Marshall Sahlins
American anthropologist who critiqued economic rationality in 'Stone Age Economics' and studied cultural history.
Most quoted
"The original affluent society is not one in which all the people's material wants are easily satisfied, but rather one in which they are few."
— from Stone Age Economics, 1972
"Economics is not about the production and distribution of goods and services, but about the production and distribution of meanings."
— from Culture and Practical Reason, 1976
"The structure of the conjuncture is the way in which historical events are given meaning by cultural categories."
— from Islands of History, 1985
All quotes by Marshall Sahlins (102)
The gift is not a simple exchange, but a complex social act.
Culture is the way in which humans give meaning to their existence.
History is not a simple narrative, but a contested one.
The 'primitive' is not a lack of reason, but a different kind of reason.
Culture is not a constraint, but an opportunity.
The market is not a natural law, but a human invention.
The past is not a static record, but a living tradition.
Anthropology is the study of how humans construct their worlds.
The gift economy is not a relic of the past, but a possibility for the future.
Culture is the way in which humans make their lives coherent.
History is not a simple truth, but a complex interpretation.
We are accustomed to speak of the economy as if it were a thing, but it is a process.
The original affluent society is that of the hunter-gatherer bands.
Economics is not about the production and distribution of goods and services, but about the production and distribution of meanings.
The great scandal of Western economics is that it has never been able to explain why people work.
Culture is the theory, practice is its strategy.
In the affluent society, no one starves, but many are deprived.
Anthropology is the science of culture.
The Western notion of progress is a cultural construct.
History is past politics, anthropology is current politics.
Contemporaries of Marshall Sahlins
Other Anthropologys born within 50 years of Marshall Sahlins (1930–2021).