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- Anderson, David G., et al.
(författare)
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The Etnos Archipelago: Sergei M. Shirokogoroff and the Life History of a Controversial Anthropological Concept
- 2019
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Ingår i: Current Anthropology. - Chicago : University of Chicago Press. - 0011-3204 .- 1537-5382. ; 60:6, s. 741-773
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The concept of etnos—one of the more controversial anthropological concepts of the Cold War period—is contextualized by looking at its “life history” through the biography of one of its proponents. Sergei Mikhailovich Shirokogoroff was a Russian/Chinese anthropologist whose career transected Eurasia from Paris to Beijing via Saint Petersburg and the Siberian borderlands of the Russian Empire. His transnational biography and active correspondence shaped the unique spatial and intellectual configuration of a concept that became a cornerstone of both Soviet and Chinese ethnography. The theory of etnos turned out to be surprisingly stable, while circulating through various political and intellectual environments ranging from England, Germany, and China to Imperial, Soviet, and modern Russia. This case study presents a history of anthropology wherein networks and conversations originating in the Far East of Eurasia have had unexpected influences on the heartlands of anthropology.
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- Andersson, Claes, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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An evolutionary developmental approach to cultural evolution
- 2014
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Ingår i: Current Anthropology. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0011-3204 .- 1537-5382. ; 55:2, s. 154-174
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evolutionary developmental theories in biology see the processes and organization of organisms as crucial for understanding the dynamic behavior of organic evolution. Darwinian forces are seen as necessary but not sufficient for explaining observed evolutionary patterns. We here propose that the same arguments apply with even greater force to culture vis-à-vis cultural evolution. In order not to argue entirely in the abstract, we demonstrate the proposed approach by combining a set of different models into a provisional synthetic theory, and by applying this theory to a number of short case studies. What emerges is a set of concepts and models that allow us to consider entirely new types of explanations for the evolution of cultures. For example we see how feedback relations - both within societies and between societies and their ecological environment - have the power to shape evolutionary history in profound ways. The ambition here is not to produce a definite statement on what such a theory should look like but rather to propose a starting point along with an argumentation and demonstration of its potential.
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Claes, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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The evolution of cultural complexity: Not by the treadmill alone
- 2016
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Ingår i: Current Anthropology. - : University of Chicago Press. - 1537-5382 .- 0011-3204. ; 57:3, s. 261-286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Among the drivers and constraints on the evolution of complex hominin culture that have been proposed throughout the years, demographic factors have been particularly persistent, and they have recently again come to gain traction in the literature in the shape of the so-called treadmill model. The treadmill model connects cultural complexity to group size via a need to constantly “outrun a treadmill of cultural loss,” whose backward motion is caused by errors in culture transmission. The entrenchment of the treadmill explanation of cultural complexity, however, takes place against a background of critiques of the model and the presence of other explanatory propositions. This creates a need for deentrenchment: wider integration, elaboration, and critique of the premises of the treadmill model and the evidence advanced to validate it. We begin by reviewing the treadmill model, making an assessment of its current status, and then moving on to a more synthetic proposition by placing the model into the context of other models addressing the elaboration of cultural complexity. We end by considering the broader implications for the study of the evolution of culture and of human behavior to be gained from more integrated modeling of the various factors affecting cultural complexity.
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| 4. |
- Asch, M, et al.
(författare)
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More on the return of the native
- 2006
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Ingår i: Current Anthropology. - : University of Chicago Press. - 1537-5382 .- 0011-3204. ; 47:1, s. 145-149
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 7. |
- Eriksson, Kimmo, 1967-
(författare)
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Comment on “The Evolution of Cultural Complexity : Not by the Treadmill Alone” by Andersson & Read
- 2016
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Ingår i: Current Anthropology. - 0011-3204 .- 1537-5382. ; 57, s. 275-276
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- At the end of their thoughtful target article, Andersson and Read conclude that formal models of cultural evolution are “useful but must be kept in perspective.” As a mathematician with a great interest in social science, I have some experience of working with such models. Based on this experience, I very much agree with the “but” part of the above conclusion. I see a clear tendency in the cultural evolution literature to put too much trust in the value of formal models.
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| 10. |
- Finnström, Sverker, 1970-
(författare)
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War stories and troubled peace : Revisiting some secrets of northern Uganda
- 2015
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Ingår i: Current Anthropology. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0011-3204 .- 1537-5382. ; 56:S12, s. S222-S230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many aspects of war are deliberately kept secret, but some are so mundane that they simply are not reflected upon. In the face of the brutal mass violence of most wars today, these mundane secrets are not spectacular enough to capture media attention or the observers’ imaginations. They are, in a sense, the unmarked secrets of everyday war. In this article, I address such unmarked secrets of war. Focusing on war-torn northern Uganda, I follow two parallel threads. One is the anthropology of life histories, or my journey into anthropology in conjunction with the stories of a few Ugandan key informants. The second thread exposes the conditions that influence a researcher’s tendency to craft and edit data and experience. In acknowledging the entanglements of the two threads, I focus on storytelling and listening in situations that initially may remain unmarked – and thus silent and even secret – to the outside participant observer. In addition, rather than presenting any straightforward story of the war in northern Uganda, I extend a conversation on methodology.
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