Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead

A Historical Analysis of Her Samoan Research

Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead
Derek Freeman, Derek Freeman
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Last edited by MARC Bot
March 8, 2023 | History

Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead

A Historical Analysis of Her Samoan Research

For most of the twentieth century, Margaret Mead's renowned book, Coming of Age in Samoa, has validated an antievolutionary anthropological paradigm that assumes that culture is the overwhelming determinant of human behavior. Her account of female adolescent sexuality in Samoa initiated a career that led to Margaret Mead becoming "indisputably the most publicly celebrated scientist in America." But what if her study wasn't all it appeared to be?

What if, having neglected the problem she had been sent to investigate, she relied at the last moment on the tales of two traveling companions who jokingly misled her about the sexual behavior of Samoan girls? What if her famous study was based on a hoax?

In The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead, Derek Freeman addresses these issues in a detailed historical analysis of Margaret Mead's Samoan research and of her training in New York by Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict.

By examining hitherto unpublished correspondence between Mead; her mentor, Franz Boas; and others - as well as the sworn testimony of Fa'apua'a Fa'amu, one of Mead's traveling companions of 1926 - Freeman provides compelling evidence that one of the most influential anthropological studies of the twentieth century was unwittingly based on the mischievous joking of the investigator's informants.

The book is more than a correction of scientific error: It is a crucial step toward rethinking the foundations of social science and the overly relativistic worldview of much of the modern world.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
304

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The fateful hoaxing of Margaret Mead
The fateful hoaxing of Margaret Mead: a historical analysis of her Samoan research
1999, Westview Press
in English
Cover of: Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead
Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead: A Historical Analysis of Her Samoan Research
1999, Avalon Publishing, Westview
in English
Cover of: The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead
The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead: A Historical Analysis of Her Samoan Research
December 1998, Westview Pr (Trd)
Hardcover in English - Reissue edition

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Book Details


Classifications

Library of Congress
GN671.S2 F727 1999

The Physical Object

Pagination
304
Number of pages
304
Weight
0.450

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL34812835M
ISBN 13
9780813336930
OCLC/WorldCat
42214360

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL1913526W

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March 8, 2023 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
January 14, 2023 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
October 8, 2021 Created by ImportBot Imported from Better World Books record