Oscar Lewis

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Oscar Lewis (born December 25, 1914 in New York City as Oscar Lefkowitz , † December 16, 1970 ibid) was an American anthropologist / ethnologist and student of Ruth Benedict . He developed the concept of the culture of poverty .

Life

Lewis received his Ph.D. at Columbia University . He worked at Brooklyn College , at the University of Washington , at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , whose anthropological faculty he co-founded in 1948, and at Yale University , both in cultural-anthropological contexts. In 1943 he worked as a representative for the Inter-American Indian Institute in Mexico , which had a great influence on his work.

His field research focused on ethnographically descriptive studies of the poorest sections of the population, especially in Mexico, and he also carried out studies in Puerto Rico, Cuba and India. The Oportunidades program was launched in Mexico on the basis of Lewis' theories .

In 1968, Lewis was invited by the Cuban government to conduct a study on the social changes caused by the revolution in the population, the working method of which was to be based on his much acclaimed work The Children of Sánchez . The research team led by Lewis worked in 1969 and 1970 until the Cuban government forced the project to abandon in June 1970 on charges that Lewis was an agent of the CIA , confiscated an important part of the collected data and imprisoned a Cuban collaborator on the study. Lewis died a few months later without being able to use the available results scientifically. It was not until several years after his death that the reports Four Men , Four Women and Neighbors , based on his work in Cuba, appeared .

In 1967 Lewis was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Works

  • Five Families; Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty , 1959.
  • Tepoztlán, Village in Mexico , 1960.
  • Pedro Martinez: Self-portrait of a Mexican , Düsseldorf; Vienna: Econ-Verl., 1965
  • The Children of Sánchez , Autobiography of a Mexican Family , 1961, German The Children of Sánchez: Self-Portrait of a Mexican Family , 4th edition, Göttingen: Lamuv-Verl., 1989
  • La Vida; A Puerto Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty. San Juan and New York, 1966, German La Vida: a Puerto Rican family in the culture of poverty: San Juan & New York , Düsseldorf [u. a.]: Econ-Verl., 1971
  • A Death in the Family Sánchez , 1969, dt. A death in the family Sánchez , Göttingen: Lamuv-Verl, 1986. ISBN 978-3-88977-048-6
  • with Ruth M. Lewis and Susan M. Rigdon: Four Men: Living the Revolution: An Oral History of Contemporary Cuba , Urbana, Ill .: Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1977, ISBN 978-0-25200-628-9
  • with Ruth M. Lewis and Susan M. Rigdon: Four Women: Living the Revolution: An Oral History of Contemporary Cuba , Urbana, Ill .: Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1977, ISBN 978-0-25200-805-4
  • with Ruth M. Lewis and Susan M. Rigdon: Neighbors: Living the Revolution: An Oral History of Contemporary Cuba , Urbana, Ill .: Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1978, ISBN 978-0-25200-641-8

Secondary literature

  • Susan M. Rigdon, The culture facade: art, science, and politics in the work of Oscar Lewis , Urbana, Ill. [U. a.]: Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1988

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Susan M. Rigdon, The culture facade: art, science, and politics in the work of Oscar Lewis , Urbana, Ill .: Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1988, pp. 99ff
  2. ^ American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Book of Members ( PDF ). Retrieved April 2, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Lewis, Oscar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lefkowitz, Oscar (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1970
Place of death New York City