John Arundel Barnes M.A. D.Phil. DSC FBA (9 September 1918 – 13 September 2010) was an Australian and British

social anthropologist 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 ...

. Until his death in 2010, Barnes held the post of Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Fellow of

Churchill College Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establis ...

. From 1969 to 1982, he held the post of Professor of Sociology at 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 ...

. Previous positions include faculty posts in social anthropology at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, He also was associated with

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

and the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute. Barnes was a student of Max Gluckman in the Manchester School.

Academic work

John A. Barnes, among others, is known to be the first to use the concept of

social network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods fo ...

s in a scientific context. This was in 1954, in the article "Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish",Barnes, John (1954). "Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish." ''Human Relations'', (7): 39-58. in which he presented the result of nearly two years of fieldwork in

Bremnes Bremnes is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1916 until 1963, when it was merged into the new municipality of Bømlo which is now part of Vestland county. The administrative centre of the ...

on Bømlo,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. His anthropological studies ranged from New Guinea to Norway. His interests and writings extended across the social and political sciences and beyond.

Publications

Known publication titles include: *''The frequency of divorce'' (1964) *''Three Styles in the Study of Kinship'' (1971) *''Marriage in a Changing Society'' (1951) *''Models and interpretations'' *''Politics in a changing society: A political history of Fort Jameson Ngoni'' (1954) *''The Ethics of Inquiry in Social Science: Three Lectures'' (1977) *''Sociology in Cambridge'' (1970) *''A Pack of Lies: Towards a Sociology of Lying'' (1994) *''Who Should Know What? Social Science, Privacy, and Ethics'' (1979) *''Kinship Studies: Some Impressions of the Current State of Play'' *''Anthropology after Freud'' *''Social Networks'' (1972) *''Inquest on the Murngin'' (1967) (Royal Anthropological Institute. Occasional papers, no.26) *''African models in the New Guinea Highlands'' (1962) *''Humping on my drum'' (autobiography)

References

External links

Interviewed by Jack Goody 19 December 1983 (video)

Obituary Notice
''Cambridge University Reporter'' No 6197, Wednesday 6 October 2010, Vol cxli No 1.]
Article about John Arundel Barnes
in Framtida.no. (in Norwegian Nynorsk)
French translation of the article Class and committee in a Norvegian Island Parish, in Cairn; introduction about Barnes
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, John 1918 births 2010 deaths Australian anthropologists British anthropologists Social anthropologists Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge University of Sydney faculty Australian National University faculty Alumni of the University of Manchester Fellows of the British Academy People associated with the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom