Good review of "guns, germs, steel"

["Chris Kromm" <ckromm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

My friend (whose opinion I trust on just about everything) had this to say
about the book:


Yes, I've actually read the whole book.  It's okay in some ways, but his
geographical determinism tends to undercut his avowed anti-racist
stance--notions of chance (contingency) get lost, so Diamond winds up
arguing, in effect, that imperialism is historically inevitable, and that
the inhabitants of Europe (whether they had been "white" or not) would
have dominated the world anyway.  Also, it's so grand in its ambition
that historically specific moments come off looking merely like
manifestations of general, immutable laws.  So much for agency,
responsibility, and finally politics, or the notion that anything could
have been (could be) different.

Yes, he likes the New Guineans.  And the Australian aborigines, etc. But
then, so do lots of white folks.  And liking the oppressed isn't the same
thing as understanding/resisting oppression. To me, Diamond's book is
another example of the ease with which scientific explanations of human
society can make existing relations of power seem natural and
irresistible--in his case, as if they're written into the very rocks and
soil and coastlines of the continents.

To be sure, he seems to have good intentions.  But his main point is to
show that imperialism isn't a result of racial superiority.  Excuse me,
but don't we already know that--at least those of us who care?