Alexander Aleksandrovich Goldenweiser ( – July 6, 1940) was a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n-born

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 ...

and sociologist.

Biography

Alexander Alexandrovich Goldenweiser was born in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Ukraine, in 1880. He emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1900. He studied

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

under

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

, and earned his AB degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1902, his AM degree in 1904, and his Ph.D. in 1910. In addition to many books, articles, and reviews, Professor Goldenweiser taught at the following institutions: Lecturer, Anthropology, Columbia University, 1910–1919;

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

, NY, 1919–1926; Lecturer,

Rand School of Social Science The Rand School of Social Science was formed in 1906 in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served a ...

, 1915–1929; Professor, Thought and Culture,

Oregon State System of Higher Education The Oregon University System (OUS) was administered by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education (the "Board") and the Chancellor of the OUS, who was appointed by the Board. It was disbanded in June 2015. OUS was responsible for governing the s ...

, Portland Extension, 1930–1938; Visiting Professor,

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, 1937–1938; Professor,

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, 1923; Visiting Professor of Sociology,

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

, 1933-1939. Among his other contributions, Goldenweiser introduced the term "

involution Involution may refer to: * Involute, a construction in the differential geometry of curves * '' Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia'', a 1963 study of intensification of production through increased labour inpu ...

" to social sciences research.Clifford Geertz
Change without progress in a wet rice culture: A citation classic commentary on Agricultural Involution
in Current Contents/Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa., Institute for Scientific Information, vol. 22 no. 12, 1991, p. 8

/ref> It was applied by

Clifford Geertz Clifford James Geertz (; August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades. ...

in his

Agricultural Involution ''Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia'' is one of the most famous of the early works of Clifford Geertz. Its principal thesis is that many centuries of intensifying wet-rice cultivation in Indonesia had produce ...

. He died on July 6, 1940, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Works

* Totemism; An analytical study, 1910 * Early civilization, An Introduction to Anthropology, 1922 * Robots or Gods, 1931 * Anthropology, An Introduction to Primitive Culture, 1937 * History, psychology and culture, 1937

Notable student

* Dr

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served ...

, chief architect of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

(14 April 1891- 6 December 1956)

References

External links

* American sociologists Columbia University faculty Anthropology writers American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Columbia College (New York) alumni 1880 births 1940 deaths Ukrainian Jews Jewish anthropologists 20th-century American anthropologists {{US-anthropologist-stub Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni

Biography

Works

Notable student

Further reading

References

External links