Peter Worsley

This article is about the British sociologist and social anthropologist. For the Australian Paralympic shooter, seePeter Worsley (sport shooter).

Peter Maurice Worsley(6 May 1924 – 15 March 2013) was a notedBritishsociologistandsocial anthropologist.He was a major figure in both anthropology and sociology, and is noted for introducing the termThird Worldinto English. He not only made theoretical and ethnographic contributions, but also was regarded as a key founding member of theNew Left.

Early life and education

Born inBirkenhead,Worsley started reading English atEmmanuel College, Cambridgebut his studies were interrupted byWorld War II.He served in theBritish Armyas an officer in Africa and India. During this time he developed his interest inanthropology.After the war he worked onmass educationinTanganyikaand then went to study underMax Gluckmanat theUniversity of Manchester.He received his PhD from theAustralian National UniversityinCanberra.

Career

He lectured in sociology at theUniversity of Hulland then went on to become the first Professor of Sociology at theUniversity of Manchesterin 1964.

Awards

Winner of the Curl Bequest Prize (1955) of theRoyal Anthropological InstituteforThe kinship system of theTallensi:a revaluation(Published in JRAI 1956, pp. 37–75).

Key works

• Worsley, Peter (1957),The Trumpet Shall Sound: A study of "cargo cults in Melanesia,London: MacGibbon & Kee. Subsequent editions by MacGibbon & Kee, 1968; and Schocken Books, 1968, 1986, & 1987{{citation}}:CS1 maint: postscript (link).
• Worsley, Peter (1977) [1964],The Third World,Nature of Human Society Series (3rd impression, 2nd American ed.), Chicago:University of Chicago Press;London: George Weidenfeld & Nicolson,ISBN0-226-90751-1– introduced that term into the English language{{citation}}:CS1 maint: postscript (link).
• Worsley, Peter (1970),Modern Sociology: Introductory Readings,Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin,ISBN0-14-080221-5.
• Worsley, Peter; Bechhofer, Frank; Brown, Richard; Jeffreys, Margot; McIntosh, Mary; Newby, Howard, eds. (1970),Introducing Sociology,Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Subsequent editions 1973, 1977, 1979 – sold over half a million copies{{citation}}:CS1 maint: postscript (link).
• Worsley, Peter, ed. (1972),Problems of Modern Society: A Sociological Perspective,Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books,ISBN0-14-080291-6Also published 1978{{citation}}:CS1 maint: postscript (link).
• Worsley, Peter (1975),Inside China,London: A. Lane,ISBN0-7139-0796-7.
• Worsley, Peter (1984),The Three Worlds: Culture and World Development,Chicago: University of Chicago Press,ISBN0-226-90754-6.Subsequent publications by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London), 1984 & 1988.ISBN0-297-78346-7.
• Worsley, Peter (1997),Knowledges: Culture, Counterculture, Subculture,New York:The New Press&W.W. Norton,ISBN1-56584-383-5.Subsequent publications 1998 & 1999. AlternativeISBN1-56584-555-2.
• Worsley, Peter (1982),Marx and Marxism,Key Sociologists series, Chichester, UK: Ellis Horwood; London & New York: Tavistock Publications,ISBN0-85312-348-9Subsequent publicationsRoutledge1989, 1990ISBN0-415-04321-2;2002ISBN0-415-28537-2.

References

• David Simon (ed) (2006) Fifty Key Thinkers in Development, Routledge
• Worsley, Peter (2008),An Academic Skating on thin ice,Oxford & New York: Berghahn Books,ISBN978-1-84545-370-1

External links

• Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 25 February 1989 (video)