Victims of Progress [Paperback]

John Bodley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0767405056 | ISBN-13: 978-0767405058 | Publication Date: August 7, 1998 | Edition: 4

This compelling account of the effect of technology and development on indigenous peoples throughout the world examines major issues of intervention: social engineering, economic development, self-determination, health and disease, and ecocide. Victims of Progressprovides a provocative context in which to think about civilization and its costs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Victims of Progress provides clear and understandable answers to how and why indigenous peoples of the world have fallen victim to the ever "modernizing" global-scale culture of the past 500 years. It also illuminates their efforts and prospects for the future as indigenous people. At the same time, the book examines conflict between peoples, often mislabeled as "ethnic" or "religious" conflict, to reveal the true and most common seeds of conflict in the past, and present, across the globe. Victims of Progress is a book that engages students' interest. (Charles Ettner )

Victims of Progress is one of those rare anthropology books that influences students for the rest of their lives. John H. Bodley courageously challenges old myths and offers readers a view of the world through a different lens. This updated fifth edition is a must-read for anyone who cares about the futures of indigenous peoples. (Thomas N. Headland )

Victims of Progress is a rightly unapologetic survey of some of the worst protracted cases of genocide, ethnocide, and ecocide in past and current human history, cases which have been ignored entirely in the public forum and that have ashamedly been downplayed within much of the academic discourse. Any person who considers themselves an integral, meaningful, and responsible member of the global community should read this book. (Fotini Katsanos ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

John H. Bodley is a cultural anthropologist and Regents Professor at Washington State University and author of Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems, 5th Edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 4 edition (August 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767405056
• ISBN-13: 978-0767405058
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Other Worlds, September 11, 2003

By 

J.W.K (Nagano, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victims of Progress (Paperback)

This book is amazing in what it achieves - a thorough, comprehensive view of expansive, global civilization and its affects on local, indigenous, autonomous peoples around the world. Bodley clearly and succinctly summaries the last two and a half centuries of colonial and imperial expansion, the people who resisted and continue to resist that expansion, and the negative consequences of being incorporated (usually by force) into large, impersonal, irresponsible nation-states. A must read for anyone who wishes to step outside our consumer-frenzied, totalitarian culture of domination and see what other worlds were and are possible.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crisp, Clear, Insightful, and Vitally Important, November 12, 2007

By 

G. Helkenn (Fairbanks, Alaska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victims of Progress (Paperback)

This book is the most clear and insightful analysis of the global interactions between large industrial civilizations and small indigenous communities I've yet seen. There is no fuzzy logic or impotent liberal hand-wringing here, just solid information and analysis by a competent scholar in the field of Anthropology. Excellent overview of our global situation, very clear analysis of the processes of history, and fine perspective on contemporary issues.

I would consider this book a must read for any serious student of indigenous peoples, the history of frontier encounters or modern geopolitics as it relates to indigenous peoples. As a person who picked up degrees in History and International Studies before venturing into the field of Anthropology and encountering this book, I would say that Bodley cuts through the ideological orientation an imprecise analysis one tends to see in the writings of historians and political scientists on this subject, and gives the reader a solid understanding of one of the largest and most sweeping trends in history.

3 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too boring to read, October 1, 2007

By 

Frank (Norwalk, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victims of Progress (Paperback)

I had to buy and read this book for a class in school, and I can say, it is probably the most boring book that I have ever read. I cannot stand to read it, the information is good, but its just written in such a bland and biased way, the author sounds like a total hippie who thinks we should all still be living in tribes in the forest.