Crime and Custom in Savage Society / Edition 1

by Bronislaw Malinowski

Overview

Bronislaw Malinowski achieved international recognition as the founder of "functionalism" in social anthropology, based on his studies of Melanesian society on the Trobriand Islands off New Guinea. His Crime and Custom in Savage Society is now one of the classic works of modern anthropology. In his book, Malinowski describes and analyzes the ways in which Trobriand Islanders structure and maintain the social and economic order of their tribe. This is essential reading for anyone interested in anthropology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822602101
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/15/1989
Series:	Quality Paperbacks Series
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	132
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 8.08(h) x 0.47(d)

About the Author

Russell Smith, Bronislaw Malinowski

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction to the Transaction Edition Introduction PART I.Primitive Law and Order 1The Automatic Submission to Custom and the Real Problem 2Melanesian Economics and the Theory of Primitive Communism 3The Binding Force of Economic Obligations 4Reciprocity and Dual Organization 5Law, Self-interest, and Social Ambition 6The Rules of Law in Religious Acts 7The Law of Marriage 8The Principle of Give-and-take Pervading Tribal Life

Editorial Reviews

Now and then a book is written which cuts mercilessly through an accumulation of traditional conceptions and by the light of overlooked or misinterpreted facts and common sense shows us how absurd the orthodox ideas have really been. Such a book is this volume of Dr. Malinowski's, which brilliantly, concisely, and in non-technical language demonstrates how very wrong and indeed impossible are the currently accepted views of some of the fundamentals of savage life.

Saturday Review

Now and then a book is written which cuts mercilessly through an accumulation of traditional conceptions and by the light of overlooked or misinterpreted facts and common sense shows us how absurd the orthodox ideas have really been. Such a book is this volume of Dr. Malinowski's, which brilliantly, concisely, and in non-technical language demonstrates how very wrong and indeed impossible are the currently accepted views of some of the fundamentals of savage life.--Saturday Review

From the Publisher