Adam Jonathan Kuper (born 29 December 1941) is a South African
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
most closely linked to the school of
social anthropology
Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...
. In his works, he often treats the notion of "
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
" skeptically, focusing as much on how it is used as on what it means.
Background
Kuper was the son of
Simon Meyer Kuper
Simon Meyer Kuper (1906 – 20 March 1963) was a judge of the South African Supreme Court, and a noted leader in the South African Jewish community. His children include anthropologist Adam Kuper.
Early life
Kuper was born in Johannesburg in ...
and Gertrude Hesselman.
He was raised in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
and attended
Parktown Boys' High School
Parktown Boys' High School is a public English medium high school for boys situated in Parktown, a suburb of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is one of the oldest schools in Johannesburg. Parktown Boys' sister school is ...
. He took his first degree at the
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...
in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
. His doctorate, from the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, was based on field research in the
Kalahari desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa.
It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal de ...
in what is now
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
. After graduation he returned to
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, doing further fieldwork in Botswana and
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
. The sociologist
Leo Kuper
Leo Kuper (20 November 1908 – 23 May 1994) was a South African sociologist specialising in the study of genocide.
Early life and legal career
Kuper was born to a Lithuanian Jewish family. His siblings included his sister Mary (d. 1948), who ...
and anthropologist
Hilda Kuper
Hilda Beemer Kuper ('' née'' Beemer; 23 August 1911 – 23 April 1992) was a social anthropologist most notable for her extensive work on Swazi culture.
Early life
Born to Lithuanian Jewish and Austrian Jewish parents in Bulawayo, Southern Rh ...
were his uncle and aunt.
[
He married Jessica Cohen (1944-2013) of Johannesburg in 1966 and taught from 1967 to 1970 at ]Makerere University
Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...
in Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
.[ From 1970 to 1976 he taught at ]University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. From 1976 to 1985 he was professor of African anthropology at Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
in the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. From 1985 to 2008 he was a professor at Brunel University
Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...
, where he was the first head of the Department of Human Sciences, and latterly head of the Anthropology Department. In 2000 and in 2007 he was, respectively, awarded the Rivers Memorial Medal
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
and the Huxley Memorial Medal
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
of the Royal Anthropological Institute
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
. Kuper was a Visiting Professor at Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, 2011–14, and a Centennial Professor, London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
, from 2013-14 where he still holds a visiting appointment.
He has lived in Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross.
Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Fi ...
for over 25 years. The football writer Simon Kuper
Simon Kuper is a South African-British author. He writes about sports "from an anthropologic perspective."
Kuper was born in Uganda of South African parents, and moved to Leiden in the Netherlands as a child, where his father, Adam Kuper, was ...
is his son.
Research
In the early 1970s Kuper did fieldwork in Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, on attachment to the National Planning Agency in the Office of the Prime Minister. However his main ethnographic focus continued to be the societies of Southern Africa, on which he has published several books. In 1973 he published a history of British social anthropology, and since then he has continued to study and publish on the intellectual history of anthropology, most recently a book on the idea of culture in the anthropological tradition. He was awarded a Leverhulme
The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...
Major Research Grant for two years (2003-5) which allowed him to spend more time on research. The topic was cousin marriage and incest in nineteenth century England.
He has supervised many PhD students on Southern African ethnography, history of anthropology, family business, and kinship.
Retirement dispute
In January 2009 it was revealed that Brunel had reneged on an agreement to let him stay until 2010. Instead, he was forcibly retired in late 2008, just after the census date for publications submitted to the Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils (HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British hig ...
had passed. Kuper responded by suing the university for breach of contract. In 2011, employment laws were changed to permit phased retirements past the age of 65. This was because of changes to the 2006 Employment (Age) Regulations making mandatory retirement imposed by the employer unlawful.
Selected publications
*''Wives for Cattle: Bridewealth and Marriage in Southern Africa'', (Routledge, 1982)
*''The Invention of Primitive Society: Transformations of an Illusion'', (Routledge, 1988)
*''The Chosen Primate: Human Nature and Cultural Diversity'', (Harvard University Press, 1994)
*''Anthropology and Anthropologists: The Modern British School'', (Routledge, 3rd edn, 1996)
*''The Social Science Encyclopaedia'' Adam Kuper, Jessica Kuper (eds.). (Taylor & Francis, 1996)
*''Culture: The Anthropologists' Account'', (Harvard University Press, 1999)
''Incest and Influence: The Private Life of Bourgeois England''
(Harvard, 2009, )
Further reading
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuper, Adam Jonathan
1941 births
Living people
Anthropology educators
Anthropology writers
Social anthropologists
South African anthropologists
South African science writers
Academics of Brunel University London
Leiden University faculty
Academics of University College London
People from Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand alumni
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Alumni of Parktown Boys' High School