The fifth edition of this bestselling theory text has been revised throughout, with substantial updates, including more on gender and sexuality, and with a new section on Anthropologies of the Digital Age. Keyword definitions have been reinstated in the margins, and biographical information on theorists has been enhanced to build stronger context for readers. On its own or used with the companion volume, Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory, this text provides comprehensive coverage in a flexible and easy-to-use format for teaching in the undergraduate anthropology classroom.
List of Figures
Preface
Timeline
Introduction
Part One: The Early History of Anthropological Theory
- Anthropology in Antiquity
- The Middle Ages
- The Renaissance
- Voyages of Geographical Discovery
- The Scientific Revolution
- The Enlightenment
- The Rise of Positivism
- Marxism
- Classical Cultural Evolutionism
- Evolutionism versus Diffusionism
- Archaeology Comes of Age
- Charles Darwin and Darwinism
- Sigmund Freud
- Émile Durkheim
- Max Weber
- Ferdinand de Saussure
Part Two: The Earlier Twentieth Century
- American Cultural Anthropology
- Franz Boas
- Robert Lowie and Alfred Louis Kroeber
- Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict
- The Development of Psychological Anthropology
- French Structural Anthropology
- Marcel Mauss
- Claude Lévi-Strauss
- Edmund Leach and Mary Douglas
- Latter-Day Structuralists
- Structural Marxists
- Marshall Sahlins
- The Legacy of French Structural Anthropology
- British Social Anthropology
- A.R. Radcliffe-Brown
- Bronislaw Malinowski
- E.E. Evans-Pritchard
- Max Gluckman and the “Manchester School”
- The Legacy of British Social Anthropology
Part Three: The Later Twentieth Century
- Cognitive Anthropology
- Edward Sapir
- Ethnoscience and the “New Ethnography”
- Cultural Neo-evolutionism
- Leslie White
- Julian Steward
- Marshall Sahlins and Elman Service
- The New Archaeology
- Cultural Materialism
- Marvin Harris
- Nature versus Nurture
- Biology of Behaviour
- The New Physical Anthropology
- Ethology and Behavioural Genetics
- Sociobiology
- Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology
- Victor Turner and Symbolic Anthropology
- Clifford Geertz and Interpretive Anthropology
- Post-processual Archaeology
- The Influence of Symbolic and Interpretive Approaches
- Transactionalism
- Fredrik Barth
- Anthropology and Gender
- Feminism and Its Effects
- Culture and Sexualities
- Political Economy
- Marx and the World System
- Sins of the Fathers
- Ideology, Culture, and Power
- Postcolonialism
- Postmodernity
- Paul Feyerabend
- Michel Foucault
- Pierre Bourdieu
- Anthropology as Text
- Medical Anthropology
Part Four: The Early Twenty-First Century
- Globalization
- Public Anthropology
- World Traditions in Anthropology
- The English Language and Anglo-American Hegemony
- “Other” Anthropologies
- Anthropologies of the Digital Age
Conclusion
- Forgetting the Past
- Agreeing to Disagree
- “-isms” in Schism
- History of the Future
- Beyond “One Dead Guy a Week”
Study Questions
Glossary
Sources and Suggested Reading
Index
Paul A. Erickson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at St. Mary's University in Halifax. Liam D. Murphy is a Professor in the Anthropology Department at California State University, Sacramento.
"Erickson and Murphy present a chronological and comprehensive history of anthropology theory that artfully explains the social and political contexts of key anthropological thinkers. By attending to the unique contributions of the subfields of anthropology as well as the unifying canon, this text provides a straightforward and sophisticated review of theory that resonates with teachers and students of anthropology. The new edition extends the work of earlier editions, making it the strongest theory text available."
– Jennifer Wies, Eastern Kentucky University
"I am impressed with the quality of materials in this text. Providing provocative, reflective questions for each historical period and a wide-ranging, up-to-date list of supplementary readings, it is an excellent tool for classroom engagement, and invites students to dig more deeply into the material."
– Marjorie Snipes, University of West Georgia