Shifting paradigms in anthropology: from racial classifi cation to the natural history of humanity.

Anthropology emerged as an informal field of inquiry during the 18th century, in the intellectual milieu of the Enlightenment, yet it was only in the following century that it became an institutionalized discipline. The historical context is far from incidental: European colonialism and imperialism, predatory extractive capitalism, and the rise of nationalism profoundly shaped the political, social, and cultural environment within which anthropology took shape as an academic discipline. This article offers a concise account of anthropology's development from the 18th to the 20th century, examining the intertwining of scientific inquiry and imperialist ideologies, with particular attention to the Italian case, from the unification to the end of World War II, including the Fascist period. We then discuss the deconstruction of the concept of "race" in contemporary anthropology and survey the current debate surrounding human biodiversity as a contested terrain at the intersection of biology and politics. The article concludes by advocating for renewed interdisciplinary dialogue between biological and cultural anthropology, grounded in scientific integrity and a humanistic commitment to social justice.