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

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n-born U.S. anthropologist 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 River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, 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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

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 be ...

under Franz Boas, 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 Manha ...

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, NY, 1919–1926; Lecturer, Rand School of Social Science, 1915–1929; Professor, Thought and Culture, Oregon State System of Higher Education, Portland Extension, 1930–1938; Visiting Professor,

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, 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 Seat ...

, 1923; Visiting Professor of Sociology,

Reed College Reed College is a private university, private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor style architecture ...

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

in his Agricultural Involution. 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 populou ...

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, 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 ...

(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