Culture, People, Nature: An Introduction to General Anthropology

Front Cover
Harper & Row, 1988 - Social Science - 678 pages
Professor Harris - the leading theorist in cultural materialism - bases this comprehensive work on the perspective of thematic and theoretical coherence, giving the book depth and continuity. Speaking directly to students, helpful chapter introductions and end-of-chapter summaries focus on key points before and after reading each chapter. This seventh edition includes meticulous updating of research and scholarship, especially in the very active field of physical anthropology and archaeology. A new feature - "America Now Updates" - turns an anthropological eye on the contemporary U.S., emphasizing the comparative aspects of anthropology and making the discipline relevant to students.

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Contents

Why Study Anthropology?
5
Organic Evolution
9
The Inheritance of Genes
11
Copyright

91 other sections not shown

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About the author (1988)

Marvin Harris is an American anthropologist who was educated at Columbia University, where he spent much of his professional career. Beginning with studies on race relations, he became the leading proponent of cultural materialism, a scientific approach that seeks the causes of human behavior and culture change in survival requirements. His explanations often reduce to factors such as population growth, resource depletion, and protein availability. A controversial figure, Harris is accused of slighting the role of human consciousness and of underestimating the symbolic worlds that humans create. He writes in a style that is accessible to students and the general public, however, and his books have been used widely as college texts.

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