Nature/nurture and the anthropology of Franz Boas and Margaret Mead as an agenda for revolutionary politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7215286 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sidney Greenfield (0000-0001-6425-7989, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, corresponding author), Sidney M Greenfield (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 16 |
| Pages | 35-52 |
| Publication date | 2001-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Horizontes Antropológicos (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0104-7183 • E-ISSN: 1806-9983 |
| Publisher | FapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1590/s0104-71832001000200003 |
| OpenAlex | W2147229201 |
| SCIELO_PID | S0104-71832001000200003 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 19 |
There is much more involved in the nature/nurture debate than an abstract theoretical disagreement among dispassionate scientists. Each side of the debate leads logically to significantly different views of the social order and holds different implications for social policy. In this paper I shall argue that Boas' Anthropology with its emphasis on cultural relativism was as much a social and political agenda as it was a scientific theory. The positions on public policy issues he opposed were informed (and rationalized) by what its advocates claimed to be science. To be able to counter the discriminatory policy proposals that followed from this science, it was necessary for Boas both to challenge its validity and then replace it with an alternative that would support a more liberal political agenda. This chapter of anthropology's history gains relevance in today's context as neoevolutionary, reductionist theories once more provide "scientific" support for conservative, separatist and often discriminatory social policies
Context (archaeology · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Nature versus nurture · Order (exchange · Political science · Politics · Reductionism · Relativism · Relevance (law · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Social and Cultural Dynamics
The DNA Mystique
The structure of scientific revolutions
How Jews became white folks and what that says about race in America
Race, culture, and evolution
Coming of Age in Samoa
Observers observed
Reinventing anthropology.
Margaret Mead and Samoa
Consilience
Rise of Anthropological Theory
Anthropology and Modern Life
The Rise of Anthropological Theory
Margaret Mead and Samoa, The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth
The Passion of Franz Boas
The Great Ape Project and Disability Rights
Race and the Culture of Anthropology
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,27 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2021 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |