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Price: $114.95

Format:
Paperback 408 pp.
127 photos; 55 maps; 12 tables; 20 figures, 8" x 10"

ISBN-10:
0195442784

ISBN-13:
9780195442786

Copyright Year:
2012

Imprint: OUP Canada

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Cultural Anthropology

A Perspective on the Human Condition, Second Canadian Edition

Emily A. Schultz, Robert H. Lavenda and Roberta R. Dods



Now in its second Canadian edition, Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition introduces students to the history, methods, and theoretical approaches of the discipline. Drawing on experiences from their own fieldwork and the work of other top researchers, the authors explore how cultural creativity, human agency, and the material conditions of everyday life interact to shape cultural practices. Discussions of ongoing controversies - including tribalism vs globalization, the vulnerability of transborder citizens, attempts to use cultural relativism as an excuse for human rights violations, and increasing inequality between 'have' and 'have not' regions - show how cultural anthropologists can apply their knowledge and skills to tackle the world's most pressing social problems. Together, these stories and discussions reveal stunning diversity and surprising similarity in the ways individuals from different cultures perceive, bring meaning to, and transform their worlds.

Readership : Cultural anthropology courses, usually found at the first- and second-year level.

Reviews

  • "This text has a modern approach that many texts currently on the market lack. . . . It offers innovative ways of looking at topics that need to be covered in an introductory cultural anthropology course."

    --Laurie Milne, Medicine Hat College


  • "The new chapter on medical anthropology is a valuable addition. . . . It provides an excellent opportunity for students to critically examine their own taken-for-granted assumptions about well-being, illness, disease, and Western biomedical approaches."

    --Magdalena Kazubowski-Houston, Wilfrid Laurier University

Part One: The Tools of Cultural Anthropology
1. The Anthropological Perspective on the Human Condition
Explanations of the Human Condition
The Anthropological Perspective: The Cross-disciplinary Discipline
Anthropology and the Concept of Culture
The Challenge of Cultural Differences
Culture, History, and Human Agency
The Promise of the Anthropological Perspective
2. Fieldwork: A Meeting of Cultural Traditions
Interaction in the Field
The Fieldwork Experience
Modes of Ethnographic Fieldwork: A Short History
The Dialectic of Fieldwork: Interpretation and Translation
Multi-sited Fieldwork
The Effects of Fieldwork
The Production of Anthropological Knowledge
Anthropological Knowledge as Open-Ended
3. Anthropology in History and the Explanation of Cultural Diversity
The Roots of Canadian Anthropology
Capitalism, Colonialism, and 'Modernity'
Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter
Toward Classifying Forms of Human Society
Part Two: The Resources of Culture
4. Language
Language and Culture
Design Features of Human Language
Language and Context
Linguistic Relativity
Components of Language
Pidgin Languages: Negotiated Meaning
Linguistic Inequality and Oppression
Language Habits of Women and Men
Language and Truth
5. Culture, the Individual, and Identity
Peception
Cognition
Emotion
Motivation
Personality/Self/Subjectivity
Subject Positions of Sexuality and Gender
Structural Violence and Social Trauma
Individual Psychology and Context
6. Social Relationships: Marriage, Family, Kinship, and Friendship
Marriage
Family Structure
Families and Change
Kinship and Systems of Relatedness: Ways of Organizing Human Interdependence
Beyond Kinship
Theories of Relatedness: Kin-Based and Non-kin-based Societies
7. Making a Living
Culture and Livelihood
Subsistence Strategies
Phases of Economic Activity
Distribution and Exchange
Production
Consumption
A Dialectic between the Meaningful and the Material
8. Play, Art, Myth, and Ritual
Play
Art
Myth
Ritual
Combining Play, Art, Myth, and Ritual
9. States of Being in Wellness and Illness (NEW!)
Beyond the Science-Tradition Divide
Integrated Approaches and Holism in Medical Anthropology
Cultural Interpretations and Labels of Illness and Disease
Environments and Well-Being
Health Care Delivery Systems
Epidemiology
Being Applied
10. World View
The Role of Metaphor, Metonymy, and Symbol
Key Metaphors
Religion
World Views in Operation: Two Case Studies
Maintaining and Changing a World View
World Views as Instruments of Power
Religion and Secularism
Part Three: Organization of Life: Local to Global
11. Organization and Power
Varieties of Social Organization
The Search for the Laws of Social Organization
The Power to Act
Power as an Independent Entity
The Power of the Imagination
History as a Prototype of and for Political Action
Negotiating the Meaning of History
12. Inequality in the Contemporary World
Class
Caste
Race
Ethnicity
Nation and Nationalism
13. A Global World
Views of the Political Economy
Cultural Processes in a Global World
Globalization and the Nation-State
Human Rights and Globalization
Cultural Imperialism, Cultural Hybridization, and Cosmopolitanism
14. Applying Anthropology in Everyday Life
Anthropology beyond the University
Anthropology and the Challenges of Global Citizenship
Awareness and Uncertainty
Freedom and Constraint

Instructor's Manual:
Chapter outlines
List of key concepts
Suggestions for discussion and debate (5-10 questions per chapter)
Suggested teaching resources such as films, websites, museums/research centres, etc. (1-2 items per chapter) (NEW!)
Sample syllabus (NEW!)
Test Generator (NEW!):
20-25 multiple-choice questions per chapter
20-25 true-or-false questions per chapter
10-15 short-answer questions per chapter
1-3 mini-essay questions per chapter
Complete answer key with page references
PowerPoint Slides:
10-15 slides per chapter
Image Bank (NEW!):
Photos, figures, maps, and tables from the book
Student Study Guide:
List of relevant films (28 in total with annotations) (NEW!)
Student quizzes: 10 multiple-choice questions and 10 true-or-false questions per chapter (includes answers with page numbers) (NEW!)
3-5 essay topics per chapter
5-10 web links per chapter (NEW!)
Additional kinship diagrams highlighting concepts from the book (NEW!)
List of web links to online ethnographies (NEW!)
Instructor and Researcher Bios: offers insight into the lives and research of real-world anthropologists (NEW!)
Examples of research projects that would be of interest to undergraduate students (NEW!)
E-Book (ISBN 9780199000166):
Available through CourseSmart.com

Emily A. Schultz is professor of anthropology at St Cloud State University.

Robert H. Lavenda is professor of anthropology and co-chair of the Department of Anthropology at St Cloud University.

Roberta Robin Dods has thirty years of research and teaching experience in anthropology and archaeology. She is an associate professor of anthropology in the Department of Community, Culture, and Global Studies at UBC. She has focused and published on cultural anthropology, ethnography, ethnohistory, traditional knowledge, human ecology (landscape management and traditional economies), and anthropological/archaeological theory. She has conducted fieldwork in Africa, West Asia, Boreal North America, and various desert areas around the world. She recently won the Eleanor Roosevelt Global Citizenship Award for Public Anthropology.

Making Sense in the Social Sciences - Margot Northey, Lorne Tepperman and Patrizia Albanese

Special Features

  • Canadian. Adapted by a Canadian expert and working anthropologist, this best-selling text seamlessly integrates an array of Canadian examples, points of view, and issues, while highlighting Canadian contributions to the discipline.
  • Broad theoretical coverage. Combines traditional anthropological perspectives with cutting-edge theories, offering a fresh and comprehensive treatment of standard topics.
  • Power and inequality coverage. Addresses issues of class, caste, race, ethnicity, and nationality in the contexts of globalization, social justice, and human rights to help students understand the realities of global inequality.
  • Gender and feminist coverage. A balanced approach that incorporates gender issues and feminist anthropology throughout invites students to appreciate how these areas touch every aspect of the field.
  • Integrated discussion of globalization. The impact of globalization is discussed in all chapters to help students understand its implications in light of a variety of topics.
  • Visually appealing. A vibrant, full-colour design, along with an abundance of photos, illustrations, maps, and tables throughout, helps bring cultural anthropology to life and will appeal to introductory-level students.
  • Logical organization. Carefully edited and structured, with fourteen chapters in total, this text fits the length of a typical course.
  • Accessible. Examples and cases from contemporary Western society helps students connect key concepts to their own lives.
  • 'In Their Own Words' boxes. Short commentaries from experts in the field provide additional perspectives on key issues and offer insight into what it means to be an anthropologist.
  • 'EthnoProfile' boxes. Brief overviews of relevant geographic, linguistic, demographic, and organizational content offer students contextual information on various societies discussed in the text.
  • Map of the world. Found on the inside front cover, this useful tool marks the locations of cultures featured in 'EthnoProfile' boxes.
  • Engaging pedagogy. Chapter outlines, learning objectives, marginal definitions, lists of key terms, chapter summaries, critical thinking questions, and lists of suggested readings and websites emphasize key concepts and prepare students to engage with a wider world of inquiry.
  • Extensive ancillary package. Both instructors and students will benefit from the exceptionally rich supplemental package accompanying the text, which includes a Student Website, an Instructor's Resource Site, a Test Generator, and an Image Bank.
New to this Edition
  • New chapter on medical anthropology (Ch 9). An exciting new chapter on the growing field of medical anthropology encourages students to explore the tensions and intersections between traditional knowledge and Western scientific modes of inquiry.
  • Fully updated and streamlined. Maintaining the solid foundation of previous editions, the second Canadian edition has been thoroughly updated and reworked to reflect the latest scholarship in the discipline, providing an even greater level of coherence and integrity.
  • Enhanced Canadian content. Expanded coverage of cross-cultural encounters within our borders as well as historical and lingering effects of colonialism in Canada reveals just how much anthropological research can teach us about cultural variation in our own country.
  • Expanded art program. New, colourful visuals throughout make the subject matter even more clear, modern, and accessible to an undergraduate audience.