Shelton H. Davis

rdf:langString Shelton H. Davis

rdf:langString Shelton H. Davis

rdf:langString Shelton H. Davis

rdf:langString contributions to cultural anthropology, public interest anthropology, Latin American indigenous peoples activism

rdf:langString Shelton H. Davis (August 13, 1942 – May 27, 2010) was an American cultural anthropologist and activist for the rights of indigenous peoples. His academic and organizational work with Latin American indigenous communities contributed to the late 20th century public interest anthropology movement. He created Harvard University's first undergraduate course on Native Americans in the United States. Victims of the Miracle, his in-depth account of the social and environmental impact of the Brazilian Amazon development program in the 1970s, is considered a seminal work in cultural anthropology. The Anthropology Resource Center, which Davis founded in 1975, was cited by Ralph Nader as an exemplifier of anthropology in the public interest— anthropology that, in Davis' words, "would give information not to bureaucrats for the purpose of social engineering but to citizens and community groups for the purpose of social change.” His work as Principal Sociologist at the World Bank was key to the mainstreaming of social issues – such as social impact assessments and social inclusion of indigenous peoples during Bank project preparation – into World Bank policy during the 1990s.