Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-265) and index.
Contents
Introduction : scholarly scandals: why do they happen? -- Plagiarism and the demise of gatekeepers -- The noble lie : "arming America" and the right to bear arms -- "A self of many possibilities" : Joseph Ellis, the protean historian -- The ghost of Caliban : Derek Freeman and "the fateful hoaxing of Margaret Mead" -- Violent people and gentle savages : the Yanomami controversy -- The willful suspension of disbelief : Rigoberta Menchú and the making of the Mayan holocaust -- Science fiction : Sokal's hoax and the "linguist left" -- What do the scandals mean?
Note
Print version record.
Summary
Ron Robin takes an intriguing look at the shifting nature of academic and public discourse in this incisive consideration of recent academic scandals--including charges of plagiarism against Stephen Ambrose, Derek Freeman's attempt to debunk Margaret Mead's research, Michael Bellesiles's alleged fabrication of an early America without weapons, Joseph Ellis's imaginary participation in major historical events of the 1960s, Napoleon Chagnon's creation and manipulation of a "Stone Age people," and.