Choice 评论
A collection of essays on peace in human societies and Western theories, this volume has two major strengths: ethnographic depth, and analyses that draw on cultural understandings of personhood to illuminate patterns of behavior. Ethnographic essays (by Robarchek, Howell, Howe, and Willis) convey clearly but concisely the tenor of life in relatively pacific societies that differ greatly from each other. Papers on Brazilian Indian and Philippine societies (by Overing and Gibson) succeed in developing systematic comparisons between "peaceful" and "violent" societies. The reader can recognize the force of Western cultural understandings in an ethnographic paper on Ulster and discussions of "aggression" as a Western preoccupation. The collection concludes with more abstract essays that suggest ways to learn about peace from different societies. These essays are less successful in developing a new theoretical approach to peace that advances debate beyond Ashley Montagu's The Nature of Human Aggression (1976). Suitable for advanced undergraduates. J. Kirkpatrick Nomos Institute/University of Hawaii at Manoa