Designed for courses that make extensive use of ethnographies and other supplementary readings, this is a concise introduction to the basic ideas and practices of contemporary cultural anthropology. Not a standard textbook, Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology, Eighth Edition, is more of an annotated bibliography of the terms and concepts that anthropologists use in their work. The book prepares students to read ethnographies more effectively and with greater understanding.
PREFACE
Chapter 1 Anthropology
1.1 An Anthropological Perspective
1.2 The Subfields of Anthropology
1.3 Is Anthropology a Science? Modernism, Postmodernism, and Beyond
1.4 Reflexive Anthropology
1.5 Moral Anthropology
Chapter 2 Theory in Sociocultural Anthropology?
2.1 Anthropology as Science?
2.2 Nineteenth-Century Approaches?
2.3 Early Twentieth-Century Approaches?
2.4 Mid-Twentieth-Century Approaches?
2.5 Late Twentieth-Century Debates?
2.6 New Directions in the Twenty-First Century?
Chapter 3 Culture?
3.1 Culture Against Racism: The Early Twentieth Century?
3.2 The Evolution of Culture?
3.3 Culture and Symbolism?
3.4 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism?
3.5 The Boundaries of Culture??
3.6 The Concept of Culture in a Global World: Problems and Practices
3.7 Culture: Contemporary Discussion and Debate
3.8 Culture: A Contemporary Consensus?
Chapter 4 Meaning-Making and Language
4.1 Making Meaning?
4.2 Studying Language: A Historical Sketch
4.3 The Building Blocks of Language
4.4 Language and Culture
4.5 Language and Society
4.6 Discourse
4.7 Language Contact and Change
4.8 Meaning-Making and Art
4.9 The Anthropology of Media and the Arts
Chapter 5 Worldview and Religion
5.1 Religion
5.2 Myth
5.3 Ritual
5.4 Magic and Witchcraft
5.5 Religious Practitioners
5.6 Change in Religious Systems
5.7 Secularism, Fundamentalism, and New Religious Movements
Chapter 6 The Dimensions of Social Organization
6.1 What Is Social Organization?
6.2 Dimensions of Social Organization
6.3 Caste and Class
6.4 Race
6.5 Ethnicity
Chapter 7 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
7.1 Sex, Gender, and Feminism in the Twentieth Century
7.2 Sex, Gender, Race, and Class
7.3 Gender Performativity
7.4 Theoretical Diversity in Studies of Sex and Gender
7.5 Sex, Gender, and the Body
7.6 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
7.7 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Ethnographic Context
Chapter 8 Relatedness: Kinship, Marriage, Family, and Friendship
8.1 Kinship Versus Biology
8.2 Descent
8.3 Bilateral Descent
8.4 Unilineal Descent
8.5 Kinship Terminologies
8.6 What Is Marriage?
8.7 Whom to Marry and Where to Live
8.8 How Many Spouses?
8.9 Marriage as Alliance
8.10 Family
8.11 Divorce
8.12 Friendship
Chapter 9 Political Anthropology
9.1 Power
9.2 Political Ecology and Political Economy
9.3 Disputes and Dispute Resolution
9.4 Forms of Political Organization
9.5 Social Stratification
9.6 Forms of Political Activity
9.7 Social Control and Law
9.8 Nationalism and Hegemony
Chapter 10 Economic Anthropology
10.1 The
Robert H. Lavenda is a professor of anthropology and chair of the Department of Anthropology at St Cloud State University.
Emily A. Schultz is a professor of anthropology at St Cloud State University.
