A01=Allen Johnson
amazon rainforest
anthropologists
anthropology
Author_Allen Johnson
Category=JBSL11
Category=JHBK
Category=JHM
Category=JHMC
cultural anthropology
cultural framework
cultural social
discussion books
economic self reliance
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ethnographers
ethnography
family level society
family settings
forest life
harsh conditions
household economy
indigenous peoples
matsigenka indians
native indians
nonfiction
peru
peruvian amazon
self reliance
social sciences
social studies
social units
sociocultural perspective
textbooks
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Product details
- ISBN 9780520232426
- Weight: 408g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 15 Apr 2003
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The idea of a family level society, discussed and disputed by anthropologists for nearly half a century, assumes moving, breathing form in "Families of the Forest". According to Allen Johnson's deft ethnography, the Matsigenka people of southeastern Peru cannot be understood or appreciated except as a family level society; the family level of sociocultural integration is for them a lived reality. Under ordinary circumstances, the largest social units are individual households or small extended-family hamlets. In the absence of such 'tribal' features as villages, territorial defense and warfare, local or regional leaders, and public ceremonials, these people put a premium on economic self-reliance, control of aggression within intimate family settings, and freedom to believe and act in their own perceived self-interest. Johnson shows how the Matsigenka, whose home is the Amazon rainforest, are able to meet virtually all their material needs with the skills and labor available to the individual household.
They try to raise their children to be independent and self-reliant, yet in control of their emotional, impulsive natures, so that they can get along in intimate, cooperative living groups. Their belief that self-centered impulsiveness is dangerous and self-control is fulfilling anchors their moral framework, which is expressed in abundant stories and myths. Although, as Johnson points out, such people are often described in negative terms as lacking in features of social and cultural complexity, he finds their small-community lifestyle efficient, rewarding, and very well adapted to their environment.
Allen Johnson is Professor of Anthropology and Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. His previous books include The Evolution of Human Societies, 2nd Edition (with Timothy Earle, 2000), and Oedipus Ubiquitous (with Douglass Price-Williams, 1996), which won the 1997 Boyer Prize.
