1st Edition

The Handbook of Sociocultural Anthropology

Edited By James G. Carrier, Deborah B. Gewertz Copyright 2013
    658 Pages
    by Routledge

    658 Pages
    by Routledge

    he Handbook of Sociocultural Anthropology presents a state of the art overview of the subject - its methodologies, current debates, history and future. It will provide the ultimate source of authoritative, critical descriptions of all the key aspects of the discipline as well as a consideration of the general state of the discipline at a time when there is notable uncertainty about its foundations, composition and direction. Divided into five core sections, the Handbook: examines the changing theoretical and analytical orientations that have led to new ways of carrying out research; presents an analysis of the traditional historical core and how the discipline has changed since 1980; considers the ethnographic regions where work has had the greatest impact on anthropology as a whole; outlines the people and institutions that are the context in which the discipline operates, covering topics from research funding to professional ethics.Bringing together leading international scholars, the Handbook provides a guide to the latest research in social and cultural anthropology. Presenting a systematic overview - and offering a wide range of examples, insights and analysis - it will be an invaluable resource for researchers and students in anthropology as well as cultural and social geography, cultural studies and sociology.

    General IntroductionPART 1: ORIENTATIONSIntroduction1. Culture2. Power 3. Postmodernism4. Political economy5. MethodologyPART 2: ELEMENTSIntroduction6. Kinship7. Economy8. Politics9. Religion10. ExchangePART 3: ISSUESIntroduction11. Gender12. Development13. Ethnicity14. Migration15. Consumption16. Environment17. Globalisation18. Material Culture and ArtPART 4: REGIONSIntroduction19. Melanesia20. Africa21. Post-Socialist societies22. South Asia23. Amazonia24. The WestPART 5: CONTEXTIntroduction25. Research funding26. Enrolment and employment27. Applied & public anthropology28. Related disciplines29. EthicsBibliographyIndex

    Biography

    James G. Carrier is Hon. Research Associate at Oxford Brookes University, UK and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Indiana, USA . He is editor of Meanings of the Market (1997), and co-editor with Daniel Miller of Virtualism (1998).Deborah B. Gewertz is G. Henry Whitcomb Professor of Anthropology at Amherst College, USA.

    This book warrants praise from the outset as the gargantuan task it represents does exactly what it sets out to do making it both a pleasure to peruse but also a vitally important and erudite addition to an anthropologist’s library... The terrain covered in this handbook is considerable, from chapters discussing Amazonia to South Asia, environment to sexuality, border politics to methodologies... A dialogue by the discipline with the discipline and one worth engaging. - LSE Review of Books - James Cuffe, University College Cork