T hurnwald, R ichard (1869–1954)

Abstract

Richard Thurnwald wrote the first systematic textbook of comparative economic anthropology in English and had great influence in this field. The embeddedness of the economy in society was basic to his approach. He paid particular attention to work, ecological and technical conditions, and ethnic and social stratification. For Thurnwald, social change, of which contemporary colonialism was a particular form, was inherent in every society and at every stage of the economy. In his methodology, Thurnwald applied a comparative approach covering a great variety of primitive and archaic societies.