Anthropology Unbound : A Field Guide to the 21st Century

by Durrenberger, E. Paul; Erem, Suzan

• ISBN13: 9781594517730
• ISBN10: 1594517738
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-01-30
• Publisher: Paradigm Publishing

Summary

The first edition of the widely popular Anthropology Unbound (Paradigm 2007) prepared readers to see how the dynamics of Western economies were rapidly becoming unsustainable. This updated edition takes readers into the heart of the economic meltdown as it explains the many recent world events it had predicted. With the unique perspective of anthropology, this book offers a wider view of the present financial crisis'”as well as pathways out of it. It describes the latest studies of fundamentalism, Al-Qaeda, and American culture. In lively form it invites any reader into an anthropological way of understanding our own society and the world at large. Power Point slides created by Paradigm author E. Paul Durrenberger on the topics of "Evolution," "Systems," "Emic-Etic," "Kinship," and "Ecology" are available to download electronically on the book's website. Features of this updated text:

Author Biography

E. Paul Durrenberger is professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. He has published many influential articles and books. Suzan Erem is a freelance writer for unions and author of Labor Pains: Inside America's New Union Movement (Monthly Review Press 2001). They are coauthors of Class Acts: An Anthropology of Service Workers and Their Union (Paradigm 2005).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Preface for Instructors	p. ix
Introduction, or How to Read This Book	p. xv
Prologue: In the Beginning	p. 1
Science Basics	p. 5
People Are Primates	p. 11
Human Variation: Race and Gender	p. 25
Language	p. 45
How We Think about Kinship	p. 59
Ecological Systems	p. 73
An Anthropological Approach to Economics	p. 85
Political Systems	p. 103
Stratification without a State: Medieval Iceland	p. 119
How States Work	p. 131
The Anthropology of Religion	p. 151
Political Economy	p. 171
Class	p. 197
Back to the Land	p. 219
Global Processes, Local Systems	p. 235
Connecting the People to the System	p. 263
The End Is Near	p. 285
Glossary	p. 295
References	p. 305
Index	p. 311
About the Authors	p. 325
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