Interview with John W. Bennett, July 18, 2002

Interview Summary

John W. Bennett made important contributions to the development of agricultural and ecological anthropology. He served as president of the Society, 1960-1961.

In this interview, Bennett talks about attending graduate school for anthropology at the University of Chicago around the start of World War II. He talks about the school's attitude regarding Applied Anthropology. Bennett discusses his opinion on Applied Anthropology, which he opposes in favor of 'useful' interdisciplinary social science. Bennett discusses the origins of the idea of Applied Anthropology and how they were affected by the Harvard Business School, New Deal, the wartime atmosphere of World War II, and British colonialism. Bennett talks about some of the jobs he and Herb Passin had during World War II, including conducting public opinion surveys for the Department of Agriculture, food habit studies, and creating advertisements for the war effort. Bennett talks about how he and Herb Passin came to work in Japan during and after World War II to conduct research for the war effort for Public Opinion and Sociological Research (PONSR). He talks about some of the major projects they completed during his time as the chief of PONSR. Bennett discusses some of the major figures in the emergence of the Applied Anthropology field including Eliot Chapple, Freddy Richardson, and Margaret Mead, and Sol Tax. He talks about Tax's radical philosophy and his development of Action Anthropology, which focused on doing work that would actually help people.

Interview Keyword

Anthropologists Anthropology Professional organizations Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) University of Chicago Eliot Chapple Lloyd Warner Herbert Passin Wartime War effort World War II Margaret Mead Public Opinion and Sociological Research (PONSR) Clyde Kluckohn Polling Public opinion surveys Community studies Cultural attitudes Public attitude surveys Interdisciplinary social sciences Sol Tax Harvard University

Interview LC Subject

Anthropology. World War, 1939-1945--War work Applied anthropology. Anthropologists. Anthropology--Fieldwork. Anthropologists' writings. World War, 1939-1945 Anthropology publishing Anthropology--Research. Japan

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Interview Usage

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