George Marcus
Encyclopedia
George Marcus is an American anthropologist, founder of the journal Cultural Anthropology, and editor
of the Late Editions series.
, where he chaired the anthropology department for 25 years. He currently holds the position of Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Irvine
, where he established a Center for Ethnography, devoted to experiments and innovations in this form of inquiry.
in Tonga
, an upper-class group with family fortunes in Galveston, Texas, and a Portuguese
nobleman. In two books, Writing Culture and Anthropology as Cultural Critique, he argues that anthropologists typically frame their thoughts according to their own social, political and literary history, and are inclined to study people with less power and status than themselves.
Marcus pushed anthropology
to pay greater attention to the modern world’s influence on communities once regarded as isolated. He advocated new research methods to reflect this contemporary focus, including how a community changes and disperses
around the world. In the 1980s, most anthropologists studied people who had lived in the same location for hundreds of years, with a narrow focus on local, long-standing traditions. Today, an anthropologist interested in the people of Samoa, for example, would likely not only study life in the Samoan Islands, but also Samoan communities in New Zealand, Hawaii and California.
Marcus’ current focus involves looking at key institutions of great power, and their connections and consequences for ordinary people. With anthropologist Douglas R. Holmes, he is applying an anthropological research approach to people’s thought and decision-making processes in the operation of central bank
s in the U.S. and Europe.
, with whom he has two children, Rachel and Avery.
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
of the Late Editions series.
Biography
Marcus served as the Joseph D. Jamail Professor at Rice UniversityRice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, where he chaired the anthropology department for 25 years. He currently holds the position of Chancellor's Professor at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
, where he established a Center for Ethnography, devoted to experiments and innovations in this form of inquiry.
Research
Marcus has studied "elites" — people with a great amount of social power. He has researched and written about nobilityNobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
in Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, an upper-class group with family fortunes in Galveston, Texas, and a Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
nobleman. In two books, Writing Culture and Anthropology as Cultural Critique, he argues that anthropologists typically frame their thoughts according to their own social, political and literary history, and are inclined to study people with less power and status than themselves.
Marcus pushed 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...
to pay greater attention to the modern world’s influence on communities once regarded as isolated. He advocated new research methods to reflect this contemporary focus, including how a community changes and disperses
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
around the world. In the 1980s, most anthropologists studied people who had lived in the same location for hundreds of years, with a narrow focus on local, long-standing traditions. Today, an anthropologist interested in the people of Samoa, for example, would likely not only study life in the Samoan Islands, but also Samoan communities in New Zealand, Hawaii and California.
Marcus’ current focus involves looking at key institutions of great power, and their connections and consequences for ordinary people. With anthropologist Douglas R. Holmes, he is applying an anthropological research approach to people’s thought and decision-making processes in the operation of central bank
Central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a public institution that usually issues the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country. Central banks often also oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries...
s in the U.S. and Europe.
Literary pursuits
Marcus was the founding editor of Cultural Anthropology, the journal of the Society for Cultural Anthropology and a top journal in its field. In the 1990s, Marcus edited an eight-volume series of annuals called Late Editions: Cultural Studies for the End of the Century, which documented the diverse social and cultural transitions at the turn of the millennium. The series covered a wide range of topics through conversations and interviews between scholars and individuals involved in the crucial processes of change.Works
- Anthropology as Cultural Critique (with Michael M. J. Fischer, Chicago, 1986, 2nd edition 1999)
Personal life
He lives with his wife, the historian Patricia SeedPatricia Seed
Patricia Seed is an American historian, and author of the books To Love, Honor, and Obey in Colonial Mexico, Ceremonies of Possession in the New World, and American Pentimento. She specializes in the history of cartography and navigation, and is a foremost authority on the topic of latitude as it...
, with whom he has two children, Rachel and Avery.