Author Description

Can the earth satisfy, on a sustained basis, the basic needs of more than 6 billion people? How do the problems of exploitation, injustice, and environmental degradation relate to increases in the scale and complexity of societies, economies, and the concentration of wealth? What are the costs and benefits of a global commercial culture? The fourth edition of John H. Bodley's Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems examines the fundamental problem of modern civilization--hunger, poverty, overconsumption, and conflict--from a holistic, anthropological viewpoint. The author makes clear and stimulating use of prehistoric and ethnographic research to explain the context of contemporary human concerns, and uses culture scale as a means for comparing solutions to these problems. Ultimately, the text challenges our assumptions about modern civilization and the superiority of complex societies, as it looks toward future possibilities for adaptation.