Scenes from the High Desert: JULIAN STEWARD'S LIFE AND THEORYJulian Steward (1902-72) is best remembered in American anthropology as the creator of cultural ecology, a theoretical approach that has influenced generations of archaeologists and cultural anthropologists. This generous biography by Virginia Kerns considers the intellectual and emotional influences of Steward's remarkable career and provides insights into the development of anthropology during his lifetime. Scenes from the High Desert locates the concept of cultural ecology as a social theory in the context of Steward's lived experience and personal construction of meaning. Kerns explores the scholar's early life in the American West, his continued attachments to western landscapes and inhabitants, his research with Native Americans, and the writing of his classic work, Theory of Culture Change. Extracting the personal and professional experiences that shaped his ideas on labor, technology, and the natural world, Kerns focuses particularly on the ideas and experiences that gave rise to Steward's theory of cultural ecology and most influenced American anthropology. Through her exploration of Steward's career and his particular interest in men's labor, Kerns illustrates how Steward's concept of the patrilineal band was central to his intellectual work and grounded in his own social experiences and autobiographical memory, especially memories of place. With fluid prose and rich detail, the book captures the essence and breadth of Steward's career while carefully measuring the ways he reinforced the male-centered structure of mid-twentieth-century American anthropology. |
Contents
An Eastern Childhood | 17 |
West to Deep Springs | 35 |
University Years East and West | 57 |
Berkeley and Beyond | 75 |
From Far West to Midwest | 102 |
The Utah Years | 123 |
Southwestern Sights | 151 |
Return to the High Desert | 175 |
Washington Ways and Means | 206 |
East of Everything | 235 |
At Home on the Prairie | 263 |
Notes from the Ninetieth Meridian | 286 |
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Common terms and phrases
A. L. Kroeber academic American anthropology archaeological archaeologists Autobiographical Appraisal Beals Berkeley career colleagues Columbia Cornell course cultural ecology Culture Change Deep Springs College Deep Springs Valley desert Dorothy Nyswander early entries by J. C. essay faculty field fieldwork Indians intellectual interest J. C. Steward interview J. H. Steward Jane Steward JHS Box JHS Box 16 JJJS Julian and Jane Julian Steward Kroeber to J. H. later letter lived memories miles Mintz months mountains Museum Nevada Nunn Nyswander interview offered Owens Valley Paiute patrilineal band position PPGT Box professional ranch RDA Box 141 Salt Lake City social spent Stew Steward to A. L. Steward to Lowie Steward to Strong Steward wrote summer teaching Telluride Association theoretical Theory of Culture tion trip University of Utah Washington WDS Box 14 weeks West wife Willey women