Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements

The Third Volume of an Evolutionary Trilogy

Kevin MacDonald published The Culture of Critique in 1998 as the third installment of a trilogy examining Judaism through the lens of evolutionary psychology. The first two volumes, A People That Shall Dwell Alone and Separation and Its Discontents, laid the theoretical groundwork. This book applies the framework to twentieth-century intellectual and political movements.

What the Book Argues

MacDonald's thesis is that several influential intellectual movements of the twentieth century functioned, in evolutionary terms, as expressions of Jewish group interest. He examines Boasian anthropology, psychoanalysis, the Frankfurt School, the New York Intellectuals, and the immigration reform movement of the 1960s. In each case, he argues that the movement was disproportionately led by Jewish intellectuals, that it served to undermine the cultural cohesion of the host society, and that it operated with an internal group consciousness even when it presented itself in universalist terms.

The book is controversial in the strongest sense of the word. It has been praised by some evolutionary psychologists for its methodological framework and condemned by others for its conclusions. It is banned from most mainstream bookstores and remains one of the most frequently cited texts in dissident political circles. MacDonald writes in an academic register, with extensive footnotes and source citations.

About This Edition

Author: Kevin MacDonald
Publisher: Authorhouse (1st Books Library)
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780759672222