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A History of Oxford Anthropology

A History of Oxford Anthropology

Peter Rivière

(2007)

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Abstract

Informative as well as entertaining, this volume offers many interesting facets of the first hundred years of anthropology at Oxford University.


“Oxford has arguably contributed more to our understanding of tribal societies than any other department of anthropology in the world… Through creating a virtual community, by uniting their work and their lives, by their assurance, generations of Oxford scholars have been able to make the leaps which take us into new and previously unsuspected worlds. They had the privileges, the shared zeal and the shock of similarity-with-difference which engenders true creativity and they made good use of it.” • [from the Preface]

“[The volume’s] virtues include giving outsiders a sense of Oxford anthropology’s oral tradition.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

“ There is no doubt that Oxford has been a leading player in the discipline of anthropology. It is precisely the fact that this resounding success can be taken for granted that makes possible this deliciously indiscreet retrospective.” • Books & Culture


Peter Rivière is Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology of the University of Oxford and Fellow Emeritus of Linacre College, Oxford, and has held posts at London, Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Specialising in the native societies of Lowland South America and the history of the European exploration of Amazonia, his publications include, The Forgotten Frontier: Ranchers of North Brazil (1972), Individual and Society in Guiana (1984), and Absented-Minded Imperialism (1995). Most recently he has published, under the aegis of The Hakluyt Society, a two-volume edition of Sir Robert Schomburgk’s reports on his Guiana travels.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Series Page ii
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Dedication v
Table of Contents vii
List of Figures viii
List of Contributors x
Preface. The Magic of Oxford Anthropology xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Origins and Survivals 21
Chapter 2. The Formative Years 43
Chapter 3. How All Souls Got Its Anthropologist 62
Chapter 4. A Major Disaster to Anthropology 83
Chapter 5. 'A Feeling For Form and Pattern, and a Touch of Genius' 98
Chapter 6. Oxford and Biological Anthropology 119
Chapter 7. Oxford Anthropology As An Extra-Curricular Activity 137
Chapter 8. Oxford Anthropology Since 1970 155
Appendix. Reflections on Oxford's Global Links 171
Bibliography 193
Index 203