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ON JANUARY 31, 1983, AN INTRIGUING story about a new book on Margaret Mead appeared on the front page of the New York Times. Derek Freeman, an anthropologist based in [...]

THROUGHOUT THE 1980S AND 1990S, anthropologist Derek Freeman waged a tireless campaign against Margaret Mead, claiming that the famous American anthropologist had been hoaxed by her Samoan informants. He alleged [...]

In the Mead-Freeman controversy, Derek Freeman argued that historical sources support his view that the traditional values of the Samoan system of institutionalized virginity (or taupou system) were preserved and reinforced throughout the colonial era. A closer examination of two sources used by Freeman, authored by Augustin Kramer and Newton A. Rowe, demonstrates that the taupou system, as well as many of the values and practices associated with it, were in decline during this period. This latter interpretation, favored by Margaret Mead, is also supported by Freeman's own postgraduate diploma thesis, a source hitherto unused in the controversy.

Kent Flannery and Joyce Marcus, The Creation of Inequality: How Our Prehistoric Ancestors Set the Stage for Monarchy, Slavery, and Empire Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012. 648 pages. Hardback, [...]

Robert M. Carmack, Anthropology and Global History: From Tribes to the Modern World-System Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. vi + 399 pages. Summary and conclusion, glossary, bibliography, index. Hardback, [...]

Whatever Happened to Margaret Mead? WHEN A CONTROVERSY is young, everyone is riveted. But what happens as controversy ages and becomes more complicated? Who remains interested? In the recent controversy […]

The Warm Winds of Change: Globalisation in Contemporary Samoa. By Cluny and La'avasa Macpherson Auckland University Press. 2009 Pp: ix +213 Price: NZ$45 Cluny and La'avasa Macpherson have been observing [...]