Reinvention of Primitive Society

Adam Kuper is Professor of Anthropology at Brunel University, UK and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of a number of books, including The Chosen Primate: Human Nature and Cultural Diversity (Harvard 1994), Anthropologists and Anthropology: The Modern British School, third edition (Routledge 1996) and Culture: The Anthropologists' Account (Harvard 1999). The founding president of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, he ws for many years editor of Current Anthropology, and is co-editor of The Social Science Encyclopedia, third edition (Routledge 2003).

• Preface Part 1:The idea of primitive society 1. The myth of primitive society 2. Barbarian, Savage, Primitive Part 2: Ancient law, ancient society and totemism 3. Henry Maine’s patriarchal theory 4. Lewis Henry Morgan and ancient society 5. The question of totemism Part 3: Evolution and diffusion: Boas, Rivers and Radcliffe-Brown 6. The Boasians and the critique of evolutionism 7. From Rivers to Radcliffe-Brown Part 4: Descent and Alliance 8. Descent theory: a phoenix from the ashes 9. Towards the intellect: Alliance theory and totemism Part 5: Back to the beginning 10. The return of the native 11. Conclusion References Index

Select Guide Rating