The Trashing of Margaret Mead

In 1928 Margaret Mead publishedComing of Age in Samoa, a fascinating study of the lives of adolescent girls that transformed Mead herself into an academic celebrity. In 1983 anthropologist Derek Freeman published a scathing critique of Meadrs"s Samoan research, badly damaging her reputation. Resonating beyond academic circles, his case against Mead tapped into important public concerns of the 1980s, including sexual permissiveness, cultural relativism, and the nature/nurture debate. In venues from theNew York Timesto the TV showDonahue, Freeman argued that Mead had been "hoaxed" by Samoans whose innocent lies she took at face value. InTrashing Margaret Mead, Paul Shankman explores the many dimensions of the Mead-Freeman controversy as it developed publicly and as it played out privately, including the personal relationships, professional rivalries, and larger-than-life personalities that drove it. Providing a critical perspective on Freemanrs"s arguments, Shankman reviews key questions about Samoan sexuality, the alleged hoaxing of Mead, and the meaning of the controversy. Why were Freemanrs"s arguments so readily accepted by pundits outside the field of anthropology? What did Samoans themselves think? Can Meadrs"s reputation be salvaged from the quicksand of controversy? Written in an engaging clear style, and based on a careful review of the evidence,Trashing Margaret Meadilluminates questions of enduring significance to the academy and beyond.

Paul Shankman, professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has conducted fieldwork in Samoa periodically since 1966. He has written a number of articles on the Mead-Freeman controversy.