Download or read book The Rebirth of Anthropological Theory written by Stanley R. Barrett and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 1992-12-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Innovative and often controversial, Barrett's study ranges over the entire scope of anthropological theory. It provides a fresh interpretation of the history of theory and mounts an alternative perspective, built around dialectics, that is eminently suitable to post-colonial anthropology. He argues that anthropological theory has failed to be cumulative. It has been characterized by oscillation and repetition – theoretical orientations have appeared and disappeared, only to be discovered once again. Addressing numerous conceptual contradictions which have never been resolved, he introduces novel concepts such as salvage theory and backward theory, and argues that in many respects anthropological theory resembles the structuralists interpretation of myth. Social life, he asserts, is inherently contradictory, although concealed by numerous mechanisms, most of which reinforce the status quo. Attacking the illusion of simplicity which has dominated positivistic approaches and the out-dated identification of anthropology with non-Western, primitive, and tribal societies, Barrett contends that power and privilege everywhere should be the basic concerns of anthropological inquiry.
Download or read book Understanding Culture written by Philip Carl Salzman and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2001-03-09 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are cows sacred to Indian Hindus because they stand for nature and life, as symbolic analysts explain, or because they pull plows and fertilize the land, providing people with food, as cultural materialists argue? Are witchcraft accusations a scapegoating of the powerless by the elite to maintain their ascendancy, as materialist class theorists argue, or are they social expressions of psychological tensions arising from conflicts in relationships, as functionalist psychological anthropologists have argued? Understanding culture means understanding and appreciating the diverse theories that offer different perspectives on culture. Salzmans Understanding Culture explores six major streams of anthropological theory: interdependence in human life (functionalism); agency in human action (processualism and transactionalism); determining factors (materialism and political economy); coherence in culture (configurationalism and structuralism); transformation through time (history and evolution); and critical advocacy (feminism and postmodernism). Each theoretical approach is initially presented in its own terms, to show its assumptions, aims, and accomplishments, and each is elucidated and illustrated through arguments and ethnographic examples offered by original theorists and practitioners.
Download or read book Social Anthropology written by Edward Hedican and published by Canadian Scholars’ Press. This book was released on 2012-01-15 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first introductory text that focuses on social anthropological research using Canadian examples and perspectives. In this groundbreaking new book, Edward Hedican provides undergraduate students with a solid background on the theoretical and applied aspects of anthropology, while exploring the rich history of the discipline in a Canadian context. In ten concise chapters, readers are introduced to the basic conceptual building blocks of introductory anthropology in a refreshingly succinct and engaging way. With a strong focus on Canadian theory, this book includes discussion of evolutionism, feminist anthropology, marriage and the family, and political economy.
Download or read book Ethnographic Feminisms written by Sally Cole and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 1995-05-15 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is written by anthropologists who are currently engaged in research on gender. The editors argue for the development of an ethnography-based feminism that both pays heed to what women in specific circumstances identify as their concerns and recognizes the contradictions inherent in the goals of feminist anthropology. The essays consider a range of "awkward" issues, including feminism in international contexts, the invisibility of women's working lives, and the problems of voice and ethnographic representation. Referring to a variety of ethnographic contexts, and working from diverse perspectives, the contributors examine the multiple dilemmas and conflicts of gender and power.
Download or read book Anthropology written by Stanley R. Barrett and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 764 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second phase centred around the 1960s, as new theories sprang up and methods were refined in order to cope with doubts that a scientific study of culture had been established, and with the recognition that change and conflict were as prevalent as stability and harmony. The third phase began in the 1970s and continues today, dominated by postmodernism and feminist anthropology. One of my central arguments will be that beginning in phase two, and growing rapidly during phase three, a gap has emerged between our theories and our methods. For most of the history of anthropology, our methods have talked the language of science.
Download or read book The anthropology of power agency and morality written by Victor de Munck and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The works of F. G. Bailey (1924–2020) provide a seminal template for good ethnography. Central to this is Bailey’s ability to conceptually connect the well-described micro-contexts of individual interactions to the macro-context of culture. Bailey’s core concerns – the tension between individual and collective interests, the will to power, and the dialectics of social forces which foster both collective solidarity as well as divisiveness and discontent – are themes of universal interest; the beauty of his work lies in his analyses of how these play out in local arenas between real people. His models provide nuanced, yet explicit road maps to analysing the different leadership styles of everyday people and contemporary leaders. This volume seeks to inspire new generations of anthropologists to revisit Bailey’s seminal texts, to help them navigate their way through the ethnographic thicket of their own research.
Download or read book Anthropology and Politics written by Joan Vincent and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In considering how anthropologists have chosen to look at and write about politics, Joan Vincent contends that the anthropological study of politics is itself a historical process. Intended not only as a representation but also as a reinterpretation, her study arises from questioning accepted views and unexamined assumptions. This wide-ranging, cross-disciplinary work is a critical review of the anthropological study of politics in the English-speaking world from 1879 to the present, a counterpoint of text and context that describes for each of three eras both what anthropologists have said about politics and the national and international events that have shaped their interests and concerns. It is also an account of how intellectual, social, and political conditions influenced the discipline by conditioning both anthropological inquiry and the avenues of research supported by universities and governments. Finally, it is a study of the politics of anthropology itself, examining the survival of theses or schools of thought and the influence of certain individuals and departments.
Download or read book Theoretical Debates in Spanish American Literature written by David William Foster and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 1997 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume traces the modern critical and performance history of this play, one of Shakespeare's most-loved and most-performed comedies. The essay focus on such modern concerns as feminism, deconstruction, textual theory, and queer theory.
Download or read book Anthropology written by Stanley Barrett and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2009-09-19 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stanley R. Barrett's Anthropology has long been a premiere sourcebook for students, providing a comprehensive overview of both theory and method in the discipline. In this updated second edition, Barrett's discussion of the origins and evolution of anthropology remains, augmented by sections addressing recent changes and ongoing questions in the field. The second edition of Anthropology adds important new material on questions of culture versus power, Max Weber's thought, the potential of applied anthropology, and the rise of public anthropology, while briefly touching on the anthropology of globalization. As in the previous edition, Barrett remains committed to exploring the impact of postmodernism on the practice and theory of anthropology, positing that it is a formless and ultimately short-lived approach. Including case studies to demonstrate real-world applications of the theories discussed, Barrett's Anthropology remains an essential text for students and teachers of anthropology.
Download or read book Building Communication Theories written by Fred L. Casmir and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-16 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concern with various matters related to humans as they communicate has led to an increase in both research and theorizing during the second half of the 20th century. As a matter of fact, so many scholars and so many disciplines have become involved in this process that it is virtually impossible to understand and appreciate all that has been accomplished so far. This book focuses on one important aspect of human sense-making -- theory building -- and strives to clarify the thesis that theories do not develop in some sort of social, intellectual, or cultural vacuum. They are necessarily the products of specific times, insights, and mindsets. Theories dealing with the process of communication, or communicating, are tied to socio-cultural value systems and historic factors that influence individuals in ways often inadequately understood by those who use them. The process-orientation of this book inevitably leads to an emphasis on the perceptions of human beings. Thus, the focus shifts from the subject or area called "communication" to the act of communicating. Finally, this volume offers insight into how the process of human sense-making has evolved in those academic fields commonly identified as communication, rhetoric, speech communication or speech, within specific socio-cultural settings.
Download or read book Anthropology and Public Service written by Jeremy MacClancy and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2017-02-01 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These days an increasing number of social anthropologists do not find employment within academia. Rather, many find jobs with commercial organizations or in government, where they run research teams and create policy. These scholars provide a much-needed social dimension to government thinking and practice. Anthropology and Public Service shows how anthropologists can set new agendas, and revise old ones in the public sector. Written for scholars and students of various social sciences, these chapters include discussions of anthropologists’ work with the Department for International Development, the Ministry of Defence, the UK Border Agency, and the Cabinet Office, and their contributions to prison governance.
Download or read book Perspectives on Israeli Anthropology written by Esther Hertzog and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 748 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perspectives on Israeli Anthropology will provide an illuminating overview of the discipline for students, teachers, and researchers in the field of social anthropology.
Download or read book Literary History of Canada written by William H. New and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 1990-12-15 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new volume of the Literary History of Canada covers the continuing development of English-Canadian writing from 1972 to 1984. As with the three earlier volumes, this book is an invaluable guide to recent developments in English-Canadian literature and a resource for both the general reader and the specialist researcher. The contributors to this volume are Laurie Ricou, David Jackel, Linda Hutcheon, Philip Stratford, Barry Cameron, Balachandra Rajan, Robert Fothergill, Brian Parker, Cynthia Zimmerman, Frances Frazer, Edith Fowke, Bruce G. Trigger, Alan C. Cairns, Douglas Williams, Carl Berger, Shirley Neuman, Raymond S. Corteen, and Francess G. Halpenny.
Download or read book Queer Theory in Education written by William F. Pinar and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brings together the most prominent and promising scholars in the field of education in the first volume on queer theory in education.
Download or read book Class Acts written by E. Paul Durrenberger and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-03 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American labor leaders are constantly developing new programs to revive the union movement. What happens when these plans collide with the daily lives of front-line union staff and members? This book examines the often conflicting interests of key players in the trenches of a national effort to bring back the American labor movement. Brutally honest, funny, never dull, this anthropological ethnography shows the daily struggles of union members today to bring about positive change and hold together their urban labor union in an era of globalization, outsourcing, and deindustrialization. A union activist and an anthropologist (the authors) pair up to offer insideoutside views of labor unions and of how anthropological fieldwork is done. Explaining, coaching, and warning Paul of hazards, Suzan, the communications director for the Local, provides inside views and details of day-to-day interactions. Paul, the anthropologist, provides outside analytical views that related Suzan's experiences and his own observations to the wider view anthropology offers through ethnography, holism, and comparativism. The result is a story of one dynamic union local, one anthropological study, and the lit fuse that connects them until the end.
Download or read book Culture Still Matters Notes From the Field written by Daniel Varisco and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Varisco’s Culture Still Matters: Notes from the Field is on the relationship between ethnographic fieldwork and the culture concept in the ongoing debate over the future of anthropology, drawing on the history of both concepts. Despite being the major social science that offers a methodology and tools to understand diverse cultures worldwide, scholars within and outside anthropology have attacked this field for all manner of sins, including fostering colonialism and essentializing others. This book revitalizes constructive debate of this vibrant field’s history, methods and contributions, drawing on the author’s ethnographic experience in Yemen. It covers complicated theoretical concepts about culture and their critiques in readable prose, accessible to students and interested social scientists in other fields. With forewords from Bryan S. Turner and Anouar Majid.
Download or read book Applied Anthropology in Canada written by Edward J. Hedican and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthropologists are often reluctant to present their work relating to matters of a broad social context to the wider public even though many have much to say about a range of contemporary issues. In this second edition of a classic work in the field, Edward J. Hedican takes stock of Anthroplogy's research on current indigenous affairs and offers an up-to-date assessment of Aboriginal issues in Canada from the perspective of applied Anthropology. In his central thesis, Hedican underlines Anthropology's opportunity to make a significant impact on the way Aboriginal issues are studied, perceived, and interpreted in Canada. He contends that anthropologists must quit lingering on the periphery of debates concerning land claims and race relations and become more actively committed to the public good. His study ranges over such challenging topics as advocacy roles in Aboriginal studies, the ethics of applied research, policy issues in community development, the political context of the self-government debate, and the dilemma of Aboriginal status and identity in Canada. Applied Anthropology in Canada is an impassioned call for a revitalized Anthropology - one more directly attuned to the practical problems faced by First Nations peoples. Hedican's focus on Aboriginal issues gives his work a strong contemporary relevance that bridges the gap between scholarly and public spheres.
