Victims of Progress

by John H. Bodley

Victims of Progress, now in its sixth edition, offers a compelling account of how technology and development affect indigenous peoples throughout the world. Bodley’s expansive look at the struggle between small-scale indigenous societies, and the colonists and corporate developers who have infringed their territories reaches from 1800 into today. He examines major issues of intervention such as social engineering, economic development, self-determination, health and disease, global warming, and ecocide. Small-scale societies, Bodley convincingly demonstrates, have survived by organizing politically to defend their basic human rights.

Providing a provocative context in which to think about civilization and its costs—shedding light on how we are all victims of progress—the sixth edition features expanded discussion of “uprising politics,” Tebtebba (a particularly active indigenous organization), and voluntary isolation. A wholly new chapter devotes full coverage to the costs of global warming to indigenous peoples in the Pacific and the Arctic. Finally, new appendixes guide readers to recent protest petitions as well as online resources and videos.

Genres: Anthropology, Academic, Nonfiction

410 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1981

Reviews

[Dameon Launert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic work, and as such it is information dense and somewhat dry. However, it is well organized and written, and informs the reader of a topic of great importance.

It is difficult to read this and not have an understanding that civilization, especially industrial civilization, is an agent of extinction of not only wildlife, but also small scale, primitive societies.

This cannot continue forever, and eventually simpler societies will be the norm once again, if there are to be societies at all after civilization collapses. Hopefully wildlife habitats and indigenous peoples can survive until then.

[sistaotey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking facts. Well researched and well written. Had to read it for a Cultural Anthropology course.

[Shoshana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super informative!!

[Hugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable book. It tells how indigenous peoples have been sacrificed to appease the god of Progress. There were several ways to do it: genocide (by direct killing and disease), forced assimilation, invasion of tribal lands and disruption of indigenous social and economic systems. It's incredible the number of times that official documents and people referred to "progress" as a justification for ethnocide. It was "inevitable" after all that they would be integrated in our global society. More, it shows how their health deteriorated and famine and malnutrition were created as governments forced the introduction of more "productive" forms of using the land (through cash-crops low in essential proteins and vitamins, overgrazing, oil development,etc.).

I think the most important point of this book was to show how indigenous peoples were affected by European colonialism from an early stage. Contrary to apologetic assumptions for Western imperialism, states didn't stop war; they created it in some areas and worsened it in others (before 'pacifying' them) as indigenous peoples were dispossessed of their lands and forced into smaller areas to fight for scarcer resources. How some people (idiots) still think that these peoples are living fossils is beyond me.

In short, this is the most complete book you could get about this subject. Its focus is mainly on the impact of colonialism in the last 200 years and how indigenous peoples fought and are still fighting that. It's very well-written and highly informative. Five stars

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an extremely well done book in regards to being informative, but it doesn't talk about cheerful topics (as you might be able to guess from the title). It was difficult to get through simply because of the short amount of time I had to go through it for school, but I did learn a lot of important things about indigenous people. It would be a difficult book for people with no prior knowledge of anthropology, though.

[xDEAD ENDx · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this book has a very particular place within a very particular line of thinking. I'm in pretty much full agreement about how progress, industrialization, civilization, etc. destroys tribal peoples and their autonomy. At the same time, there is very little about what makes tribal society so valuable (or maybe put another way, what dynamics take place that have given these groups their longevity). I feel there's a strange imbalance between the pro and con arguments.