Living Anthropologically
The moral optimism of anthropology can change the world
Haviland, Anthropology: The Human Challenge
Overview and integrating with Living Anthropologically:
Sections 1.1-1.7 on Human Nature and Race
Next: Haviland Anthropology on Human Evolution and Primatology
The conceptual approach and detail of Haviland Anthropology made it #1 for its treatment of multiregionalism and Neandertals, and its overall take on questions of human nature, race, and evolution make it a conceptual favorite for 2011. It is almost always possible to find a fact or reference, as the authors cover an impressive stretch of anthropology. The Haviland Anthropology textbook is the only one I found with a searchable “look inside” feature from Amazon, and the only one with a Kindle edition. However, the Kindle edition is $100!
The problem is that Haviland Anthropology becomes more like an encyclopedia than a textbook. It has four co-authors, more than any of the other textbooks, and is up to 100 pages longer than the comprehensive 4-field texts. It is difficult to imagine how a professor could include much additional reading. At about $115 dollars for the print edition, it was the most expensive textbook, but the 7th edition of Scupin and DeCorse-Anthropology has now trumped even Haviland-Anthropology. Haviland is also not significantly more expensive than the other comprehensive-format textbooks, like Ember, Kottak, and Miller. Very unfortunately, the condensed version of Haviland, The Essence of Anthropology clocks in at about $100 for the print version ($80 for the Kindle Edition). At this price, it defeats the purpose of assigning additional readings and materials to complement the textbook. (Read review of Haviland Essence of Anthropology.)
With this encyclopedic quality, more proofreading was necessary. There are mismatches between index page numbers and material, as well as problems in reference dates and styles, and some typos. It also seemed like it was more an encyclopedia of 1990s anthropology—the references for many sections stopped at around 2000.
I also worry Haviland Anthropology may sometimes come off as “typical liberal anthropologists.” It’s more of an impression I get paging through the text, although a particularly acerbic Amazon reviewer complained of it being too “preachy” and similar negative reviews show up for their Essence of Anthropology. I take such comments with lots of salt, but I do worry there is something about the Haviland textbooks which makes them seem like they are liberals masquerading as objective, when it could be better to simply announce positioning from the start (see blog-post Anthropology, Ambushed). Other textbooks do not get the same kinds of vitriol, at least on Amazon comments.
1.1 Human Nature and Anthropology
Corresponds to Chapter 1, “The Essence of Anthropology” which talks about how anthropologists often challenge “generally accepted opinions derived from Western studies” (p.7), with a nice reference to Geertz’s Anti-anti-relativism lecture (1984). Haviland Anthropology emphasizes holism and that “humans have one leg in culture and the other in nature” (p.25). The authors stress a biocultural approach, including many boxed features with “Biocultural Connections” and consider this a “signature feature” of the textbook (p. xxviii). Extensive discussion of genes, but do not really address issues of genetic determinism. Haviland Anthropology discusses infant development mostly in relationship to co-sleeping and SIDS (p.6 and p.312), later stating “stimulation plays a key role in the hardwiring of the brain; it is necessary for development of the neural circuitry” (p.398), with hints that this neural circuitry could develop differently under different environmental conditions. It is unclear why they use the phrase “hardwiring of the brain,” as “hardwired” gets unconvincingly used two other times (p.90; p.278). There are hints of how fetal environment influences growth, such as the photo caption p.288 and the PCB discussion on p.669, but this could be more developed in the text. Haviland Anthropology generally argues against biological and genetic determinisms, but sometimes put this more in the boxes than the headlines; they include two selections from Jonathan Marks, “Ninety-Eight Percent Alike” (pp.40-41) and “A Feckless Quest for the Basketball Gene” (pp.286-287).
1.2 Evolution and natural selection, anthropologically
Discuss the “nondirectedness of macroevolution” (pp.127-128) and highlight The Flamingo’s Smile
1.3 Racism and biological anthropology
For Chapter 12 on “Race and Racism,” Haviland Anthropology speaks mostly of European scholarly race classifications, with a colonial context assuming a somewhat secondary role (pp.278-280). This is not directly brought into the present until much later in a short section on racial segregation, with mention made of income and wealth disparities in the United States (pp.537-538). This could be given greater emphasis and better linked to the earlier discussion.
1.4 Human skulls: Boas head shape studies revalidated
Although Haviland Anthropology has extensive discussions of skulls and the cranium in relationship to human evolution, do not have references to present skull shape or craniometrics. Talk about Boas as fighting against racism, but present the Boas immigrant studies in terms of increased height in the United States (p.9; p.302; recall that Boas actually found Sicilian immigrants to be stunted in their new environment!)
1.5 Race revival
The authors talk about The Bell Curve but it is an undated discussion, not in the context of race revival (p.286). No mention of race revivals like “A Family Tree in Every Gene” (Leroi 2005), genetic ancestry testing, or race-based medicine–see Is Race “Real”?
1.6 “Race Reconciled” re-debunks race
1.7 Race becomes biology
Haviland Anthropology discusses how cultural factors like diet as well as environment affects biology (pp.290-1). Curiously, however, they do not specifically close the loop and show how race as a cultural category becomes biology. (Also strangely, they come closer to closing the loop in their condensed ©2010 text, Essence of Anthropology, but the section on health effects for the poor and people of color drops out of the ©2011 longer text.) Haviland Anthropology mainly concentrates on The Bell Curve and debunking IQ tests as measuring intelligence, cultural bias, and socioeconomic bias; they do here talk about how environment can shape physical aspects like height (p.287).
Next: Haviland Anthropology on Human Evolution and Primatology
