Robert Paine | |
|---|---|
 Robert Paine at Logy Bay, Newfoundland, 2008 | |
| Born | Robert Patrick Barten Paine (1926-04-10)10 April 1926 |
| Died | 8 July 2010(2010-07-08) (aged 81) |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (BA, M. Phil and D. Phil) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anthropology |
| Institutions | Memorial University of Newfoundland |
| Doctoral advisor | Franz Baermann Steiner |
Robert Patrick Barten Paine (April 10, 1926 – July 8, 2010) was a British-born Canadiananthropologist whose primary areas of study were theSaami people of northernScandinavia and theInuit, though he also published on topics as diverse as theJewish settlers of the West Bank[1] and the purpose ofgossip.[2] He served as chair of the combined departments of Sociology and Anthropology atMemorial University of Newfoundland.
Robert Paine was born inPortsmouth, England on April 10, 1926. At age 17 he joined theRoyal Marines as aparatrooper. In August 1945 he was part of the campaign to reclaimHong Kong from the Japanese.[3] After the war he studied atOxford where he received his BA, M.Phil. and D.Phil., studying underFranz Steiner andE. E. Evans-Pritchard.[4]
For his dissertation research Paine worked inFinnmark, resulting in "a two-volume monograph, Coast Lapp Society I (1957) and Coast Lapp Society II (1965), portraying a coastal Saami community in peripheral north Norway on the brink of economic and political integration in the wider society."[5] He supported himself during this time as areindeer herder and went on to live with and study nomadicSaami groups.[3] Paine's studies ofSaami culture are considered so thorough there are reports ofSaami families using them to educate their own children.[6]
Paine taught at universities in Norway before being offered the position of chair of the combined departments of Sociology and Anthropology atMemorial University of Newfoundland in 1965. He was also named Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, "which he developed as a vibrant center of scholarship and publication, attracting many exciting scholars and making a significant impact on Memorial's international reputation."[7]
In his 1977 bookThe White Arctic, Paine develops the theory ofWelfare Colonialism, detailing how investments in the health, education, employment and welfare of indigenous inhabitants of theCanadian Arctic had perverse effects, lowering living standards and weakening traditional institutions of support. This theory was embraced by anthropologists in other countries who used it to explain similar situations inAustralia and elsewhere.[8]
Paine was often involved in public advocacy based on his research, authoring a report opposing the Norwegian government's plan to dam theAlta River, which would adversely affect nomadic reindeer herding,[9] as well as warning against the impact of theChernobyl disaster on reindeer populations.[10] Paine has stated that the intended audience for his work onwelfare colonialism in the Canadian Arctic was "policymakers in Ottawa" who had the power to address the situation.[11] He later became involved in using the tools of anthropology to try to understand and explain the complexity and volatility ofIsraeli settlements.[4]
Paine maintained lifelong professional and personal friendships with the Norwegiansocial anthropologistFrederik Barth,[12] whose ideas Paine critiqued in one of his works, and the Britishsocial anthropologistAnthony Cohen, who wrote a memorial for him.[4]
Paine published over sixty articles and is the author of twelve books:
Paine was married four times. His first wife, Inger-Anna Gunnare, was a Saami woman whom he met during his fieldwork inNorway. They later divorced. He met and married his second wife, Sonia Kuryliw, inSt. John's, Newfoundland in the early 1970s.[3] They also divorced. Paine met his third wife, the anthropologist and refugee advocate Lisa Gilad, in Israel while teaching atHebrew University. She died in a road accident in 1996.[14] His fourth wife, the Israeli writer, lawyer and human rights activist Rachel Kimor, returned with Paine to live inSt. John's.[15] She died in 2007 following a protracted struggle with cancer.[3] Paine was known for his love of the outdoors and was a lifelong birdwatcher.[3] He also enjoyed energetic walks with his dogs.[6]
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