Elements of Social Organisation

by Raymond Firth

An illuminating introduction to the methods and problems of social anthropology, this book draws on a wide range of illustrations, including Raymond Firth's own experiences in New Zealand, Malaya and the Solomon Islands.
The concept of social organisation is discussed with special reference to the role of individual choice and decision in social affairs and the nature of social change. Social organisation in relation to economic, aesthetic, moral and religious values is also examined.
First published in 1951. This re-issue is of the third, 1961 edition.

Genres: Anthropology

286 pages, Hardcover

First published February 18, 1981

About the author

Sir Raymond William Firth CNZM FRAI FBA was an ethnologist from New Zealand. As a result of Firth's ethnographic work, actual behaviour of societies (social organization) is separated from the idealized rules of behaviour within the particular society (social structure). He was a long serving professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics, and is considered to have singlehandedly created a form of British economic anthropology.

Reviews

[Alienne Laval · Rating 5 out of 5]

The trumpet did not quite sound then, but the direction was known: we want cargo!

A model of three proper subsets: actual structure, structure of expectations, structure of ideals...

A cognitive collapse of the interfaces was to expect!