Clyde Kluckhohn
Encyclopedia
Clyde Kluckhohn was an American anthropologist
and social theorist, best known for his long-term ethnographic work among the Navajo
and his contributions to the development of theory of culture within American anthropology.
, but was forced by ill health to take a break from study and went to convalesce on a ranch in New Mexico
owned by his mother's cousin's husband, Evon Z. Vogt
. During this period he first came into contact with neighboring Navajo and began a lifelong love of their language and culture. He wrote two popular books based on his experiences in Navajo country, To the Foot of the Rainbow (1927) and Beyond the Rainbow (1933).
He resumed study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
and received his AB in Greek 1928. He then studied classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
as a Rhodes Scholar in 1928-1930 For the following two years, he studied anthropology the University of Vienna
and was exposed to psychoanalysis. After teaching at the University of New Mexico
from 1932–34, he continued graduate work in anthropology
at Harvard University
where he received his Ph.D in 1936. He remained at Harvard as a professor in Social Anthropology and later also Social Relations
for the rest of his life.
(LDS
), Spanish-American (Mexican-American), and Texas Homesteaders A key methodological approach that he developed together with his wife Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn and colleagues Evon Z. Vogt and Ethel M. Albert, among others, was the Values Orientation Theory. They believed that cross-cultural understanding and communication could be facilitated by analyzing a given culture's orientation to five key aspects of human life: Human Nature (people seen as intrinsically good, evil, or mixed); Man-Nature Relationship (the view that humans should be subordinate to nature, dominant over nature, or live in harmony with nature); Time (primary value placed on past/tradition, present/enjoyment, or future/posterity/delayed gratification); Activity (being, becoming/inner development, or doing/striving/industriousness); and Social Relations (hierarchical, collateral/collective-egalitarian, or individualistic). The Values Orientation Method was developed furthest by Florence Kluckhohn and her colleagues and students in later years.
Kluckhohn received many honors throughout his career. In 1947 he served as president of the American Anthropological Association
and became first director of the Russian Research Center at Harvard. In the same year his book Mirror for Man won the McGraw Hill award for best popular writing on science.
Kluckhohn initially believed in the biological equality of races but later reversed his position. Kluckhohn wrote in 1959 that "in the light of accumulating information as to significantly varying incidence of mapped genes among different peoples, it seems unwise to assume flatly that ‘man’s innate capacity does not vary from one population to another’.... On the premise that specific capacities are influenced by the properties of each gene pool, it seems very likely indeed that populations differ quantitatively in their potentialities for particular kinds of achievement.”
Clyde Kluckhohn died of a heart attack in a cabin on the Upper Pecos River
near Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was survived by his wife, Dr. Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn, who also taught anthropology at Harvard's Department of Social Relations. Most of his papers are held at Harvard University, but some early manuscripts are kept at the University of Iowa
.
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
and social theorist, best known for his long-term ethnographic work among the Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
and his contributions to the development of theory of culture within American anthropology.
Early life and education
Kluckhohn matriculated at Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, but was forced by ill health to take a break from study and went to convalesce on a ranch in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
owned by his mother's cousin's husband, Evon Z. Vogt
Evon Z. Vogt
Evon Zartman Vogt, Jr. was an American cultural anthropologist. Born in Gallup, New Mexico, he was a professor at Harvard University his entire career, serving as Chairman of the Department of Anthropology, Co-Master of Kirkland House , and Chairman of the Center for Latin American Studies...
. During this period he first came into contact with neighboring Navajo and began a lifelong love of their language and culture. He wrote two popular books based on his experiences in Navajo country, To the Foot of the Rainbow (1927) and Beyond the Rainbow (1933).
He resumed study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
and received his AB in Greek 1928. He then studied classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
as a Rhodes Scholar in 1928-1930 For the following two years, he studied anthropology the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
and was exposed to psychoanalysis. After teaching at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
from 1932–34, he continued graduate work in anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
where he received his Ph.D in 1936. He remained at Harvard as a professor in Social Anthropology and later also Social Relations
Harvard Department of Social Relations
The Department of Social Relations for Interdisciplinary Social Science Studies, more commonly known as the "Department of Social Relations" was an interdisciplinary collaboration among three of the social science departments at Harvard University beginning in 1946...
for the rest of his life.
Major works
In 1949, Kluckhohn began to work among five adjacent communities in the Southwest: Zuni, Navajo, MormonMormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
(LDS
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
), Spanish-American (Mexican-American), and Texas Homesteaders A key methodological approach that he developed together with his wife Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn and colleagues Evon Z. Vogt and Ethel M. Albert, among others, was the Values Orientation Theory. They believed that cross-cultural understanding and communication could be facilitated by analyzing a given culture's orientation to five key aspects of human life: Human Nature (people seen as intrinsically good, evil, or mixed); Man-Nature Relationship (the view that humans should be subordinate to nature, dominant over nature, or live in harmony with nature); Time (primary value placed on past/tradition, present/enjoyment, or future/posterity/delayed gratification); Activity (being, becoming/inner development, or doing/striving/industriousness); and Social Relations (hierarchical, collateral/collective-egalitarian, or individualistic). The Values Orientation Method was developed furthest by Florence Kluckhohn and her colleagues and students in later years.
Kluckhohn received many honors throughout his career. In 1947 he served as president of the American Anthropological Association
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...
and became first director of the Russian Research Center at Harvard. In the same year his book Mirror for Man won the McGraw Hill award for best popular writing on science.
Kluckhohn initially believed in the biological equality of races but later reversed his position. Kluckhohn wrote in 1959 that "in the light of accumulating information as to significantly varying incidence of mapped genes among different peoples, it seems unwise to assume flatly that ‘man’s innate capacity does not vary from one population to another’.... On the premise that specific capacities are influenced by the properties of each gene pool, it seems very likely indeed that populations differ quantitatively in their potentialities for particular kinds of achievement.”
Clyde Kluckhohn died of a heart attack in a cabin on the Upper Pecos River
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
near Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was survived by his wife, Dr. Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn, who also taught anthropology at Harvard's Department of Social Relations. Most of his papers are held at Harvard University, but some early manuscripts are kept at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
.
Interlocutors
- Edward Low
- Elizabeth Colson
- Florence Rockwood Kluckhohn
- Alfred L. KroeberAlfred L. KroeberAlfred Louis Kroeber was an American anthropologist. He was the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and played an integral role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology, where he served as director from 1909 through...
- Dorothea Leighton
- Talcott ParsonsTalcott ParsonsTalcott Parsons was an American sociologist who served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973....
- Evon Z. VogtEvon Z. VogtEvon Zartman Vogt, Jr. was an American cultural anthropologist. Born in Gallup, New Mexico, he was a professor at Harvard University his entire career, serving as Chairman of the Department of Anthropology, Co-Master of Kirkland House , and Chairman of the Center for Latin American Studies...
Selected publications
- Kluckhohn, Clyde "Beyond the Rainbow," 1933 book about traveling in Hopi and Navaho land
- Kluckhohn, Clyde (1944) Mirror for Man, New York: Fawcett
- Kluckhohn, Clyde Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions
- Kluckhohn, Clyde, Leonard McCombe, and Evon Z. Vogt (1951) Navajo means People. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
- Kluckhohn, Clyde (1951). "Values and value-orientations in the theory of action: An exploration in definition and classification." In T. Parsons & E. Shils (Eds.), Toward a general theory of action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
- Murray, Henry A. and Clyde Kluckhohn, (1953) Personality in Nature, Society, and Culture
- Kluckhohn, Clyde (1962) Culture and Behavior, Free Press of Glencoe
External links
- Clyde Kae Maben Kluckhohn 1905-1960
- Clyde Kluckhohn brief bio at Minnesota State University Mankato
- Biographical note: Clyde Kluckhohn papers collection at the University of Iowa
- Values Orientation Method