Life and work Robin Fox

robin fox born in village of haworth in yorkshire dales, @ nadir of great depression in 1934. had little schooling during second world war, moving on england soldier father (ex-indian army), , mother, army nursing aide. after narrow escape death bombing, pursued education through army, church of england, public libraries, , bbc, more through formal schooling. through series of scholarships—one of them grammar school in thornton, west yorkshire, made way london school of economics in 1953, , gained first degree in sociology first class honours. included philosophy , social anthropology, influence karl popper, ernest gellner , raymond firth—and occasional interaction bertrand russell.

he went harvard graduate work in department of social relations found himself under tutelage of clyde kluckhohn, evon vogt, paul friedrich , dell hymes, in new mexico, studied language , society among pueblo indians. concentrated on pueblo of cochiti, on rio grande, on wrote ph.d. thesis (submitted university of london , examined raymond firth, edmund leach , daryll ford). revised version of thesis analysis of evolution of pueblo kinship systems , “crow-omaha” question, published keresan bridge: problem in pueblo ethnology, 1967. logico-conjectural attempt reconstruct history of kinship terms against grain of functionalist orthodoxy in england @ time, , equally critical of prevailing american theories of acculturation.

he returned england, taught 4 years in department of sociology @ university of exeter, starting fieldwork on tory island, remote gaelic-speaking community off coast of county donegal in ireland (his mother’s family, called fox, came ireland.) wrote first museum-series publication kinship , land tenure on tory island (1966.) work on island resulted in book tory islanders: people of celtic fringe (1978), university of ulster awarded him doctor of science (d.sc.) degree. returned lse 4 more years, lecturing on kinship, , producing used text translated many languages, kinship , marriage: anthropological perspective (1967): still in print.

fox had published became foundational paper sibling incest in british journal of sociology (1962), in again defied overwhelming consensus of opinion, time on incest taboo, , revived neglected theories of edward westermarck, coining term westermarck effect (as opposed freud effect ), known in social sciences. under influence of such figures john bowlby, david attenborough (who student while), robert ardrey, niko tinbergen, desmond morris, michael chance , lionel tiger, became interested in ethology—the science of evolution of behavior. gave first primate behaviour , human evolution lectures in department, co-teaching primatological anatomist john napier royal free hospital school of medicine. , tiger wrote paper on “the zoological perspective in social science” (1966). 1 of first salvos in debate on nature/nurture issue flare in sixties , seventies. added malinowski memorial lecture of 1967 on “aspects of hominid behavioral evolution. during time saw 3 daughters world, kate, ellie , anne. rutgers university offered him chair of anthropology in 1967, , chance start new department, including tiger. has grown major research department , graduate program. in 2009 2 degree programs, evolutionary anthropology , cultural anthropology, ranked in top ten in country. , tiger completed joint work, imperial animal, in 1970, book contributed nature/nurture debate of next few decades. spent academic year @ stanford university school of medicine (department of psychiatry) nimh fellow, studying behavioral biology , brain david hamburg , karl pribram.

in 1972, harry frank guggenheim foundation, through president mason gross, ex-president of rutgers, made tiger , fox joint research directors, , started program of support work particularly on violence , dominance. list of grantees who’s in development of bio-social science , of came known sociobiology. worked twelve years foundation, , during time did original research dieter steklis among macaque monkeys on island off bermuda , vervet monkeys on st. kitts. produced several books including encounter anthropology (1973) biosocial anthropology (editor , contributor, 1975), red lamp of incest (1980) , neonate cognition (1984, edited jacques mehler of cnrs, paris).

during same period visiting professor @ oxford, paris (ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales), university of california, san diego, , universidad de los andes in bogotá, colombia, did “participant observer” stint bullfighter, studying provincial bullfight culture of southern colombia. in 1985 rutgers made him university professor, highest honor can give faculty member. wrote search society (1989) “equal time response” interpretive anthropology of clifford geertz, , violent imagination (1989), book of essays, verse, satire, drama , dialogue.

fox senior overseas scholar @ st john’s college, cambridge, , wrote series of related collections of essays. first reproduction , succession (1993), relating part in both appeal of mormon policeman supreme court, , famous “baby m” surrogate mother trials in new jersey. followed challenge of anthropology (1994), , conjectures , confrontations (1997). in 2000 added material in violent imagination, plus foreword ashley montagu, came out passionate mind. has published number of controversial papers on contemporary affairs in national interest — nationalism, nature of war, northern ireland problem, democracy in iraq, end of history — , series of brisk exchanges on human rights, francis fukuyama , amnesty international. wrote autobiography of first forty years of life participant observer: memoir of transatlantic life (2004.)

since fox has written further books on tribal basis of behavior, civilization , savage mind, , shakespeare authorship question (shakespeare s education: schools, lawsuits , theater in tudor miracle (2012). in 2013 elected national academy of sciences (anthropology , evolutionary biology). in 2014 festschrift him published transaction publishers , edited michael egan titled character of human institutions: robin fox , rise of biosocial science seventeen contributions.

he married lin fox (ed.d. columbia) taught health sciences @ kean university, new jersey; live on small farm outside princeton, new jersey. continues teach (american indians, origin , fall of civilizations, comparative , persistent mythology, incest in literature) , pursue research on archaeology of calusa indians of sw florida, , evolutionary relationship between consanguineous marriage , fertility.