Encyclopedia Of Social And Cultural Anthropology

Description:
This new edition of the highly-acclaimed Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology provides a unique guide to the ideas, arguments and history of the discipline. Combining anthropological theory and ethnography, it includes 275 substantial entries, over 300 short biographies of important figures in anthropology, and nearly 600 glossary items. The new entries reflects the move into the centre of traditional subdisciplines like medical anthropology; recent work around issues of gender and sexuality; and anthropology's new ethnographic engagement with central institutions of the modern world including finance and science. Anthropology is now a global discipline, so the second edition celebrates other traditions of anthropological work (Japanese anthropology, Latin American anthropology) as well as the complex processes of globalization itself. Authoritative entries have been commissioned from among the world's leading anthropologists. Alphabetically organized, the main entries contain clear, concise and provocative explanations of key anthropological themes and ideas, as well as surveys of the most important ethnographic regions and regional traditions of ethnographic research. Each major entry contains cross-references and a list further reading. Areas covered include, among others: AIDS, ethics, violence, war Affect, emotions, the body Kinship, relatedness, the person, gender, the body Politics, nationalism and the state Cosmopolitanism, migration, race, transnationalism Art, language, aesthetics, film, text Relations with other disciplines History of anthropology and national traditions

Review:
'The best one-volume reference source on social and cultural anthropology ... Highly recommended.' -- Choice 'This is an inspired volume. If anyone doubts that anthropology is in a new phase, they should look at the manner in which Second Edition enlarges on the First. A formidable task this, here executed with wisdom, acumen and brilliant collaboration. But what is really inspiring is the way contributors have been teamed up with topics. Some classic pairings, but also interesting and surprising ones. And the quality of the entries makes this not just a book of reference but, almost wherever one lands, an exceedingly good read in its own right.' - Marilyn Strathern, Emeritus Professor, Cambridge University 'This new edition is a magisterial work. Written by an erudite set of authors and edited with a sure hand, it is much more than a compendium of accumulated knowledge, although it is certainly that as well. It also maps the discipline as practiced today, pointing out its controversies and challenges, its critical edges, its areas of unsettlement. It is an indispensable source for anyone with an interest in things anthropological.' - John and Jean Comaroff, University of Chicago

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements, Introduction, List of Entries, List of Contributors, Analytical Table of Contents, Entries by Contributor, Entries, Biographical appendix, Glossary, Index

Author Biography:
Alan Barnard studied at George Washington, McMaster and London Universities and is Reader in Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. He has done extensive fieldwork and is author of Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa (Cambridge University Press, 1992), Research Practices in the Study of Kinship (with Anthony Good, Academic Press, 1984), and numerous articles on hunter-gatherers, kinship and the history of anthropology. Jonathan Spencer studied anthropology at the Universities of Edinburgh, Chicago and Oxford and is now Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. He has carried out extensive research in Sri Lanka and is the author of A Sinhala Village in a Time of Trouble (Oxford University Press, 1990) and many articles on politics, nationalism and religion.