This collection of twenty-eight essays by renowned anthropologist Eric R. Wolf is a legacy of some of his most original work, with an insightful foreword by Aram Yengoyan. Of the essays, six have never been published and two have not appeared in English until now. Shortly before his death, Wolf prepared introductions to each section and individual pieces, as well as an intellectual autobiography that introduces the collection as a whole. Sydel Silverman, who completed the editing of the book, says in her preface, "He wanted this selection of his writings over the past half-century to serve as part of the history of how anthropology brought the study of complex societies and world systems into its purview."
Author(s): Eric R. Wolf
Edition: 1
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 488
Preliminaries......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
Foreword......Page 8
Preface......Page 20
Introduction......Page 24
1. American Anthropologists and American Society......Page 36
2. Kroeber Revisited......Page 46
3. Remarks on The People of Puerto Rico......Page 61
4. On Fieldwork and Theory......Page 72
5. Anthropology among the Powers......Page 86
6. Building the Nation......Page 106
7. The Social Organization of Mecca and the Origins Of Islam......Page 123
8. Aspects of Group Relations in a Complex Society......Page 147
9. The Virgin of Guadalupe......Page 162
10. Closed Corporate Peasant Communities in Mesoamerica and Central Java......Page 170
11. The Vicissitudes of the Closed Corporate Peasant Community......Page 183
12. Kinship, Friendship, and Patron-Client Relations in Complex Societies......Page 189
13. Ethnicity and Nationhood......Page 207
14. Types of Latin American Peasantry......Page 216
15. Speci®c Aspects of Plantation Systems in the New World......Page 238
16. Peasants and Revolution......Page 253
17. Phases of Rural Protest in Latin America......Page 264
18. Is the ªPeasantryº a Class?......Page 275
19. On Peasant Rent......Page 283
20. The Second Serfdom in Eastern Europe and Latin America......Page 295
21. Peasant Nationalism in an Alpine Valley......Page 312
22. Culture: Panacea or Problem?......Page 330
23. Inventing Society......Page 343
24. The Mills of Inequality......Page 358
25. Incorporation and Identity in the Making of the Modern World......Page 376
26. Ideas and Power......Page 393
27. Facing PowerÐOld Insights, New Questions......Page 406
References......Page 436
Index......Page 470
