectures and writings of the 1970s, provides resources to reconsider Blumenbach within an epistemic space of race science.