Leslie A. White: Evolution and Revolution in AnthropologyFew figures in modern American anthropology have been more controversial or influential than Leslie A. White (1900?1975). Between the early 1940s and mid-1960s, White?s work was widely discussed, and he was among the most frequently cited American anthropologists in the world. After writing several respected ethnographic works about the Pueblo Indians, White broke ranks with anthropologists who favored such cultural histories and began to radically rethink American anthropology. As his political interest in socialism grew, he revitalized the concept of cultural evolution and reinvigorated comparative studies of culture. His strident political beliefs, radical interpretive vision, and often combative nature earned him enemies inside and outside the academy. His trip to the Soviet Union and participation in the Socialist Labor Party brought him to the attention of the FBI during the height of the Cold War, and near-legendary scholarly and political conflicts surrounded him at the University of Michigan. ø Placing White?s life and work in historic context, William J. Peace documents the broad sociopolitical influences that affected his career, including many aspects of White?s life that are largely unknown, such as the reasons he became antagonistic toward Boasian anthropology. In so doing, Peace sheds light on what made White such a colorful figure as well as his enduring contributions to modern anthropology. |
Contents
Early Life and Formative Experiences | 1 |
Fieldwork in the Southwest | 35 |
The Socialist Labor Party and Socialist Evolutionary Theory | 69 |
Evolutionary Theory for American Anthropologists | 99 |
Academic and Political Threats | 135 |
White Presses Needlessly On | 164 |
Other editions - View all
Leslie A. White: Evolution and Revolution in Anthropology William J. Peace No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
academic Acoma Alfred Kroeber American Anthropologist Ann Arbor Archaeology argued Barnes Papers BHL-WP Boas Boasian capitalist career Carneiro Childe circa Cole communist concept criticism cultural evolution cultural evolutionism DeLeon discussion Eggan Elman Service Elsie Clews Parsons essay ethnographic Evolution of Culture evolutionary theory evolutionism evolutionists example fact faculty members Farber Faris father Fay-Cooper Cole field fieldwork Goldenweiser Goldfrank Hass Helen human Indians influence intellectual interest Journal Julian Steward Kroeber Laboratory of Anthropology Leslie White letter Lewis Henry Morgan Linton Lowie Marx Marxist medicine societies Meggers noted political Press problems professor published Pueblo culture Review Robert Ruthven Sapir scholars School Science of Culture scientific social sciences Socialist Labor Party sociology Southwest Society Soviet Union Spier thought University of Chicago University of Michigan Weekly White believed White to Barnes White wrote White's papers White's views writing wrote to White