Jerry D. Moore - Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists

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This booknow in its fifth editionis written for students, and since 1993 various versions of the chapters have been tested on my students at California State University, Dominguez Hills. I want to thank them for their patience, questions, and puzzling looksand for forcing me to be clearer in exposition and intent. When I was writing the chapter on Edward Sapir, I felt an immediate empathy for the Ottawa period in his life when he lacked students; to lack the exchange of ideas with students would be a great loss, and I thank my students for their contributions to this book.

I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to my wife and colleague, Janine Gasco, who read draft chapters and listened to theoretical and editorial problems, and whose advice was unfailingly sound. In addition, I have discussed aspects of this book with my friends and colleagues Andrew Stewart, Brenda Bowser, Susan Needham, John Patton, and Christopher Potts; I appreciate their comments, tolerance, and encouragements.

I would also like to acknowledge four of my teachers who taught me anthropological theory as an undergraduate and graduate student: Michael Seelye, Joel Canby, Charles Erasmus, and Albert Spaulding.

At AltaMira Press, I was fortunate to work on the first and second editions with Mitch Allen, whose confidence in this bookeven in the face of scathing reviewsis the principal reason this project was completed. On the third and fourth editions, I worked with a number of editorsAlan McClare, Wendy Schaufner, and Leanne Silvermanand I appreciate their enthusiasm and support. More recently, I have worked with Nancy Roberts and her staff at Rowman & Littlefield on this, the fifth edition of Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists. Over the years, I have received numerous comments from various readers and professors who have used my books in their classrooms. Their comments have been both positive and critical. I thank them all.

Finally, I would like to thank the student, whose name I never knew, who thirty years ago asked one of the best questions anyone can pose: Whats the goddamn point of it all? This book is dedicated to him.

Jerry D. Moore is professor of anthropology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He received his PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has directed archaeological research in Peru, Mexico, and the United States and has conducted ethnoarchaeological and ethnohistoric research in Peru and Mexico. Moore has been a fellow in pre-Columbian studies at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection; a visiting research fellow at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia; a Getty Scholar at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; and a fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University, United Kingdom. He has written Architecture and Power in the Ancient Andes: The Archaeology of Public Buildings (1996), Cultural Landscapes in the Ancient Andes: Archaeologies of Place (2005), The Prehistory of Home (2012), A Prehistory of South America: Ancient Cultural Diversity on the Least Known Continent (2014), Incidence of Travel: Recent Journeys in Ancient South America (2017), and numerous articles and professional reviews in anthropological journals.

Over thirty years ago, I attended a weekend conference organized by a group of undergraduate anthropology students from a major Midwestern public university. The annual conference was held in a group of cabins on the edge of a beautiful lake. The setting was conducive to serious presentations and also provided an opportunity for professors and students to discuss ideas in an informal environment, an informality enhanced by several kegs of beer.

Toward the end of an exhausting day of dialogue, the discussion turned to theoretical matters. Many of the students were enrolled in Professor Xs course on anthropological theory and theorists, and they began to complain about the course, emboldened by beer and the absence of Professor X, who was simply too busy to attend the conference.

A young man stood up and said, We start off with Edward Tylor, but Professor X tells us that Tylor was just an armchair anthropologist. So we read Malinowski, who everyone says was a good fieldworker, but then Professor X says Malinowski was a racist. And then we read Margaret Mead, and Professor X says Mead was a liar.

The young man swayed slightly and demanded, Whats the goddamn point of it all?

It was a very good question.

It is commonplace to assert that anthropology is in a crisis, but if that is true, it is a crisis of our own making. James Peacock, a former president of the American Anthropological Association, summarized anthropologys potential contributions and reflected on its shortcomings: Poised for victory, we retreat, turn within, luxuriate in ourselves, squander our resources in silly arguments, shrink our vision to the smallest world, fiddle while Rome burns and barbarians are at the gate (1994:1).

In a field as diverse as anthropology, it is inevitable that conflicting opinions exist. But in the midst of conflict, we lose sight of the intellectual achievements of anthropology and the personal contributions of anthropologists. And worse, we fail as teachers to communicate to our students the legacies of anthropologists who are worthy of attention, scrutiny, and respect.

This book is written for anthropology students, specifically advanced undergraduate and graduate students. It is an introduction to the principal theorists and theories that shaped and continue to influence modern anthropology. Organized in a series of profiles, I summarize the major theoretical concepts of thirty scholars and relate those concepts to each scholars formative influences, anthropological research, and intellectual framework.

The chapters are organized into eight thematic sections beginning with a brief introductory essay outlining the problems and issues common to the anthropologists discussed in the section. Each chapter introduces a scholars contribution to anthropology, profiles her or his professional life with an emphasis on fieldwork and publications, and discusses major aspects of the anthropologists work: Morgans comparative approach to kin systems, Durkheims conscience collective, Malinowskis theory of needs, Lvi-Strausss structural approach to myth, Turners concept of social drama, Ortners analysis of key symbols, Boyd and Richerson on dual inheritance theory, Ingolds argument about nonhuman agency, and so on. The chapter conclusion is followed by a list of references students can pursue in more depth. I have cited readily available sources in English that provide substantive discussions or examples of an anthropologists work and not every source with a passing reference to a particular scholars work. These references provide an initial bibliography of major sources and recent critical assessments.