George M. Foster was an anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley, best known for contributions on peasant societies (the "principle of limited good

Limited Good

The term limited good is a concept from anthropology describing the theory commonly held in traditional societies, that there is a limited amount of "good" to go around. In other words, the amount of good luck, money, etc...

" and the "Dyadic Contract") and as one of the founders of medical anthropology.

Evidence of notability

• President of the American Anthropological Association (elected 1970).
• Elected to the US National Academy of Sciences (elected 1976)
• Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected 1980)
• Recipient of the Malinowski Award
  Bronislaw Malinowski Award
  The Bronislaw Malinowski Award is an award given by the US-based Society for Applied Anthropology in honor of Bronisław Malinowski , an original member and strong supporter of the Society...
  
  (1982) from the Society for Applied Anthropology
• Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Medical Anthropology (2005)

Festschrift

Clark, M., R. V. Kemper, and C. Nelson, (eds) (1979) From Tzintzuntzan to the “Image of Limited Good”: Essays in honor of George M. Foster. (Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers No. 55-56). Berkeley, CA: x + 181 pp.

Selected publications

Foster, George M. (1960) Culture and Conquest: America’s Spanish Heritage, Viking Fund Publications
in Anthropology No. 27. New York: Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.

Foster, George M. (1961) The Dyadic Contract: A model for social structure of a Mexican
peasant village. Am. Anthropol. 63:1173-1192.

Foster, George M.(1962) Traditional Cultures and the Impact of Technological Change, New York:
Harper & Bros.

Foster, George M.(1967) Tzintzuntzan: Mexican Peasants in a Changing World, Boston: Little,
Brown and Co.

External links