The Human Potential for Peace
An Anthropological Challenge to Assumptions about War and Violence
Published in September 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-19-518178-4 (ISBN)
Description
The Human Potential for Peace provides a clearly written, critical reevaluation of anthropological findings on violence, war, peace, and conflict management. Drawing upon anthropological data from both cultural studies and evolutionary biology, Douglas Fry challenges the traditional view that humans are naturally violent and warlike and argues that we, in fact, possess a strong ability to prevent, limit, and resolve conflicts. He examines several highly publicized anthropological controversies, including Freeman's analysis of Margaret Mead's writings on Samoan warfare; Napoleon Chagnon's claims about the Yanomami; and ongoing debates about whether "hunter-gatherers" are peaceful or warlike. The book features short ethnographic examples, findings from Fry's research among the Zapotec of Mexico, and results of cross-cultural studies on warfare. It also includes descriptions of peaceful societies and archaeological material illustrating that peacemaking and conflict resolution patterns do exist across cultures.
Reviews / Votes
"The Human Potential for Peace is a real achievement, the first systematic book of its kind, and a welcome part of the anthropological literature. I especially liked the sweep of the book, which broadly covers both the history of aggression as well as the ethnographic record, moving forward to contemporary society and applied implications."--Thomas A. Gregor, Professor of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University"This is an important book, and a serious one, although it is enlivened with a number of anecdotes and personal reminiscences. The book has great strengths, including breadth of scholarship in different areas, as well as a critical depth in tackling some common assumptions and cited conclusions."--Peter K. Smith, Department of Psychology, University College London
a href=" http://www.israsociety.com/bulletin/isradec2005.pdf "Read the full review here.
"Amongst the various anthropological texts that have emerged over the last decade, this is clearly one of the most important. At a time when practitioners in the social sciences continue to haggle over the relative merits of interdisciplinary approaches, of paradigm shifts, and of the role of war and peace in human endeavors, this book strikes a relevant chord. Douglas Fry reminds us that in the human experience it is neither solely nature nor nurture, neither
aggression nor camaraderie, rather it is a complex synthesis of human endeavors resulting in a clear and resounding potential for peace."--Agustin Fuentes, Department of Anthropology, University of
Notre Dame
a href=" http://www.peacefulsocieties.org/NAR/051222gen.html"Read the full review here.
"The Human Potential for Peace is a real achievement, the first systematic book of its kind, and a welcome part of the anthropological literature. I especially liked the sweep of the book, which broadly covers both the history of aggression as well as the ethnographic record, moving forward to contemporary society and applied implications."--Thomas A. Gregor, Professor of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University
"This is an important book, and a serious one, although it is enlivened with a number of anecdotes and personal reminiscences. The book has great strengths, including breadth of scholarship in different areas, as well as a critical depth in tackling some common assumptions and cited conclusions."--Peter K. Smith, Department of Psychology, University College London
a href=" http://www.israsociety.com/bulletin/isradec2005.pdf "Read the full review here.
"Amongst the various anthropological texts that have emerged over the last decade, this is clearly one of the most important. At a time when practitioners in the social sciences continue to haggle over the relative merits of interdisciplinary approaches, of paradigm shifts, and of the role of war and peace in human endeavors, this book strikes a relevant chord. Douglas Fry reminds us that in the human experience it is neither solely nature nor nurture, neither
aggression nor camaraderie, rather it is a complex synthesis of human endeavors resulting in a clear and resounding potential for peace."--Agustin Fuentes, Department of Anthropology, University of
Notre Dame
a href=" http://www.peacefulsocieties.org/NAR/051222gen.html"Read the full review here.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Undergraduate courses such as "War and Society," "Political Anthropology", "Anthropology of Peace and Conflict," or courses in peace studies. Also appropriate for courses in political sociology or the sociology of war and violence.
Illustrations
line drawings, tab., num. halftones
numerous halftones, tables and line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 154 mm
Weight
600 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-518178-4 (9780195181784)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Douglas P. Fry, Docent and Professor of Anthropology, Oabo Akademi University; Adjunct Research Scientist, Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona
Content
Foreword by Robert A. Hinde: Preface: 1. Questioning the War Assumption A Preview of Coming Attractions 2. The Peace System of the Upper Xingu A Peace System Social Organization 3. Taken for Granted: The Human Potential for Peace Avoidance Toleration Negotiation Settlement Cultural Beliefs and Aggression Prevention Points to Highlight 4. Making the Invisible Visible: Belief Systems in San Andres and La Paz So Near and Yet So Far Different Learning Environments Multicausality and Multidimensionality Some Broader Implications 5. The Cross-Cultural Peacefulness-Aggressiveness Continuum A Peacefulness-Aggressiveness Continuum Growing Interest in Peaceful Societies Peaceful Societies: Not Such a Rare Breed After All 6. Peace Stories The Semai of Malaysia Ifaluk of Micronesia Norwegians: A Nation at Peace Returning to Hidden Assumptions 7. A Hobbesian Belief System? On the Supposed Naturalness of War Warfare and Feuding from a Cross-Cultural Perspective Nonwarring Cultures 8. Social Organization Matters! Types of Social Organization The Link betwen Warfare and Social Organization Social Organization and Seeking Justice Implications 9. Paradise Denied: A Bizarre Case of Skullduggery The Unmaking of the Myth-Weaver 10. Re-Creating the Past in Our Own Image Assumptions Come Tumbling Down The Earliest Evidence of War 11. Cultural Projections 12. Aboriginal Australia: A Continent of Unwarlike Hunter-Gatherers The Paucity of Warfare Conflict Management Summing Up 13. War-Laden Scenarios of the Past: Uncovering a Heap of Faulty Assumptions Making the Implicit Explicit The Patrilineal-Patrilocal Assumption The Assumption of the Tight-Knit, Bounded Group The Assumption of Pervasively Hostile Interband Relations 14. More Faulty Assumptions The Assumption of Warring over Scarce Resources The Assumption of Warring over Land The Assumption of Warring over Women The Assumption of Leadership Summing Up 15. Much Ado about the Yanomamoe The Famous Yanomamoe Unokais Broader Issues Methodological and Analytical Issues: Questioning the "Obvious" The Heart of the Matter Why So Much Ado? 16. Windows to the Past: Conflict Management Case Studies Siriono Montagnais-Naskapi Paliyan Netsilik Inuit Ju/'hoansi Lessons from the Case Studies 17. Untangling War from Interpersonal Aggression Natural Selection Natural Environments and the EEA Concept "Flexible" Adapatations, Sexual Selection, and Sex Differences in Aggression The Costs and Benefits of Aggression to Individual Fitness Inclusive Fitness 18. An Alternative Evolutionary Perspective: The Nomadic Forager Model Human Hawks, Doves, and Retaliators Costs and Benefits of Aggression Restraint Inclusive Fitness Assessing the Overall Patterns and Recurring Themes Warring as an Adaption? The Twin Problems of Confusing Function with Effect and Aggression with Warfare Conclusions 19. Weighing the Evidence 20. Enhancing Peace A Macroscopic Perspective: The Human Capacity to Move beyond War Specific Insights for Keeping the Peace Conclusions Appendix: Organizations to Contact: Notes: References: Index: