The Rise of Anthropological Theory: a history of theories of cultures

The best known, most often cited history of anthropological theory is finally available in paperback! First published in 1968, Harris's book has been cited in over 1,000 works and is one of the key documents explaining cultural materialism, the theory associated with Harris's work. This updated edition included the complete 1968 text plus a new introduction by Maxine Margolis, which discusses the impact of the book and highlights some of the major trends in anthropological theory since its original publication. RAT, as it is affectionately known to three decades of graduate students, comprehensively traces the history of anthropology and anthropological theory, culminating in a strong argument for the use of a scientific, behaviorally-based, etic approach to the understanding of human culture known as cultural materialism. Despite its popularity and influence on anthropological thinking, RAT has never been available in paperback\_until now. It is an essential volume for the library of all anthropologists, their graduate students, and other theorists in the social sciences. Cover 1 Acknowledgments 7 Contents 9 1. Introduction 11 2. Enlightenment 18 3. Reaction and Recovery: The Early Nineteenth Century 63 4. Rise of Racial Determinism 90 5. Spencerism 118 6. Evolutionism: Methods 152 7. The Evolutionists: Results 190 8. Dialectical Materialism 227 9. Historical Particularism: Boas 260 10. The Boasian Milieu 300 11. The Ethnographic Basis of Particularism 311 12. Kroeber 329 13. Lowie 353 14. Diffusionism 383 15. Culture and Personality: Pre-Freudian 403 16. Culture and Personality: Freudian 432 17. Culture and Personality: New Directions 459 18. French Structuralism 474 19. British Social Anthropology 524 20. Emics, Etics, and the New Ethnography 578 21. Statistical Survey and the Nomothetic Revival 615 22. Cultural Materialism: General Evolution 644 23. Cultural Materialism: Cultural Ecology 664 Bibliography 698 Index 775