New Lives for Old: Cultural Transformation--Manus, 1928-1953 - Paperback

by Margaret Mead (Author)

This edition of New Lives for Old, prepared for the centennial of Mead's birth, features introductions by Stewart Brand and Mead's daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson.

When Margaret Mead first studied the Manus Islanders of New Guinea in 1928, they were living with a Stone Age technology and economically vulnerable; they seemed ill-equipped to handle the massive impact that World War II had on their secluded world. But a unique set of circumstances allowed the Manus to adapt swiftly to the twentieth century, and their experience led Mead to develop a revolutionary theory of cultural transformation, one that favors rapid, over piecemeal, change. As relevant today as it was a half-century ago, New Lives for Old is an optimistic examination of a society that chose to change.

How does an entire society leap across centuries of development in a single generation?

• A Groundbreaking Work of Ethnography: Follow Margaret Mead as she returns to the Manus people of New Guinea after twenty-five years to document one of the most astonishing societal shifts ever recorded.
• Rapid Cultural Transformation: Discover how the Manus chose to leap from a Stone Age existence to a twentieth-century society, completely remaking their world from the ground up.
• The Impact of World War II: Analyze the massive influence of the American military presence on Manus culture, values, and their sudden, optimistic embrace of a new way of life.
• A Theory of Modernization: Explore Mead's revolutionary and still-relevant theory that favors swift, wholesale cultural change over slow, piecemeal evolution for societies facing modernization.

Back Jacket

When Margaret Mead first studied the Manus Islanders of New Guinea in 1928, they were living with a Stone Age technology. Economically vulnerable and burdened by a complex moral code, the Manus seemed ill-equipped to handle the massive impact that World War II had on their secluded world. But a unique set of circumstances allowed the Manus to adapt swiftly to the twentieth century, and their experience led Mead to develop a revolutionary theory of cultural transformation, one that favors rapid, over piecemeal, change. As relevanttoday as it was a half-century ago, New Lives for Old is an optimistic examination of one society that chose to change, offering hope and a valuablemodel for today's developing societies.