Geography, States, Empires
Eric Wolf’s Europe and the People Without History attempts to answer Yali’s Question – Why Europe? It’s time to rediscover the history of Eric Wolf.
human nature
Patterns of Culture (1934) wins Jared Diamond (2012)
Ruth Benedict’s Patterns of Culture wins Jared Diamond for conceptual clarity, writing style, ethnographic example, and impact. Pretty good for 1934.
The World Until Yesterday
Jared Diamond’s 2012 book, The World Until Yesterday encloses people in traditional cultures rather than dynamic Interconnection.
#GunReformNow for #AnthroDay
Can gun violence ever lead to new gun control resolve or just to new guns? Anthropology can push for sanity on gun violence and gun control.
Yes, the guns really do matter.
In our urge to understand complexity, anthropologists can make things more complicated than necessary. The guns matter. The U.S. needs a semi-automatic ban.
Busting Myths
“Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You” launched Agustin Fuentes into a public defense of anthropology’s relevance.
Conservative Goldmine
The “social construction of race” is a goldmine for conservative politics, offering endless denunciation, delusions of anti-white bias, & political venom.
2013 Introduction to Anthropology – Four Fields
Introduction to Anthropology with “What Does it Mean to be Human?”; “Labor and Legality”; and “Applying Anthropology.” Biological, Archaeology, Culture.
Jared Diamond won’t beat Mitt Romney
The really scary part of the Diamond Romney dustup is how Romney recaps Diamond: European imperialism is accidental but societies choose to fail.
Darwin in Mind–The End
“Darwin in Mind: New Opportunities for Evolutionary Psychology” (2011) marked the end of evolutionary psychology as foil for anthropology.
Gun Culture
An analysis of “gun culture” provides lessons for talking about culture in anthropology at a time when culture–and guns–are everywhere.
Walmart Socialism
On using the informational-distributional capacities of Walmart to enact a sensible and sustainable future, Walmart Socialism and Utopia.
Dawkins versus Wilson: The Descent of Science
A Call for Blog Posts (CFBP) for an anthropological analysis of Richard Dawkins versus Edward Wilson on Social Conquest of the Earth.
Sex, Gender, Sexuality
Anthropology insists sex, gender, and sexuality include human activity and imagination–explaining why “gender is a social construction”
Beyond Capitalism
Boone Shear and Brian Burke organized a special track for alternative political ecologies for 2012 Applied Anthropology, seeking to go Beyond Capitalism.
fellow passengers in this world of ours
On the sorely-felt need for humility, empathy, and sympathy. On science, intelligence, Adam Smith, economics, Wealth of Nations, Theory of Moral Sentiments.
Elizabeth Brumfiel, In Memoriam
Dr. Elizabeth Brumfiel, Professor of Anthropology & Archaeology at Northwestern University and an inspiring scholar, will be greatly missed.
Four Field Manifesto
Anthropology’s Moral Optimism: Four Field Manifesto & alternative visions of humanity. Capitalism is not the most beautiful or respectful of shared planet.
Anthropology & Occupy Wall Street
In October 2011, the anthropological blogosphere coalesced around supporting Occupy Wall Street. But why is there not a similar movement in 2019?
Admixture All the Way Down
Despite Nicholas Wade’s emphasis on splits among human groups, the research is clear that it’s admixture all the way down. Plus some Malinowski!
Fernando Coronil, In Memoriam
Fernando Coronil worked toward the moral optimism of anthropology, “energizing struggles to build a world made of many worlds.”
Government Planning & Anthropology
Anthropology should stand against the ideologues insisting government planning is inherently flawed.
Why do we celebrate killing?
To challenge “Why we celebrate killing” anthropology must emphasize political economy, going beyond idea of instincts shaped by culture.
Anthropology 101 in 2011
This post on Anthropology 101 in 2011 was a call to action for introductory courses to address the big themes of Human Nature, Race, & Evolution.
Popularizing Anthro 1996-2011
Reading “Complexities: Beyond Nature and Nurture” leads to lessons from attempts at popularizing anthropology, 1996-2011.