World Ahead

Margaret Mead served as Curator of Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1925 to 1969. She began her career with a study of youth and adolescence in Samoan society, published as Coming of Age in Samoa (1928). She published prolifically, becoming a seminal figure in anthropology, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1979.

“…a gem of a book… [that] should prove to be an instant classic… This is a captivating and provocative collection and now my favorite futures book of the new century. It is a fun volume that looks at the past, present, and future, all at once… This book is highly recommended to both students and professionals in foresight work and futures studies, and for general audiences.” • Christopher B. Jones in Futures“Occasionally, a book comes along that towers above others. The World Ahead is such a book… Textor shows how Mead was a generation ahead of almost all her contemporaries in understanding the importance of studying the sociocultural future of learning what is possible, probable, and preferable in order to know how life could and should be made better…” • Wendell Bell, Yale University“As protégé and friend of Margaret Mead for the last thirty years of her illustrious life, I welcome Textor's showcase of her various views of the future. Mead was at her best in planning for future generations.” • Wilton S. Dillon, Senior Scholar Emeritus, Smithsonian Institute“[Mead] sought to clarify images of the future as they were current and to articulate images that would be preferable… Textor's commentaries connect these papers and articles in a way that establishes 'the future' as a proper central focus in anthropology…” • Reed D. Riner, Northern Arizona University“A valuable contribution that shows Mead's broad range of future-oriented interests.” • Future Survey

• Series PrefaceWilliam O. BeemanIntroductionRobert B. TextorMargaret Mead’s Historic ContributionMead and Futures StudiesMead’s Intellectual Approach and Expressive StyleEditor’s Personal Contacts with Dr. MeadAppendix: The Rationale and Future of Anticipatory AnthropologyAcknowledgementsTWENTY-FIVE WRITINGS AND LECTURES BY MARGARET MEAD1943: The Family in the Future1945: Human Differences and World Order1950: Unique Possibilities of the Melting Pot1962: The Psychology of Warless Man1963a: Beyond the Nuclear Family1963b: Patterns of Worldwide Cultural Change in the 1960s1966a: One World—But Which Language?1966b: The University and Institutional Change1967: Changing Cultural Patterns of Work and Leisure1968a: New Year’s—A Universal Birthday1968b: Alternatives to War1968c: The Crucial Role of the Small City in Meeting the Urban Crisis1968d: Statement [on Aging And Retirement]1968e: Some Social Consequences of a Guaranteed Income1969: Man On the Moon1970a: Education for Humanity1970b: Kalinga Prize Acceptance Speech1971: A Note on Contributions of Anthropology to the Science of the Future1973a: The Kind of City We Want1973b: Prospects for World Harmony1974a: Opening Address [to The Society for General Systems Research]1974b: Changing Perspectives on Modernization1974c: Ways to Deal with the Current Social Transformation1975: Discussion [about How Anthropologists Can Perform Better in Applied Roles]1977: Our Open-Ended FutureIndex