Melville J. Herskovits

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Melville Jean Herskovits (born September 10, 1895 in Bellefontaine , Ohio , † February 25, 1963 in Evanston , Illinois ) was an American anthropologist .

family

Melville Herskovits' father, Herman Herskovits, a clothing merchant, had immigrated to the USA from Austria-Hungary in 1872 and was probably of Croatian-Iron City origin. His mother Henrietta Herskovits, b. Hart, came from Germany and came to America around 1880. The family lived in Ohio until 1905 when they moved to El Paso, Texas . After his mother's death in 1911, the father and his children moved to Erie (Pennsylvania) .

On July 12, 1924, Melville Herskovits and Frances Shapiro married in Paris. They knew each other from studying together at the New School for Social Research .

Life

In Erie, Melville Herskovits attended high school until 1912 . In 1915 he began studying at the University of Cincinnati and the Hebrew Union College . The First World War interrupted his studies, which he was only able to continue in 1919 at the University of Poitiers and then at the University of Chicago . From 1920 to 1923 Herskovits studied anthropology at Columbia University with Franz Boas , who did his doctorate. The title of the dissertation was The Cattle Complex in East Africa . Herskovits then studied at the New School for Social Research with Alexander Alexandrovich Goldenweiser and Thorstein Veblen . He also met Ruth Benedict , Margaret Mead and Elsie Clews Parsons .

From 1923 to 1927, Melville Herskovits was able to conduct anthropological research on African American people with a grant from the National Research Council . At the same time he taught at Columbia University and Howard University . In 1927, Herskovits was the only anthropologist, initially assistant professor of sociology at Northwestern University in Evanston (Illinois) , from 1931 associate professor and from 1935 full professor. In 1938 he took over the management of the newly established faculty for anthropology.

In 1947, Herskovits wrote an essay entitled: "Ethnological Relativism and Human Rights" (read in Birnbacher / Hoerster: "Texts on Ethics"), which the "American Society for Anthropology" presented to the United Nations Human Rights Commission as an opinion on the codification of a human rights declaration has been.

In 1959, Herskovits was elected to the National Academy of Sciences . In 1961 he received the Chair of African Studies, which was first established in the USA.

Melville Herskovits - accompanied by his wife Frances S. Herskovits and Morton Kahn - traveled to Dutch Guiana ( Suriname ) in the summer of 1928 to research African culture . The expedition was repeated in 1929. Further expeditions followed in his research area:

Positions

The Herskovits-Frazier debate became important for the development of studies on Afro-American culture. Melville Herskovits emphasized in his book The Myth of the Negro Past (1941) the elements of West African cultural traditions in the African American world, with particular reference to Caribbean and South American data. E. Franklin Frazier , among others, contradicted this, emphasizing the loss of culture through enslavement and the example of the white dominant culture in the USA.

Herskovits also made a name for himself as a cultural relativist . He consistently called for tolerance towards foreign cultures and also responded to critics of the theory of cultural relativism. Herskovits emphasizes the "dignity that belongs to all customs and cultures". He also emphasizes the importance of cultural diversity ( Cultural Diversity produced) by filing the following theses:

  • The individual realizes his or her personality within the framework of his / her culture, so respect for individual also requires respect for cultural differences. [...]
  • Respect for cultural differences follows from the scientific fact that no method for the qualitative assessment of cultures has yet been discovered. [...]
  • Standards and values ​​are relative to the culture from which they are derived. Therefore, the attempt to formulate postulates that stem from the convictions or the moral code of only one culture would impair the applicability of a declaration of human rights to humanity as a whole .

Publications

  • The Cattle Complex in East Africa. In: American Anthropologist. Vol. 28, No. 1, 1926, pp. 230-272 ff., Doi : 10.1525 / aa.1926.28.1.02a00050 , (dissertation, 1926, also special copy).
  • The American Negro. A Study in Racial Crossing. Knopf, New York NY 1928.
  • With Frances S. Herskovits: Rebel Destiny. Among the Bush Negroes of Dutch Guiana. Whittlesey House et al., New York NY et al. 1934, digitized .
  • With Frances S. Herskovits: Surinam Folk-lore (= Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology. Vol. 27, ZDB -ID 435575-1 ). Columbia University Press, New York NY 1936.
  • Life in a Haitian Valley. Knopf, New York NY et al. 1937.
  • Dahomey. An Ancient West African Kingdom. 2 volumes. JJ Augustin , New York NY 1938.
  • The Economic Life of Primitive People. Knopf, New York NY 1940.
  • Acculturation in Seven Indian Tribes . With Ralph Linton . 1940.
  • The Myth of the Negro Past . Harper, New York 1941.
  • Trinidad Village . With Frances S. Herskovits. 1947.
  • Man and his works. The Science of Cultural Anthropology. Knopf, New York 1949.
  • Economic Anthropology. A Study in Comparative Economics. Knopf, New York 1952.
  • Cultural Anthropology . Knopf, New York 1955.
  • Dahomean Narrative. A cross-cultural narrative . With Frances S. Herskovits. Northwestern University Press, Evanston 1958.
  • The Human Factor in Changing Africa . Knopf, New York 1962.
  • The New World Negro . London, 1966.
  • Cultural Relativism. Perspectives in Cultural Pluralism. ed. by Frances Herskovits. New York, 1972.

literature

  • Alan Parkhurst Merriam: Melville Jean Herskovits, 1895-1963 . In: American Anthropologist . 66, No. 1, 1964, pp. 83-109.
  • Walter Jackson: Melville Herskovits and the Search for Afro-American Culture . In: Malinowski , Rivers , Benedict and Others. Essays on Culture and Personality . In: History of Anthropology . Vol. 4, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison 1986, pp. 95-126.
  • Richard and Sally Price: The Root of Roots. Prickly Paradigm Press, Chicago 2003, ISBN 0-9728196-2-2 (photos Melville and Frances Herskovits).
  • Jerry Gershenhorn: Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge. Critical Studies in the History of Anthropology . University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln 2004, ISBN 0-8032-2187-8

See also

Web links

credentials

  1. ^ Biography , Northwestern University Archives, Evanston, Illinois, Melville J. Herskovits Papers.
  2. ↑ Richard Price et al. Sally Price, The Root of Roots, Or, How Afro-American Anthropology Got Its Start , Prickly Paradigm Press, Chicago, 2003
  3. ↑ Advisory proposal for the Commission on Human Rights at the United Nations, prepared by Herskovits and others, published in the "American Anthropologist" 1947.
personal data
SURNAME Herskovits, Melville J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Herskovits, Melville Jean (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Bellefontaine , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 1963
Place of death Evanston , Illinois