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The only brief cultural anthropology text specifically designed to prepare students to read ethnographies more effectively and with greater understanding, this is a concise introduction to the basic ideas and practices of contemporary cultural anthropology.
List of contents
- PREFACE
- Chapter 1 Anthropology
- 1.1 An Anthropological Perspective
- 1.2 The Subfields of Anthropology
- 1.3 Is Anthropology a Science? Modernism, Postmodernism, and Beyond
- 1.4 Reflexive Anthropology
- 1.5 Moral Anthropology
- Chapter 2 Theory in Sociocultural Anthropology?
- 2.1 Anthropology as Science?
- 2.2 Nineteenth-Century Approaches?
- 2.3 Early Twentieth-Century Approaches?
- 2.4 Mid-Twentieth-Century Approaches?
- 2.5 Late Twentieth-Century Debates?
- 2.6 New Directions in the Twenty-First Century?
- Chapter 3 Culture?
- 3.1 Culture Against Racism: The Early Twentieth Century?
- 3.2 The Evolution of Culture?
- 3.3 Culture and Symbolism?
- 3.4 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism?
- 3.5 The Boundaries of Culture??
- 3.6 The Concept of Culture in a Global World: Problems and Practices
- 3.7 Culture: Contemporary Discussion and Debate
- 3.8 Culture: A Contemporary Consensus?
- Chapter 4 Meaning-Making and Language
- 4.1 Making Meaning?
- 4.2 Studying Language: A Historical Sketch
- 4.3 The Building Blocks of Language
- 4.4 Language and Culture
- 4.5 Language and Society
- 4.6 Discourse
- 4.7 Language Contact and Change
- 4.8 Meaning-Making and Art
- 4.9 The Anthropology of Media and the Arts
- Chapter 5 Worldview and Religion
- 5.1 Religion
- 5.2 Myth
- 5.3 Ritual
- 5.4 Magic and Witchcraft
- 5.5 Religious Practitioners
- 5.6 Change in Religious Systems
- 5.7 Secularism, Fundamentalism, and New Religious Movements
- Chapter 6 The Dimensions of Social Organization
- 6.1 What Is Social Organization?
- 6.2 Dimensions of Social Organization
- 6.3 Caste and Class
- 6.4 Race
- 6.5 Ethnicity
- Chapter 7 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
- 7.1 Sex, Gender, and Feminism in the Twentieth Century
- 7.2 Sex, Gender, Race, and Class
- 7.3 Gender Performativity
- 7.4 Theoretical Diversity in Studies of Sex and Gender
- 7.5 Sex, Gender, and the Body
- 7.6 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
- 7.7 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Ethnographic Context
- Chapter 8 Relatedness: Kinship, Marriage, Family, and Friendship
- 8.1 Kinship Versus Biology
- 8.2 Descent
- 8.3 Bilateral Descent
- 8.4 Unilineal Descent
- 8.5 Kinship Terminologies
- 8.6 What Is Marriage?
- 8.7 Whom to Marry and Where to Live
- 8.8 How Many Spouses?
- 8.9 Marriage as Alliance
- 8.10 Family
- 8.11 Divorce
- 8.12 Friendship
- Chapter 9 Political Anthropology
- 9.1 Power
- 9.2 Political Ecology and Political Economy
- 9.3 Disputes and Dispute Resolution
- 9.4 Forms of Political Organization
- 9.5 Social Stratification
- 9.6 Forms of Political Activity
- 9.7 Social Control and Law
- 9.8 Nationalism and Hegemony
- Chapter 10 Economic Anthropology
- 10.1 The "Arts of Subsistence"
- 10.2 Subsistence Strategies
- 10.3 Explaining the Material Life Processes of Society
- 10.4 Modes of Exchange
- 10.5 Production, Distribution, and Consumption
- 10.6 Mode of Production
- 10.7 Peasants
- 10.8 Consumption
- 10.9 The Anthropology of Food and Nutrition
- 10.10 Politics, Economics, and the Anthropology of Development
- Chapter 11 Globalization
- 11.1 The Cultural Legacy of Colonialism
- 11.2 Analyzing Sociocultural Change in the Postcolonial World
- 11.3 Globalization
- 11.4 The Cultural Effects of Contact
- 11.5 Globalization, Citizenship, and Human Rights
- 11.6 New Global Institutions
- Chapter 12 The Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Medicine
- 12.1 Science and Anthropology
- 12.2 Anthropology, Science, and Technology
- 12.3 The Anthropology of Medicine
- 12.4 Human Health in Evolutionary Context
- 12.5 Human Health and Nutrition
- 12.6 Health and Human Reproduction
- 12.7 Sickness and Health in the Global Capitalist Economy
- Appendix Reading Ethnography
- The Parts of an Ethnography
- The Use of Indigenous and Local Terms
- The Photographs
- Why Are You Reading This Ethnography (and How Should You Read It)?
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
About the author
Robert H. Lavenda is a professor of anthropology and chair of the Department of Anthropology at St Cloud State University.
Emily A. Schultz is a professor of anthropology at St Cloud State University.
Summary
The only brief cultural anthropology text specifically designed to prepare students to read ethnographies more effectively and with greater understanding, this is a concise introduction to the basic ideas and practices of contemporary cultural anthropology.
