The social organization of Australian tribes
AR Radcliffe-Brown - Oceania, 1930 - JSTOR
AR Radcliffe-Brown
Oceania, 1930•JSTORO INCE Fison and Howitt publishedin 1880 their Kamilaroi and Kurtiai, the social
organization of the aboriginal tribes of Australia has received a great deal of attention from
anthropologists, and the literature on the subject is now very extensive. That literature has
given currencyto a number of misconceptions. The present paper is an attempt to indicate as
concisely as possible what that organization really is, and to give a summary of the existing
knowledge about it. It is intended to serve as an introduction to new researches which are …
organization of the aboriginal tribes of Australia has received a great deal of attention from
anthropologists, and the literature on the subject is now very extensive. That literature has
given currencyto a number of misconceptions. The present paper is an attempt to indicate as
concisely as possible what that organization really is, and to give a summary of the existing
knowledge about it. It is intended to serve as an introduction to new researches which are …
O INCE Fison and Howitt publishedin 1880 their Kamilaroi and Kurtiai, the social organization of the aboriginal tribes of Australia has received a great deal of attention from anthropologists, and the literature on the subject is now very extensive. That literature has given currencyto a number of misconceptions. The present paper is an attempt to indicate as concisely as possible what that organization really is, and to give a summary of the existing knowledge about it. It is intended to serve as an introduction to new researches which are now in progress, and the results of which will be published in due course.
There are many different forms of social organization in Australia, but it will appear, I think, that they can all be regarded as different varieties of a single general type. The easiest way to give a descriptive account is therefore to describe the general type first and then go onto describe, and as far as possible classify, the different varieties. That is the procedure that will be followed here.
JSTOR