Brian Morris (born 18 October 1936) is

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He is a specialist on

folk taxonomy A folk taxonomy is a vernacular name, naming system, as distinct from Taxonomy (general), scientific taxonomy. Folk biological classification is the way people traditionally describe and organize the world around them, typically making generous us ...

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary field at the interface of natural and social sciences that studies the relationships between humans and plants. It focuses on traditional knowledge of how plants are used, managed, and perceived in human socie ...

and ethnozoology, and on religion and symbolism. He has carried out fieldwork among South Asian hunter-gatherers and in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. Groups that he has studied include the Ojibwa. He has also written widely on the history of ideas and in particular on

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Biography

Brian Morris was born in the Black Country. He left school at fifteen. He worked as a tea planter in

. He became an anarchist in the mid-1960s, and remained active in several protests and political movements. He later received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in anthropology">social anthropology at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, doing his PhD ethnographic fieldwork with Malaipantaram hunter-gatherers in Southern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He returned to Malawi to conduct extensive subsequent fieldwork. He has written books and articles on

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and ethnobiology,

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

, religion, anthropology, and

social anarchism Social anarchism, also known as left-wing anarchism or socialist anarchism, is an anarchist tradition that sees individual liberty and social solidarity as mutually compatible and desirable. It advocates for a social revolution to eliminate ...

. His 2004 ''Kropotkin: The Politics of Community'', published by PM Press, locates anarchist thinker

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

within intellectual history as a theorist of social science, power, and ecology.

Books

* ''Forest Traders: a Socio-economic Study of the Hill Pandaram'' (1982), Humanities Press * ''Anthropological Studies of Religion'' (1987), Cambridge University Press, * ''Bakunin: The Philosophy of Freedom'' (1993), Black Rose Books, * ''Anthropology Of The Self: The Individual In Cultural Perspective'' (1994) * ''The Power Of Animals'' (1998), Berg * ''Western Conceptions of the Individual'' (1991) Berg, * ''Animals and Ancestors: An Ethnography'' (2000), Berg * ''Insects and Human Life'' (2004), Berg, * ''Kropotkin: The Politics of Community'' (2004), * ''The History and Conservation of Mammals in Malawi'' (2004), Kachere Series (Zomba), * ''Religion And Anthropology: A Critical Introduction'' (2006), Cambridge University Press * ''Ernest Thompson Seton, Founder of the Woodcraft Movement 1860-1946: Apostle of Indian Wisdom and Pioneer Ecologist'' (2007), Edwin Mellen Press (Lewiston), * ''The Anarchist Geographer: An Introduction to the Life of Peter Kropotkin'' (2012), Genge Press (Minehead) * ''Pioneers of Ecological Humanism'' (2012), Book Guild Publishing (Brighton), * ''Anthropology, Ecology, and Anarchism: A Brian Morris Reader'' (2014), PM Press, * ''Pioneers of Ecological Humanism: Mumford, Dubos, and Bookchin'' (2017), Black Rose Books, * ''Visions of Freedom: Critical Writings on Ecology and Anarchism'' (2018), Black Rose Books, * ''Kropotkin: The Politics of Community'' (2018), PM Press, * ''Anthropology and Dialectical Naturalism: A Philosophical Manifesto'' (2020), Black Rose Books,

References

External links

* 1936 births Living people Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Brighton Anarchist anthropologists Anthropologists of religion British anarchists British anthropologists Historians of anarchism Ethnobotanists {{reli-anthropologist-stub