384 - Structures of Prejudice

Structures of Prejudice
By Carlyle Marney
256 pp. New York, Abingdon Press, 1961. $4.50.

There will be times when the readers of this book will want to turn back to the title page to reassure themselves of the subject of the book, so vast is the author's canvas, so various are the arguments he marshals, and so panoramic are the applications of his thesis. But there is a central theme even though it is now and then concealed by its own numerous and lusty offshoots.

Marney's dominant theme is that "we are immersed in materialism, provincialism, institutionalism, and individualism. The first is a meta-

385 - Structures of Prejudice

physical error, a perversion of reality; the second is an epistemological error, a false limitation of knowledge; the next is the ethical error implicit in our satisfaction with lesser values; and the last is theological madness, the denial of personality." He views prejudice in its broadest scope as the prejudging which pervades all of these areas of life, sometimes more obvious and overt in one area than in others but present and expressed in all of them. Contrary to sociologists, psychologists, and others who give prejudice its finest definition (in the sense of narrowness and sharpness) Marney lets the concept range full and free. Where they seek the nub, the germ of prejudice, he portrays the full grown monstrosity.

The outline, summarized in the thesis, is a novel and enlightening contribution to our understanding of the problem. The author does not permit the form of his analysis to be determined by the classical sociological and psychological theories of prejudices. Such theories are not discounted or contested; indeed, most of them are utilized as buttressing material. But his unfolding of the structure of prejudice does not follow customary developments. For example, for him racism "is not a separate structure of prejudice. No organic connection can be shown between the treatment of a minority race group in Southern America and a majority race group in South Africa." He sees racism, rather as a product "of provincialism multiplied by institutionalism." By breaking open the problem of prejudice along new lines, exposing its concealed structure, Marney invites students of prejudice to view the subject in a new light and urges them to re-examine their pet theories.

There is no questioning the fact that Marney's definition of prejudice has breadth. Nevertheless it leaves unanswered-as in all probability every study of prejudice will-questions about the inner motivation of prejudice. To say that "All categories, when falsely or too narrowly drawn, become breeding places for new prejudice" or that "Too narrow a view of anything results in prejudiced thinking and action" is not to explain the inner energies of prejudice. Why do we draw false and narrow categories? Does anything more than the craving for security explain our recourse to provincialism? Are we not driven, whether we like it or not, to metaphysical, psychological, and theological explanations?

To be sure, the author does not offer his provocative theories as the last word or, for that matter, as his last word on the structure of prejudice. The author, as he says of himself, has been "a seeker thirty-five of my years, a Don Quixote, and a mimic-and I have my bewilderments." A man of such nature is not likely to accept any theory-certainly not his own-as final. He is on the way toward answers and in the process casts light for which others making the same pilgrimage can be grateful.

Carlyle Marney is one of those extraordinarily fecund writers who

386 - Structures of Prejudice

sometimes bury themselves under massive arguments, superfluous: Illustrations, excessive quotations. His mind is far-ranging and his powers of recall are extraordinary (either that or he has a fantastically efficient reference file). These are capabilities which are the envy of writers who do not have them. They are nevertheless tempting and perilous facilities for those who do have them. This book would have gained focus and effectiveness if the author had callously pruned his material. To be sure, none of it is dull; all of it is relative to the theme; but the danger is that the reader will become so engrossed by the author's command of correlative subjects and so charmed and diverted by the wealth and brilliance of heaped-up evidence that he becomes insensible to the principal theses. A writer who has Marney's command of language, his abundance of ideas and his facility of expression does not need to call to his aid such a long roster of allies.

Serious and experienced students of prejudice cannot afford to ignore this study. Those readers who are coming to an analysis of the problem for the first time will find this analysis a sound and highly interesting introduction.

Kyle Haselden
Chicago, Illinois