Tradition and Progress: A Study Course on Cultural Contact and Conflict in the Pacific Area.

LASKER, Bruno & Elizabeth FIELD & Marie M. KEESING

Published by International Relations Office, American Association of University Women, [Washington D. D.], 1935

About this Item

First (and only) edition. Quarto. [3], iii, 104 leaves. Stapled typescript divided into two parts, The second part has its own title page; "Tradition and Progress: Section Two." Two leaves at the end of the first part have come loose but present and they are not part of the text proper (Recommended Readings & Suggestions for Preliminary Inquiries). One leaf (104) is loose in the second part but present and, again, it is not part of the text proper (Pamphlet Material). Both title pages with some dust soiling but overall in very good condition. Housed in original manilla envelope with printed address label (Ledoux & Company) and addressed to Pierre Ledoux on East 66th in New York City. OCLC only records 3 copies. OCLC states that there are 105 leaves but even should this be true the 105th leaf would have merely been the last page of the pamphlet list.The authors of this publication were all members of the Institute of Pacific Relations. The Institute of Pacific Relations, was an independent, foward-thinking international organization which was formed in 1925 and subsequently sponsored an ongoing series of conferences and research programs on East-West issues until its demise in the 1950s. It was largely responsible for laying the foundations for contemporary Asian and Pacific studies. It was brought low due to its association with Communism and disbanded in 1960. In the words of the McCarthyite Senate Internal Security Subcommittee;In the final report the SISS stated:"The IPR has been considered by the American Communist Party and by Soviet officials as an instrument of Communist policy, propaganda and military intelligence. The IPR disseminated and sought to popularize false information including information originating from Soviet and Communist sources. . . . Members of the small core of officials and staff members who controlled IPR were either Communist or pro-Communist. . . . Over a period of years, John Carter Vincent was the principal fulcrum of IPR pressure and influence in the State Department. . . . The IPR was a vehicle used by the Communists to orientate American far eastern policies toward Communist objectives. . ."Of course now the Institute sounds perfectly reasonable, enlightened in fact in its desire to see native cultures remain whole and un-Westernized. From p. 26 of this publication; "Ways of living unlike those to which we are accustomed, far from being necessarily stupid or backward as they may sometimes seem, represent historic forms of adjustment to human needs in particular environments. All cultures are in a gradual process of change as they are passed form generation to generation of individuals, and the rate of change is accellerated when different cultures come into contact. A single modification such as the introduction of guns or metal tools to a Pacific island people may produce reverberations through the whole culture. When, on the other hand, essential values seem to be threatened, the forces of change encounter resistance.".

Seller Inventory # 74889

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Tradition and Progress: A Study Course on Cultural Contact and Conflict in the Pacific Area.
• Publisher: International Relations Office, American Association of University Women, [Washington D. D.]
• Publication Date: 1935