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The Mountain People
The Mountain People
Author: Colin M. Turnbull
In The Mountain People, Colin M Turnbull describes the dehumanization of an African tribe that in less than three generations has deteriorated from a group of prosperous and daring hunters to scattered bands of hostile people whose only goal is individual survival.  Walled into their compounds, living in fear of ea...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780671217242
ISBN-10: 0671217240
Publication Date: 5/1974
Pages: 310
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 3

3.8 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Mountain People on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book is an ethnography by Colin Turnbull. What makes it interesting is that he got to his research site and nothing went the way he wanted. And he was living with a community of people who were starving to death because of governmental intrusion that was destroying their land and their means of living. This guy, however, judged the ways in which people interacted with one another as inhuman because he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that they were starving. Turnbull ends up having a mental breakdown.

Really intersting example of how the idea of objectivity really does not exist in the social sciences.
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reviewed The Mountain People on
Very interesting book.
ALbookbugg avatar reviewed The Mountain People on
This book was easily one of the most disturbing I've ever read. It completely laid waste to everything that I assumed was naturally a part of being human, and it was very difficult to not judge the tribe's behavior according to my own modern, Western standards. It was one of the most interesting things I've read, but I read each page filled with increasing horror. I can't help but feel thankful that I've never been in the same dire circumstances as the people of the Ik tribe. This is a book that I'm sure I'll think of for a very long time.


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