[lbo-talk] Misogyny and fascism

[Michael Pugliese]

On 10/26/06, Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:In my view, the
"noble savage" mythology glorifying primitive societies is a
misguided effort to counter the triumphalist ethnocentrism and jingoism
found in abundance in modern states (and ancient ones too) by simply
reversing the "moral sign:" what is positive in ethnocentric jingoism
becomes negative in noble savagery myths, and vice versa.  At the end of the
day, however, both attempts are simply two competing ideologies that
selectively pick facts to support their positions, and rejecting those facts
that do not fit the narrative.

   Blurbed by lefty feminist Carolyn Merchant.

 http://www2.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall00/032100.htm

 Shepherd Krech III
The Ecological Indian
Myth and History

"A good story and first-rate social science."—New York Times Book Review

The idea of the Native American living in perfect harmony with nature
is one of the most cherished contemporary myths. But how truthful is
this larger-than-life image?

According to anthropologist Shepard Krech, the first humans in North
America demonstrated all of the intelligence, self-interest,
flexibility, and ability to make mistakes of human beings anywhere. As
Nicholas Lemann put it in The New Yorker, "Krech is more than just a
conventional-wisdom overturner; he has a serious larger point to make.
. . . Concepts like ecology, waste, preservation, and even the natural
(as distinct from human) world are entirely anachronistic when applied
to Indians in the days before the European settlement of North
America."

"Offers a more complex portrait of Native American peoples, one that
rejects mythologies, even those that both European and Native
Americans might wish to embrace."—Washington Post

	Ecological Indian
Shepard Krech III is a professor of anthropology at Brown University.
He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and in Maine.

-- 
Michael Pugliese