The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilization to the Fall of Rome

ISBN-13: 9781598741445 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 400 str.

Leslie A. White; Robert Garneiro; Burton J. Brown

Opis

One of the major works of twentieth-century anthropological theory, written by one of the discipline's most important, complex, and controversial figures, has not been in print for several years. Now Evolution of Culture is again available in paperback, allowing today's generation of anthropologists new access to Leslie White's crucial contribution to the theory of cultural evolution. A new, substantial introduction by Robert Carneiro and Burton J. Brown assess White's historical importance and continuing influence in the discipline. White is credited with reintroducing evolution in a way that had a profound impact on our understanding of the relationship between technology, ecology, and culture in the development of civilizations. A materialist, he was particularly concerned with societies' ability to harness energy as an indicator of progress, and his empirical analysis of this equation covers a vast historical span. Fearlessly tackling the most fundamental questions of culture and society during the cold war, White was frequently a lightning rod both inside and outside the academy. His book will provoke equally potent debates today, and is a key component of any course or reading list in anthropological or archaeological theory and cultural ecology.

Spis treści

One: Primitive Culture; 1: Man and Culture; 2: Energy and Tools; 3: The Nature of Social Organization; 4: The Transition From Anthropoid Society to Human Society; 5: Exogamy and Endogamy; 6: Kinship; 7: Structure, Functions, and Evolution of Human Social Systems; 8: Integration, Regulation, and Control of Social Systems; 9: Economic Organization of Primitive Society; 10: Philosophy: Myth and Lore; 11: Primitive Culture as a Whole; Two: The Agricultural Revolution and Its Consequences; 12: The Agricultural Revolution; 13: The State-Church: ITS Forms and Functions; 14: Economic Structure of Higher Cultures; 15: Theology and Science; 16: Summary

O autorze

Leslie A White