Frank Carlson Library

This authoritative introductory text takes into account the changes in the conceptualisation of kinship brought about by new reproductive technologies and the growing interest in culturally specific notions of personhood and gender. Holy considers the extent to which Western assumptions have guided anthropological study of kinship in the past. In the process, he reveals a growing sensitivity on the part of anthropologists to individual ideas...

This book explores both the complexities of local situations and the power relations that shape the global order. He shows how historically informed anthropological perspectives can contribute to debates about democratisation by incorporating a 'view from below' and revealing forces that shape power relations behind the formal facade of state institutions. Examples are drawn from Brazil, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Indonesia,...

Since the controversial scientific race theories of the 1930s, anthropologists have generally avoided directly addressing the issue of race, viewing it as a social construct. Challenging this tradition, Peter Wade proposes that anthropologists can in fact play an important role in the study of race. Wade is critical of contemporary theoretical studies of race formulated within the contexts of colonial history, sociology and cultural studies....

Globalisation has had a massive impact on the teaching and practice of anthropology. This book addresses the methodological problems that these changes have wrought. The essays show how the focus has shifted from traditional studies of specific sites, towards the movements and shifts associated with increasing migration and population flows - the result of living in an increasingly globalised world. Written by a range of distinguished anthropologists,...

This is an original approach to debates about indigenous knowledge. Concentrating on the political economy of knowledge construction and dissemination, they look at the variety of ways in which development policies are received and constructed, to reveal the ways in which local knowledge are appropriated and recast, either by local elites or by development agencies. Until now, debates about indigenous knowledge have largely been conducted in...

Leading anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen shows how anthropology is a revolutionary way of thinking about the human world. Perfect for students, but also for those who have never encountered anthropology before, this book explores the key issues in an exciting and innovative way. Eriksen explains how to see the world from below and from within - emphasising the importance of adopting an insider's perspective. He reveals how seemingly enormous...

Corruption in politics and business is, after war, perhaps the greatest threat to democracy. Academic studies of corruption tend to come from the field of International Relations, analysing systems of formal rules and institutions. This book offers a radically different perspective - it shows how anthropology can throw light on aspects of corruption that remain unexamined in international relations. The contributors reveal how corruption operates...

This book provides an introduction to anthropological perspectives on art. Svasek defines art as a social process. We study not only the artefacts themselves and the values attributed to them, but also the process of production and its wider context. Providing a critical overview of various anthropological theories of art, Svasek offers a new perspective which centres on the analysis of commoditisation, aestheticisation and object agency....