Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems

By John H. Bodley

Book Overview

We live in a time of global mega-problems of unsustainable growth and consumption, resource depletion, ecosystem degradation, global warming, escalating energy costs, poverty, and conflict. Cultural anthropologist John H. Bodley trenchantly critiques these most pressing issues and shows how anthropology makes it possible to find solutions. The focus on culture scale suggests that many solutions may be found by developing local communities supported by regional markets and ecosystems, rather than by making the continuous accumulation of financial capital the dominant cultural process throughout the world.

Now in its sixth edition, this classic textbook continues to have tremendous relevance and is more timely than ever in light of the recent global economic crisis. It exposes readers to the problems of a world out of balance with misdirected growth by the elite.Bodley offers examples from prehistoric and modern tribal societies along side of ancient imperial and contemporary commercial societies. Students will find this to be the trusted source to build a world view. Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems is ideal for adoption in anthropology and sociology courses on globalization, cultural ecology, social class and inequality, the environment, sustainability, and development.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0759121583
• ISBN13: 9780759121584
• Release Date: April 2012
• Publisher: Altamira Press
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Essential Reading!

I am grateful to Mr. Bodley for this enlightening analysis of modern social problems (e.g. environmental deterioration, food scarcity, overpopulation, and gross inequality) viewed in light of modern knowledge of our small-scale, tribal forbears who have lived in relative harmony with their ecosystems and in a relatively egalitarian social structure for tens of thousands of years. In other words, the most dire social problems we face today are not inevitable consequences of human nature, but are cultural and can be changed. As such, we stand much to learn from these maligned "primitives."Bodley might have taken his recommendations (saved for the last 15 pages) further than he did (e.g. an ideological repudiation of market principles & nation-states), but the information he gathers from the modern sciences & history makes the conclusion unavoidable that a radical socio-political restructuring is necessary in order for human survival (not merely civilization) to continue.