Product Description

If you want to know what anthropology is, look at what anthropologists do. This Very Short Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology combines an accessible account of some of the disciplines guiding principles and methodology with abundant examples and illustrations of anthropologists at work. Peter Just and John Monaghan begin by discussing anthropologys most important contributions to modern thought: its investigation of culture as a distinctively human characteristic, its doctrine of cultural relativism, and its methodology of fieldwork and ethnography. They then examine specific ways in which social and cultural anthropology have advanced our understanding of human society and culture, drawing on examples from their own fieldwork. The book ends with an assessment of anthropologys present position, and a look forward to its likely future.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21228 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

About the Author
Peter Just is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts. His research and teaching interests include law and dispute settlement, religion and magic, and the cross-cultural study of personality and emotions. He is the author of Dou Donggo Justice: Conflict and Morality in an Indonesian Society (Rowman & Littlefield, 1998).

John Monaghan is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, and author of The Covenants With Earth and Rain: Exchange, Sacrifice, and Revelation in Mixtec Sociality (University of Oklahoma Press, 1995).

Customer Reviews

Nearly does what it intends
I am not an anthropologist, but this book admirably delivers a real sense of the diversity of human culture in today's world. The history (or histories) of anthropology becomes the grounding for the scholarly elucidation of key issues, which are illustrated by some memorable anecdotes. Perhaps its obvious albeit minor failing to the non-specialist is the way it simply comes down on the side of cultural relativism (as against internationalism in human rights), minus any substantial debate or sense of whether this is the prevailing view within anthropology.

A very Smart Introduction
The authors manage, within severe space restrictions, to convey the essential features of their discipline, an outline of its history and development, and an indication of the philosophical and moral issues that it raises.

Monaghan's work with the Mixtec of Central America and Just's work with the Dou Donggo of Indonesia are used as sources for the anecdotal details that are used throughout the book to illustrate aspects of anthropology. This is very much a description of anthropology as a practical endeavour, a hands-on discipline whose theories are firmly grounded in the everyday lives of human beings.

Broader theoretical contexts, such as are found in Marxism or Structuralism, are touched on but no more. Those are the things you go on to read about after your appetite has been whetted by an excellent introduction such as this.

A reasonably accessible introduction to anthropology
This 'very short' 150 page introduction provides a reasonably accessible entry into the world of anthropology.

The discussion is inevitably fairly abstract, considering a subject matter as diverse as religion, society, and identity, for example, but the authors attempt to bring the book to life through examples drawn from their experiences. This device is admirable and largely effective, although their experience is necessarily limited to a small number of communities; the book would have benefitted from a more wide-ranging portfolio of examples.

Nevertheless, the book is largely successful in its purpose and is likely to prove useful to those already drawn to the subject. For those with no more than a passing interest, the book is too academic. It is not as accessible or entertaining as some contributions in other scientific fields, such as Dawkins' 'Selfish Gene' or Fortey's 'Trilobite !'.