Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, frequently featured in mass media as a popularizer of anthropological insights for modern Western life. She was a champion of broadened sexual mores within the context of Western religious life. Her reports on the purportedly healthy attitude towards sex in traditional South Pacific and Southeast Asian cultures significantly informed the '60s "sexual revolution." Though a respected academic, her work was eventually, and controversially, challenged.
Focusing on cultural relativism, this collection of essays offers a framework for future ethnological surveys in anthropology. It aims to deepen understanding and provide a basis for planning research within contemporary society. The assembled statements serve as a guide for scholars looking to explore and analyze cultural contexts more effectively.
Exploring the culture of the Russian people, this volume combines two influential works by Gorer and Mead, both of which have been unavailable for some time. Gorer's analysis delves into Great Russian culture, while Mead examines Soviet attitudes toward authority, offering an interdisciplinary perspective on Soviet character. These foundational studies represent early anthropological efforts to understand the complexities of Russian society.
Born in the first year of the 20th century, it is fitting that Margaret Mead should have been one of the first anthropologists to use anthropological analysis to study the future course of human civilization. This volume collects her writings on the future of humanity and how humans can shape that future through purposeful action.
The collection showcases Margaret Mead's correspondence over fifty years, offering insights into her groundbreaking anthropological work in Samoa, New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, and Bali. These letters, enriched with photographs, reveal her deep passion for preliterate cultures, blending intelligence, humor, and poetry. They serve not only as a personal narrative but also as a significant contribution to the understanding of anthropology as both a science and an art. This edition commemorates Mead's centennial, featuring introductions by Jan Morris and her daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson.
Exploring French culture through a social science lens, this study by Margaret Mead and Rhoda Métraux stands out for its depth and breadth. Originating from a Columbia University project in 1954, it offers a rare American perspective on contemporary French life. The collaboration highlights significant themes and insights, making it a valuable resource for understanding the complexities of French society.
The centennial edition of New Lives for Old includes insightful introductions by Stewart Brand and Mary Catherine Bateson, the daughter of the author. This edition highlights the enduring relevance of Mead's work, offering fresh perspectives on her contributions to anthropology and culture, as well as the evolution of her ideas over the past century.
Margaret Mead's exploration of the Manus people in New Guinea reveals their family dynamics, views on sex, marriage, child-rearing, and spirituality during a transformative period in 1928. Living in a remote fishing village, she documented a culture untouched by modern influences, drawing parallels to contemporary Western society. This reissue, celebrating her centennial, includes introductions by Howard Gardner and her daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson, highlighting its significant anthropological contributions and the vivid portrayal of a lost way of life.
For more than a generation, this pioneering book has been an indispensable introduction to the field of anthropology. Here, in her study of three sharply contrasting cultures, Benedict puts forward her famous thesis that a people's culture is an integrated whole, a "personality writ large." Includes a preface from Margaret Mead.
Focusing on the foundational aspects of gender differences, this work serves as a precursor to Mead's later influential studies. It explores the interplay between sex and temperament, establishing key concepts that would inform her ongoing research in anthropology and gender roles. Through insightful analysis, the book sets the stage for understanding the complexities of male and female behaviors and characteristics.
Margaret Mead wrote this comprehensive sketch of the culture of the United States - the first since de Tocqueville - in 1942 at the beginnning of the Second World War, when Americans were confronted by foreign powers from both Europe and Asia in a particularly challenging manner. Mead's work became an instant classic. It was required reading for anthropology students for nearly two decades, and was widely translated. It was revised and expanded in 1965 for a second generation of readers. Among the more controversial conclusions of her analysis are the denial of class as a motivating force in American culture, and her contention that culture is the primary determinant for individual character formation. Her process remains lucid, vivid, and arresting. As a classic study of a complex western society, it remains a monument to anthropological analysis.