Margaret Mead

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Margaret Mead in 1948 on the occasion of her talk Some Anthropological Considerations Concerning Guilt on the "Second International Symposium on Feelings and Emotions" in the US

Margaret Mead (born December 16, 1901 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † November 15, 1978 in New York ) was an American ethnologist ( cultural anthropologist ) . She is considered one of the most determined representatives of cultural relativism in the 20th century and, alongside Ruth Fulton Benedict, is the main representative of the Culture and Personality School . She took the view that social behavior is malleable and culturally determined.

Her work was particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. With her studies of sexuality in South Pacific cultures, Mead was considered a pioneer of the sexual revolution . Since the 1980s, there has been increasing criticism of their research methods.

Life

Margaret Mead grew up in a liberal family. She had four siblings, all younger than her - brother Richard (1904–1975) and sisters Elizabeth (1909–1983), Katharine (1906–1907, died aged nine months) and Priscilla (1911–1959). Margaret Mead studied at Columbia University with Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict .

In 1925 she traveled alone to Samoa as a young ethnologist , where she studied young girls at the stage of growing up. In doing so, she noted that the social roles that were previously considered to be rigid were culturally predetermined and not - as previously generally assumed - were generally valid for all people. In 1957 Lowell D. Holmes traveled in the footsteps of Mead and corrected Mead's mistakes in his dissertation ; but by and large he confirmed Mead's results.

Mead became world famous through her research trips to New Guinea in 1931 , where she researched the social structures of the Arapesh , Tchambuli and Mundugumor and concluded from her material that the previously known gender roles were socio-culturally determined and not biologically predetermined. She was the first person to appear to empirically substantiate this view , giving new impetus to the entire social sciences . In particular, her research from 1939 on (postulated as the reverse) gender relations among the Chambri and Tchambuli ( Papua New Guinea ) are considered pioneering among advocates of the gender concept . However, Mead is accused of scientific imprecision in this regard.

Between 1936 and 1939, together with Gregory Bateson and Jane Belo, she conducted intensive studies on the Indonesian island of Bali . She was thus an important figure in the so-called Bali Circle of the 1930s.

During the Second World War , she had to interrupt her research trips to the South Seas , but this did not deter her from further research. Together with Ruth Benedict , she used anthropological and ethnological methods early on to research modern cultures. They worked on behalf of the American information and propaganda agency Office of War Information in particular with Japanese culture. Mead worked for the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA) and took part in training with Kurt Lewin . During the Second World War, Mead's task was to work out criteria for the Allies for the later occupation of Germany.

In order to deepen their comparisons between cultures and to encourage other researchers to make such comparisons, the two ethnologists founded the Institute for Intercultural Studies .

In total, Mead explored seven cultures in the South Pacific. She was Professor of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, President of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science . She has received 28 honorary doctorates from universities around the world and has written more than 40 books and over 1,000 scientific articles. She was the teacher and sponsor of Ray Birdwhistell . Margaret Mead was awarded the Kalinga Prize for Popularizing Science in 1970.

Mead was married to Luther Sheeleigh Cressman , Reo Franklin Fortune, and Gregory Bateson . With the latter she had a daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson (born December 8, 1939).

Memberships

Mead was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1948, the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1955 , the National Academy of Sciences in 1975, and the American Philosophical Society in 1977 .

She was a member of the “core group” of scientists who attended almost all of the Macy conferences that discussed the cornerstone of cybernetics .

Mead-Freeman Controversy

The anthropologist Derek Freeman contradicted Mead's Samoa results in his studies. Freeman explicitly did not start from a deliberately wrong representation by Mead. In his view, her image of Samoa sprang from her own wishful thinking.

Mead had studied anthropology with the German-born Franz Boas , one of the founding fathers of cultural anthropology (American equivalent of ethnology ). In his research, Boas turned against the hereditary determinism represented by eugenics , which sees humans primarily determined by their genetic makeup. In the spirit of Boas, Margaret Mead, then 23, began her research with the express aim of refuting hereditary determinism: “ We had to show that human nature is extraordinarily adaptable, that the rhythms of culture are more compelling than the physiological rhythms ... We had to prove that the biological basis of human character can change under different social conditions. "

Mead's trip to Samoa in August 1925 was her first trip abroad. She did not have a sound knowledge of Samoan history and culture. It was only on site that she took initial lessons in the Samoan language (1 hour per day). Deterred by the idea of ​​living in the primitive environment of a Samoan family, she moved to the home of a local North American family. Over the next six months, she interviewed Samoan girls, 25 of them more closely. These interviews formed the source of her book. As a woman, she was not given access to the local people's political life, the men's assemblies.

Unlike Mead, Derek Freeman knew the Samoan language. He first came to Samoa in 1940 and spent over six years there over the next four decades. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the social structure of Samoa, was adopted by a local family and made chief in his village. Initially a staunch cultural determinist like Mead, he only published his book critical of Mead as a professor emeritus. Freeman's description of Samoa, which he describes on the basis of his own decades of experience and surveys as well as intensive source studies, is in explicit contradiction to Mead's results.

Mary Pritchard, interviewed by Margaret Mead in 1925, said in 1983: What would you say if a stranger snows into your house and questions you about your children's sex lives? And the Samoan writer Albert Wendt consciously uses his literary work to correct it: “ The Samoa that I created was exactly the opposite of Margaret Mead's attractive, but superficial cliché of paradise. This is a Samoa with all the feelings, problems, hopes and the like that are common to all people. "

The description of the Arapesh in New Guinea in the 1930s as an extremely peaceful people earned Mead the criticism of her former husband Reo Franklin Fortune . Fortune vigorously rejected Mead's research in 1939, detailing the Arapesh women's wars of robbery.

The anthropologist Paul Shankman paints a conveying picture of the Mead-Freeman controversy. He is of the opinion that Freeman's investigation is also insufficiently supported by the evidence; both sides of the controversy are suspected of being ideological.

Honors

In 1991, in memory of Margaret Mead, the International Astronomical Union recognized the name Mead for the largest crater on the planet Venus .

The American Anthropology Association (AAA) has presented the Margaret Mead Award in honor of the researcher since 1979.

The annual Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York City shows international documentaries in memory of Researcher; The organizer is the American Museum of Natural History , for which Mead worked as a curator for 52 years.

Works

Publications

  • Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization. 1928 (Reprint: Harper Perennial, 2001 ISBN 978-0-688-05033-7 ).
  • Growing Up in New Guinea. 1930 (Reprint: Harper Perennial, 2001 ISBN 978-0-688-17811-6 )
  • Social organization of Manu'a. Honolulu 1930; (Reprint: Krauss Reprint, New York 1969, ISBN 0-910240-08-6 )
  • The changing culture of an Indian tribe. New York 1932 (Reprinted by AMS Press, New York 1969)
  • Kinship in the Admiralty Islands. New York 1934 (Reprint: Transaction Publications, New Brunswick, Canada 2002, ISBN 0-7658-0764-5 )
  • Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies. 1935; (German translation: Youth and sexuality in primitive societies. Part 1: Childhood and youth in Samoa. Part 2: Childhood and youth in New Guinea. Part 3: Gender and temperament in three primitive societies. Klotz, Eschborn 2002, ISBN 3-88074 -451-3 )
  • Cooperation and competition among primitive peoples. New York 1937 (Reprint: Transaction Publications, New Brunswick, Canada 2003, ISBN 0-7658-0935-4 )
  • Male and female. 1949 (German: Man and Woman: The Relationship of the Sexes in a Changing World. Ullstein, Frankfurt / M. 1992, ISBN 3-548-34835-1 )
  • New lives for old. Cultural transformation; manuscripts 1928-1953. New York 1956; (Reprint: Perennial Edition, New York 2001, ISBN 0-06-095806-5 )
  • Anthropology. A human science; selected papers 1939–1960. Van Nostrand, Princeton, 1964, ISBN 0-442-09871-5
  • Continuities in cultural evolution. New Haven, Conn. 1964; (Reprinted from Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ 1999, ISBN 0-7658-0604-5 )
  • Anthropologists and what they do. Watts, New York 1965
  • An anthropologist at work. Writings of Ruth Benedict. New York 1966; (Reprinted by Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1977)
  • The Mountain Arapesh. Natural History Press, Garden City (1. The record of unabelin with Rorschach analyzes , 1968; 2. Arts and supernaturalism , 1970; 3. Stream of events in Alitola , 1971.)
  • Science and the concept of race. CUP, New York 1968
  • Culture and Commitment. 1970; (German translation: The conflict of generations. Youth without a role model. Klotz, Eschborn 2000, ISBN 3-88074-294-4 )
  • People and places (Anthropology; Vol. 3). Bantam Books, Toronto 1970, ISBN 0-553-06312-X
  • The school in American culture. University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 1971
  • Blackberry winter. 1972; (German translation: Blackberry blossoms in winter. A liberated life. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1993, ISBN 3-499-14226-0 ) (autobiography)
  • Twentieth century faith, hope and survival. 1972; (German translation: Hope and survival of mankind. Faith in the 20th century. Kreuz, Stuttgart 1973, ISBN 3-7831-0411-4 )
  • Letters from the field. 1925-1975. New York 1977; (Reprint: Perennial Edition, New York 2001, ISBN 0-06-095804-9 ) (collection of autobiographical letters)
  • Soviet attitudes toward authority. An interdisciplinary approach to problems of Soviet character. Greenwood Press, Westport, Mass. 1979, ISBN 0-313-21081-0
  • Ruth Benedict. A humanist in anthropology. CUP, New York 2005, ISBN 0-231-13490-8 (biography of Ruth Benedict)
  • The study of contemporary western cultures. Berghahn Books, Vol. 1-6, New York 2000 ff. (1. The study of culture at a distance , 2000, ISBN 1-57181-217-2 ; 2. And keep your powder dry. An anthropologist looks at the American character , 2000, ISBN 1-57181-217-2 ; 3. Russian culture , 2001, ISBN 1-57181-230-X ; 4. Themes in French culture. A preface to a study of French community , 2001, ISBN 1- 57181-813-8 ; 5. Studying contemporary western society. Method and theory , 2004, ISBN 1-57181-815-4 ; 6. The world ahead. An anthropologist anticipates the future. 2005, ISBN 1-57181-817-0 )

In co-authorship

  • with Frances McGregor: Growth and culture: A photographic study of balinese childhood. Putnam Books, New York 1951.
  • with Nicholas Callas: Primitive heritage: An anthropological anthology. Gollancz, London 1954.
  • with Rhoda Bubendey Métraux : A way of seeing. New York 1962; Reprinted: Morrow Books, New York 1974, ISBN 0-688-05326-2 .
  • with Gregory Bateson: Balinese character. A photographic analysis. New York Academy of Sciences, New York 1962.
  • with Ken Heyman: Family. Macmillan, New York 1965.
  • with Ruth Bunzel: The golden age of American anthropology. Braziller Books, New York 1968.
  • with Paul Byers: The small conference. An innovation in communication. Mouton Books, The Hague 1968.
  • with Muriel Brown: The wagon and the star: A study of American community initiative. Rand McNally, Chicago 1967.
  • with U. a. Daniel D. McCracken: To love or to perish: The technological crisis and the churches. Friendship Press, 1972.
  • with James Baldwin : A Rap on Race. 1971; German: Rassenkampf - class struggle: a dispute. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1973, ISBN 3-499-11617-0 .
  • with Ken Heyman: World enough: Rethinking the future. Little Brown, Boston 1976, ISBN 0-316-56470-2 .
  • together with Rhoda Bubendey Métraux: An interview with Santa Claus. Walker, New York 1978, ISBN 0-8027-0620-7 .
  • with Martha Wolfenstein: Childhood in contemporary cultures. University Press, Chicago 1978, ISBN 0-226-51506-0 .

literature

  • Mary C. Bateson: Through a Daughter's Eyes: My Memories of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1988, ISBN 3-499-15904-X (original: With a daughter's eye; biography, written by the daughter, an anthropologist).
  • Derek Freeman: The fateful hoaxing of Margaret Mead: A historical analysis of her Samoan research. Westview Press, Boulder 1999, ISBN 0-8133-3560-4 .
  • Derek Freeman: Love without aggression: Margaret Mead's legend of the peacefulness of indigenous people. ("Margaret Mead and Samoa"). Kindler, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-463-00866-1 .
  • Joan Gordon: Margaret Mead. The complete bibliography 1925-1975. Mouton, The Hague 1976, ISBN 90-279-3026-0 .
  • Aimee Hess: Margaret Mead. ("Women who dare"). Pomgranate Books, San Francisco, Calif. 2007, ISBN 0-7649-3875-4 .
  • Jane Howard: Margaret Mead. A life. Fawcett Crest, New York 1990, ISBN 0-449-90497-0 .
  • Hilary Lapsley: Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict. The kinship of women. University Press, Amherst, Mass. 1999, ISBN 1-55849-181-3 .
  • Nancy C. Lutkehaus: Margaret Mead: The Making of an American Icon. Princeton University Press , 2008. ISBN 0-691-00941-4 .
  • Maureen A. Molloy: On creating a usable culture. Margaret Mead and the emergence of American cosmopolitanism. University Press, Honolulu 2008, ISBN 978-0-8248-3116-5 .
  • Heinrich Zankl : forgers, swindlers, charlatans. Research and Science Fraud. Wiley-VHC, Winheim 2006 ISBN 3-527-31646-9 pp. 235-239

Fiction:

Web links

Commons : Margaret Mead  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
Wikibooks: Sociological Classics / Mead, Margaret  - Learning and Teaching Materials

Individual references, footnotes

  1. ^ Diane Richardson: Conceptualizing Gender. In: Introducing Gender and Women's Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2015, pp. 6-7 (English).
  2. ↑ Lenora Foestel: Margaret Mead from a Cultural-Historical perspective. In: Confronting Margaret Mead: Scholarship, Empire, and the South Pacific. Philadelphia 1992, pp. 60-61 (English); Quote: “Dr. Wari's statement forces us to reconsider Margaret Mead's use of Western categories in her study of Melanesian people. In seeking to solve the problems of sexual stereotyping in Western civilization. Mead brought with her a model of analysis that overlooked the structures and events that influenced gender shifts within the populations she studied. In particular, the adjustment of sexual roles in order to accommodate the seasonal and economic needs of the people was ignored. "
  3. ^ David Engerman: Know your enemy. Oxford University Press, New York 2009, pp. ?? (English).
  4. ^ Colin A. Ross: The CIA Doctors. Richardson 2011, pp. ?? (English).
  5. ↑ Brigitte Kather: The mediation of the resistance against National Socialism. Münster 2016, p. 81.
  6. ^ Members of the American Academy. Listed by election year, 1900–1949 (English; PDF at amacad.org).
  7. ^ Members: Margaret Mead. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 14, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Ethnology. Myth Destroyed In. Der Spiegel, February 14, 1983
  9. ↑ Margaret Mead: Cultural Determinants of Behavior. In: Anne Roe / George Gaylord Simpson (eds.): Behavior and Evolution. New Haven 1958, p. 480 ff.
  10. ↑ See Mead's description, in: Mead 1978.
  11. ^ S. Derek Freeman: Margaret Mead and Samoa. The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth. Cambridge MA 1983; Love without aggression. Kindler, Munich 1983 (German). ISBN 3-463-00866-1
  12. ↑ cit. in: James P. Sterba: Debunking a Myth. In: Wall Street Journal. Princeton, April 15, 1983, pp. 14 f.
  13. ^ Albert Wendt: Margaret Meads Samoa: An indictment. In: Frankfurter Hefte . Volume 38, No. 9, 1983, pp. 45-53.
  14. ^ Mead: Gender and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (German). In: Youth and Sexuality in Primitive Societies Volume 3. Munich 1970; Reo Franklin Fortune: Arapesh Warfare. In: American Anthropologist. NS Arlington 41.1939, pp. 22-41 (English; ISSN  0002-7294 ).
  15. ^ Paul Shankman: The History Of Samoan Sexual Conduct and the Mead-Freeman Controversy , in "American Anthropologist" 1996, 98 (3): pp. 555f .; see also dsb., Weblinks, 2013
  16. ↑ List of winners: Mead Previous Winners. In: americananthro.org. 2020, accessed on April 25, 2020 (English). Ibid: Margaret Mead Award.
  17. ^ Margaret Mead Film Festival: Margaret Mead Film Festival. In: amnh.org. 2020, accessed April 25, 2020 .
  18. ↑ The author fully embraces Freeman's opinion. Furthermore, Mead's participation in preparatory conferences for the re- education of the defeated Germans after 1945 bothers him in particular , his tone here is clearly anti-American
  19. ↑ King took over biographical stations and fixed points Meads u. a., but uses fictional names; she also names the explored tribes and villages differently than in reality. With interspersed diary notes Mead's (called Nell)
personal data
SURNAME Mead, Margaret
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American anthropologist and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, USA
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1978
Place of death new York