Beyond Nature and Culture

Marshall David Sahlins was an American anthropologist and political activist, born in Chicago, Illinois on December 27, 1930. He graduated from the University of Michigan (1951) with a degree in anthropology and earned his Ph.D. from Columbia (1954). In 1957, he became an assistant professor at the University of Michigan. In 1973, he joined the University of Chicago.

Professor Sahlins political activism began in the 1960s and was expressed throughout his career. An example is his anti-Vietnam war stance. He and several professors came up with the idea of having a teach-in, following the example of the civil rights movement. Instead of teaching what was in their syllabuses, they lectured about American foreign policy, politics, and history. In May 1965, he led a national teach-in in Washington that received international media coverage.

He wrote 15 books and dozens of articles and continued his political activism. Some of his books include Evolution and Culture (1960), Culture and Practical Reason (1976), Islands of History (1985), Anahulu (1992), How 'Natives' Think: About Captain Cook, for Example (1995), Culture in Practice (2000), What Kinship Is-and Is Not (2013), and On Kings (2017) written with David Graeber.

His awards and honors include winning two J. Gordon Laing Prizes for his books, Culture and Practical Reason, and How 'Natives' Think. He was awarded the J. I. Staley Prize for Anahulu. The French Ministry of Culture awarded him Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters). In 2001, he received an honorary degree from the University of Michigan. He also received honorary doctorates from the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics.

Marshall D. Sahlins died at his home in Chicago on April 5, 2021. He was 90.

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