W. Lloyd Warner
Encyclopedia
William Lloyd Warner was a pioneering anthropologist noted for applying the techniques of his discipline to contemporary American culture.
in 1925. After serving as a researcher for the Rockefeller Foundation
and the Australian National Research Council (1926-1929), Warner enrolled at Harvard (1929-1935) as a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology and the Graduate School of Business School Administration. His first book, A Black Civilization: A Social Study of an Australian Tribe (1937), followed the conventional anthropological path of studying a primitive people.
During his years at Harvard, he became a member of a group of social scientists, led by Australian social psychologist Elton Mayo
, who were exploring the social and psychological dimensions of industrial settings. Mayo, the father of the Human Relations Movement
, is best known for his discovery of the Hawthorne Effect
in the course of his motivational research at the Western Electric Company. (On Warner's association with Mayo, see http://www.analytictech.com/mb119/chap2c.htm).
, where he remained until 1959, when he was appointed professor of social research at Michigan State University
. During his Chicago years, Warner's research included important studies of black communities in Chicago and the rural South, of a New England community ("Yankee City"/Newburyport, MA), and a Midwestern community ("Jonesville"). In addition to these community studies, Warner researched business leaders and government administrators, as well as producing important books on race, religion, and American society.
Warner's Yankee City study was undoubtedly the most ambitious and sustained examination of an American community ever undertaken. Warner and his team of researchers occupied Newburyport for nearly a decade, conducting exhaustive interviews and surveys. Ultimately, the study produced 5 volumes: The Social Life of a Modern Community (1941), The Status System of a Modern Community (1942), The Social Systems of American Ethnic Groups (1945), The Social System of a Modern Factory (1947), and The Living and the Dead: A Study in the Symbolic Life of Americans (1959).
Marquand was generally scornful of academics, for instance his cruel portrayal of literature scholar Alan Southby in Wickford Point (1939), but his animus for Warner was personal. In Warner's deterministic vision of American culture, a small town boy like the Point of No Return protagonist Charles Gray would have had little hope of breaking free of the bonds of his provincial lower-upper-class status. That Marquand himself, like Charles Gray, was able to do so seemed a clear refutation of Bryant/Warner's fatalistic theorizing and facile status taxonomies.
Despite his impressive productivity and wide range of interests, Warner's work has long been out of fashion. An empiricist in an era when the social disciplines were increasingly theoretical, fascinated with economic and social inequality in a time when Americans were eager to deny its significance, and implicitly skeptical of the possibilities of legislating social change at a time when many social scientists were eager to be policymakers, Warner's focus on uncomfortable subjects made his work unfashionable. Warner's interest in communities — when the social science mainstream was stressing the importance of urbanization — and religion — when the fields' leaders were aggressively secularist — also helped to marginalize him. Recent work finds cause to celebrate Warner's work and his career. (See McCracken, Grant. 1988. Ever dearer in our thoughts: patina and the representation of status before and after the 18th century. Culture and Consumption. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 41-42.)
1999). His studies of class, race, and inequality grow more timely as the deep inequities of American society grow more evident.
Career at Harvard
Warner received his B.A. from the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1925. After serving as a researcher for the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
and the Australian National Research Council (1926-1929), Warner enrolled at Harvard (1929-1935) as a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology and the Graduate School of Business School Administration. His first book, A Black Civilization: A Social Study of an Australian Tribe (1937), followed the conventional anthropological path of studying a primitive people.
During his years at Harvard, he became a member of a group of social scientists, led by Australian social psychologist Elton Mayo
Elton Mayo
George Elton Mayo was an Australian psychologist, sociologist and organization theorist.He lectured at the University of Queensland from 1911 to 1923 before moving to the University of Pennsylvania, but spent most of his career at Harvard Business School , where he was professor of industrial...
, who were exploring the social and psychological dimensions of industrial settings. Mayo, the father of the Human Relations Movement
Human Relations Movement
Human relations movement refers to the researchers of organizational development who study the behavior of people in groups, in particular workplace groups. It originated in the 1930s' Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on...
, is best known for his discovery of the Hawthorne Effect
Hawthorne effect
The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity whereby subjects improve or modify an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they know they are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation.The term was coined in 1950 by...
in the course of his motivational research at the Western Electric Company. (On Warner's association with Mayo, see http://www.analytictech.com/mb119/chap2c.htm).
Career in Chicago
In 1935, he was appointed professor of anthropology and sociology at the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he remained until 1959, when he was appointed professor of social research at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
. During his Chicago years, Warner's research included important studies of black communities in Chicago and the rural South, of a New England community ("Yankee City"/Newburyport, MA), and a Midwestern community ("Jonesville"). In addition to these community studies, Warner researched business leaders and government administrators, as well as producing important books on race, religion, and American society.
Warner's Yankee City study was undoubtedly the most ambitious and sustained examination of an American community ever undertaken. Warner and his team of researchers occupied Newburyport for nearly a decade, conducting exhaustive interviews and surveys. Ultimately, the study produced 5 volumes: The Social Life of a Modern Community (1941), The Status System of a Modern Community (1942), The Social Systems of American Ethnic Groups (1945), The Social System of a Modern Factory (1947), and The Living and the Dead: A Study in the Symbolic Life of Americans (1959).
Criticisms
One of the most scathing critiques of Warner's methods came not from a fellow social scientist, but from popular novelist John Phillips Marquand. A Newburyport native with deep roots in the town, Marquand was annoyed by Warner's efforts to quantify and generalize people and experiences whose particularity served as the basis for several of his novels. In Point of No Return (1947), Marquand mercilessly lampooned Warner (the character Malcolm Bryant) and his work.Marquand was generally scornful of academics, for instance his cruel portrayal of literature scholar Alan Southby in Wickford Point (1939), but his animus for Warner was personal. In Warner's deterministic vision of American culture, a small town boy like the Point of No Return protagonist Charles Gray would have had little hope of breaking free of the bonds of his provincial lower-upper-class status. That Marquand himself, like Charles Gray, was able to do so seemed a clear refutation of Bryant/Warner's fatalistic theorizing and facile status taxonomies.
Despite his impressive productivity and wide range of interests, Warner's work has long been out of fashion. An empiricist in an era when the social disciplines were increasingly theoretical, fascinated with economic and social inequality in a time when Americans were eager to deny its significance, and implicitly skeptical of the possibilities of legislating social change at a time when many social scientists were eager to be policymakers, Warner's focus on uncomfortable subjects made his work unfashionable. Warner's interest in communities — when the social science mainstream was stressing the importance of urbanization — and religion — when the fields' leaders were aggressively secularist — also helped to marginalize him. Recent work finds cause to celebrate Warner's work and his career. (See McCracken, Grant. 1988. Ever dearer in our thoughts: patina and the representation of status before and after the 18th century. Culture and Consumption. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 41-42.)
Relevance to Modern Anthropology
Events of the past decade have given Warner's work new relevance, particularly to study of Social class in the United States. His community studies offer invaluable evidence for scholars investigating social capital, civic engagement, civil society, and the role of religion in public life (Verba, Brady & Schlozman 1995; Putnam 1999; Theda SkocpolTheda Skocpol
Theda Skocpol is an American sociologist and political scientist at Harvard University. She served from 2005 to 2007 as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She is influential in sociology as an advocate of the historical-institutional and comparative approaches, and well-known in...
1999). His studies of class, race, and inequality grow more timely as the deep inequities of American society grow more evident.
Sources
- Easton, John. 2001. Consuming Interests. University of Chicago Magazine 93(6)
- Marquand, John P. 1939. Wickford Point.
- Marquand, John P. 1947. Point of No Return.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1967. The Emergent American Society.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1963. The American Federal Executive: A Study of the Social and Personal Characteristics of the Civil Service.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1963. Big Business Leaders in America.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1962. The Corporation in the Emergent American Society.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1961. The Family of God: A Symbolic Study of Christian Life in America.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1960. Social class in America: A Manual of Procedure for the Measurement of Social Status.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1959. The Living and the Dead: A Study of the Symbolic Life of Americans.
- Warner, W. Lloyd (ed.). 1959. Industrial Man: Businessmen and Business Organizations.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1955. Big Business Leaders in America,
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1955. Occupational Mobility in American Business and Industry, 1928-1952.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1953. American Life: Dream and Reality.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1952. Structure of American Life.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1949. Democracy in Jonesville; A Study of Quality and Inequality.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1949. Social Class in America: A Manual of Procedure for the Measurement of Social Status.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1948. The Radio Day Time Serial: A Symbolic Analysis.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1947. The Social System of the Modern Factory. The Strike: A Social Analysis.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1946. Who Shall Be Educated? The Challenge of Unequal Opportunities.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1945. The Social Systems of American Ethnic Groups.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1944. Who Shall Be Educated? The Challenge of Unequal Opportunities.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1942. The Status System of a Modern Community.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1941. Color and Human Nature: Negro Personality Development in a Northern City.
- Warner, W. Lloyd. 1937. A Black Civilization: A Social Study of an Australian Tribe.