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RICHLAND A noted anthropology professor will talk about “Why Small Nations Will Save the World when the Too Big Fail” on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at WSU Tri-Cities.
The lecture by John Bodley, Regents Professor of Anthropology with WSU Pullman, will begin at noon in the West Building Atrium, 2710 University Drive, Richland. Admission is free and open to the public.
Bodley is a cultural anthropologist with research interests in indigenous peoples, cultural ecology, and contemporary issues. He earned his Ph.D at the University of Oregon and is the author of “The Power of Scale” (2003), “Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems” (2008), and “Victims of Progress” (2008).
According to Bodley, the fate of humanity is determined by three variables deeply rooted in human nature and culture:
1) the scale at which people organize their sociocultural systems;
2) how people control other people
3) how we use culture to deceive each other about what is really happening
2) how people control other people
3) how we use culture to deceive each other about what is really happening
“Peoples that live in small nations with small scale socio-cultural systems can more easily limit the power of their leaders, because they retain the power to act in their own self-interest, thereby maximizing their personal freedom and minimizing the dangers of system failure,” Bodley says. “Peoples in small nations can also more clearly understand the practical realities of the physical world and are more likely to live within the limits that nature imposes, because they directly experience the effects of their practices.
“Peoples that allow their systems to grow continuously, that allow their leaders to become rulers, and that allow themselves to be deceived about the realities of their society and the physical world have produced unsustainable imperialist and commercial worlds,” Bodley said.
The lecture is part of the WSU Tri-Cities Liberal Arts Season of Events, sponsored by the Richland Arts Commission. For more details, contact the College of Liberal Arts at 372-7217. For driving directions, go to www.tricity.wsu.edu, click on “visit.”
