Product Description
A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion is a collection of some of the most significant classic and contemporary writings in the field. Updated in its second edition, this volume examines numerous aspects of religion in a diversity of cultures and expands upon the idea of what we mean by ‘religion’, linking it to some of the broader questions of culture and politics.

• Collects classic and contemporary articles from the major thinkers in both North American and British anthropology


• Emphasizes the ongoing conversation among anthropologists with respect to central questions of religious behavior


• Presents comprehensive coverage of theory and religious practice, through time and ethnographic regions, integrated by editorial commentary


• Includes additional classic pieces by Pouillon, Burridge, and Meyerhoff, as well as more contemporary work by Harding, De Boeck, and Palmié


• Includes indexed bibliography arranged according to both ethnographic region and religious topics and practices

Customer Reviews (1)

The best anthology on the market, at least for the price
As an anthropologist who teaches a course on the anthropology of religion, I looked at all the available anthologies, as well as textbooks.This is by far the best anthology, especially for the price. Some are up to $100, which is an awful lot to ask an undergrad to spend.Even compared to those, which can be large and dense, this one stands out for a particular reason.

Most of its competitors present their offerings in a kind of mechanical and sequential way: "here is a section on myth, here is a section on ritual, etc."After using Lambek's text for the second time, I really began to appreciate how his book has a trajectory.It is really "up to something."Unlike the others, he is subtly developing a perspective, and the selections contribute almost universally to that perspective.I think even the students began to realize what he was trying to accomplish and approved of it.
The book is not perfect.It is heavy on ritual and short on some other topics.It does little or nothing with specialists, and nothing at all with altered states of consciousness/hallucinogens.Some of the selections are probably too hard for undergrads, and the piece by Wittgenstein, while he is important, does not convey enough of his thinking to be particularly helpful.
I understand a new edition is forthcoming.I know that I will be using it and encourage others to do so as well. ... Read more

Product Description
This textbook serves as a useful introduction of cultural anthropology by integrating ethnographic material from around the world. By drawing upon classic and recent research in the field, this text reflects current state-of-the-art understandings of social and cultural changes based on the interrelationships among different societies. It demonstrates the diversity of different societies and cultural patterns, yet at the same time reveals similarities in humans everywhere. ... Read more

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The study of wars in Sarajevo and Sri Lanka as well as numerous less publicized conflicts aims to create a theory of violence as cross-culturally applicable as possible. This book develops a precise and exacting method of cross-cultural analysis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Look at the Anthropology of Violence
The "Anthropology of Violence" is a fine collection of case studies, as interoduced by the book's editors.The introduction is worth the price alone, but the case studies add an incredible amount of information in just 229 pages.My only complaint (and a significant one, I think) is that the entire book deals with war rather than all forms of human violence.This is a severe drawback to an otherwise important anthropological work. ... Read more

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The contributors to this volume examine how things are sold and traded in a variety of social and cultural settings, both present and past. Bridging the disciplines of social history, cultural anthropology, and economics, the volume marks a major step in our understanding of the cultural basis of economic life and the sociology of culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting
This collection of essays is insightful but far from comprehensive, a good starting point for further discussion on commodification. ... Read more

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Product Description
Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader is a comprehensive collection of thebest work that has been published in this exciting and growing area ofanthropology, and is organized to provide a guide to the study oflanguage as a cultural resource and speaking as a culturalpractice. The selections are both historically oriented andthematically coherent and are groupe d according to four major themes:speech community and communicative competence; the performance oflanguage; language socialization and literary practices; and the powerof language. Noted scholar Alessandro Duranti' s extensiveintroduction provides an original perspective on the development ofthe field and highlights its most compelling issues.Each section ofthe volume includes a brief introductory statement, a set of guidingquestions, and a list of recommended readings." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

linguistic anthropology
txt bk. came in great condition. lowest price. ordered the book online, got it a a wk or 2 later. easy business. thanks.

Great book.
This was an excellent read and continues to be a very highly valued resource.It covers the most exciting and new areas in lingustic anthropology.A must for students of linguistics. ... Read more

Product Description
A Reader in Medical Anthropology: Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities brings together articles from the key theoretical approaches in the field of medical anthropology as well as related science and technology studies. The editors’ comprehensive introductions evaluate the historical lineages of these approaches and their value in addressing critical problems associated with contemporary forms of illness experience and health care.

• Presents a key selection of both classic and new agenda-setting articles in medical anthropology
• Provides analytic and historical contextual introductions by leading figures in medical anthropology, medical sociology, and science and technology studies
• Critically reviews the contribution of medical anthropology to a new global health movement that is reshaping international health agendas

Product Description
The very form and reach of the modern state are changing radically under the pressure of globalization. Drawing on fieldwork in Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Peru, Guatemala, India, Chad, Colombia, and South Africa, the contributors examine official documentary practices and their forms and falsifications; the problems that highly mobile mercenaries, currency, goods, arms, and diamonds pose to the state; emerging non-state regulatory authorities; and the role language plays as cultures struggle to articulate their situation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Good Start
The subject of this title has been on my mind for a few years, so when I bumped into it on Amazon I bought it immediately.In the past, anthropology has often focused its stare on ostensibly specific and discrete groups.This book represents a late entry into an anthropology that has turned to face the dynamics of cultural becoming.The central idea is that the state is not absent at its margins and, in fact, is more readily seen as it struggles to obtain some level of certainty in uncertain political terrain.So, nothing revelatory in the thesis-except that anthropologists are saying it.The book contains 11 essays of unequal insight, with Veena Das's 'Paradox of Legibility', and Talal Asad's 'Where are the Margins of the State' being the stand-outs.

I enjoy the detailed analysis of quotidian statecraft without falling back on excruciating Marxist analogs.For that I thank the authors.However, I have a number of gripes.First, there are some shallow, introductory digs at both Giorgio Agamben (p.15) and James Scott (pp.9-10) that I found weak enough to wonder whether the authors making them had actually read the work(s) of their targets.In the end, 'Anthropology in the Margins of the State' lacks a strong theoretical thrust, and some essays flitter a bit too far from the titular topic, and toward a personal micro-journalism.For such reasons, I cannot imagine a casual reader taking much from the book.Rather, this is a collection for anthropologists, and perhaps, for academic professionals in related fields (geography, maybe?). ... Read more

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Cultural Anthropology, provides both a comprehensive and scientific introduction to cultural anthropology.  It helps the reader understand how humans vary culturally and why they got to be that way.   This new edition also highlights migration and immigration in the context of globalization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Cultural Anthropology (13th Edition) (MyAnthroLab Series)
Nice book,very interesting for those who want to know more about human beings and their history.... ... Read more

Product Description
Applying Cultural Anthropology: An Introductory Reader is a collection of articles that provide compelling examples of applied research in cultural anthropology. In this age of globalization and increased cultural intolerance, the basic messages of public anthropology are more important than ever. The eighth edition offers 8 new readings and a new chart at the beginning of the text to help instructors and students locate key themes and topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Service
Shipped quicker than everything else I ordered on the same day! Thank's so much-it in NEW condition just like you claimed.

Applying Cultural Anthropology
I was happy with this purchase.The item came just as described and the shipping was exactly as described and on time.I would buy from this place again.

Excellent materials, great selection
First off, I'd like to agree with the first reviewer. This is an excellent compilation that stands by itself (although, for an intro class, it definitely requires a "discipline-oriented" text book like Kottak as a guiding force).Iwould recommend this book highly to my fellow anthros and to general readers alike. What follows is a brief summary of some of my favorite articles in the collection. The selections are all short and well-written, they make interesting and useful points and convey the complexity and utility of anthropology very, very well.

I've been waiting a long time to see Peggy McIntosh's wonderful essay on "White Privilege" in print somewhere.I had the distinct pleasure of hearing her give an oral version of the same talk a number of years ago and am very very pleased to see it published here for the benefit of students.The book is worth the price for that article alone.

However, this is not the only gem in this collection.Phillipe Bourgois' work on crack dealers is introduced here as is Gerald Murray's work on wood farming as a means to encourage re-forestation programs in Haiti.There are also classics such as Richard Lee's story of the !Kung San insulting of his gift of a Christmas ox ("Eating Christmas in the Kalahari") and Laura Bohannon's failure to get Tiv elders to see Hamlet as a story about incest, revenge and justice.Jared Diamond's revisionist view of the advent of agriculture is also here (perhaps an antidote for his more recent "Guns, Germs and Steel" though undoutedly similar in style).

Other personal favorites of mine include Eugene Cooper's discussion of Chinese table manners (also a must for people who want to teach a course on the anthropology of food), Richard Reed's examination of the tension between environmentalists and indigenous communities in Paraguay, Joan Cassels' excellent analysis of surgery as a male-gendered medical speciality and Paul Farmer's and Arthur Kleinman's thoughtful peice on suffering and AIDS in Haiti.

Incidentally, I would thoroughly recommend anything by Paul Farmer to readers interested in social medicine.His scholarship and humanity are both quite phenomenal and totally justify the attention he has recieved due to the MacArthur fellowship.

I only have a couple of quibbles with this book and even these are not so much criticisms as comments for the unwary:Jennifer Laab's peice on corporate anthropologists seems to have been written for a corporate audience as a selling point for anthropology.As such it plays up the notion of anthropologists as service providers for corporate interests in a way which is a little frown-inducing for an academician such as myself.Not because I don't approve of anthropology in the private sector, but because the peice itself seems to argue that anthropology is merely a set of techniques that can be workshopped (like team-building exercises)to busy executives for the greater good of the company.Again, this is a VERY worthwhile point to debate, but not one that easily stands without comment.Secondly, the article by Wade Davis (he of "Serpent and the Rainbow" fame), while again discussion-worthy, seems a little superficial, dated in language and probably replaceable (Robert Voeks'recently-published "Sacred Leaves of Candomble" is one alternative that springs to mind).Lastly, I would like to plead for the inclusion of a selection on tatooing or bodily adornment of some sort in any future editions. This is a topic of enduring interest among students and would definitely be an asset to such a nicely-balanced and valuable collection.

Not only a good textbook, but an interesting book.
When I took a sophomore level anthropology class at my University,Applying Anthropology was required as a secondary reading text, in additionto Kottak's Anthropology (7th edition).Applying Anthropology contains 52articles in the categories of Biological Anthropology, Archaeology,Cultural Anthropology, Culture and Communication, Culture and Food, Cultureand Race, Economy and Business, Gender and Socialization, Politics &Law & Warfare, and Social & Cultural Change.Instead of being atextbook that was something I just read for the class that required it, itturned out to be a book that I would have bought for my own personalpurposes.Also, in addition to enjoying reading it, I learned a lot aboutanthropology.One of my favorite articles discusses what may have happenedon Easter Island that resulted in the demise of an entire culture. All inall, Applying Anthropology provides an interesting approach to learning alot about culture worldwide. ... Read more

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"More than any other book, this one introduces students to another time and another place, what Karl Barth long ago called "the strange new world of the Bible".---Dennis C. Dualing, Professor of Religion Canisius College, Buffalo, New York. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

great insights
For years, I have been trying to discover the cultural background of the New Testament.Malina answered a lot of my questions in very helpful ways. I enjoyed the variety of subjects that he covers, and his paragraphs comparingcontemporary and first century cultures were quite helpful.The concepts he describes in the first century Mediterranean culture exist in many cultures today, which can be useful if one is involved in any cross culture work. This book made my research and teaching deeper and more interesting. I wouldhighly recommend it to any Bible scholar.(I am a minister and seminary student.)

Very informative and fascinating
This book provides great insights into the culture of 1st century Palestine and gives fascinating insights into the psychology of the individuals present in the world of the New Testament. While other books cover well the radical challenge that the teacher Jesus made to financial and political systems of the time, this book makes very clear that the revolution he really sought was one involving consciousness itself - an entire (and to some, incredibly threatening) transformation of foundational values. Very readable as well, not too academic or full of needless jargon.

Insights into the 1st Centruy World
If you ever wanted to read the Bible and truly understand the text behind the text, then this is the book you want to read.

Malina does a wonderful job of giving us insight in to the world that is 1st Century Judea.He brings out the cultural scene of the times to aid us in the understanding of what it was like to be someone in this time period.

Malina breaks down the culture based on the 4 levels of understand.They include kinship, power, religion and economics.He discusses the impact that kinship and power had on this era and how these two items were most prevalent in terms of how people viewed each other.Kinship is broken down into blood lines, where you were born, gender issues and so forth in a way that amazes a reader when it comes to truly seeing the time.Power discusses the fine art of challenge and repose and how challenge was used to try to break down status of an individual (why do you think the Pharisees asked Jesus so many questions????To lower his power.Funny how Jesus always wins.).Malina discusses the impact of shame and honor and how that plays a role in the family and community.

For anyone who really wants to understand the message behind the text of the Bible this is a must have volume for your library.

Good information
Malina's book was written for "the beginning student of the New Testament" and he has achieved his goal, although intermediate and advanced students will benefit as well. He covers a wide range of subjects (e.g., honor and shame, group vs individual personality, social status, envy, kinship and marriage, clean and unclean) with sufficient depth to get his points across. Personally I would have preferred more in depth discussions and certainly more documentation, but perhaps that would have made a much larger book.

Malina's discussion provide insights into the broad sociocultural and psychological constructs which were operational at the time of the 1st millenium. Thus, they help us understand the customs and language of the New Testament where we might otherwise fail to grasp a critical saying or event. For example, his chapter on envy puts into perspective one of the chief motivations for the conspiracy to kill Jesus, which might otherwise not be apparent. In this same vein, his chapter on maintaining social status goes a long way toward explaining what appear to be strange greetings between Jesus and his prospective followers.

The book is not perfect. The writing style tends toward the academic, yet it lacks the true scholarly flavor some might be searching for. Perhaps this comes from the attempt to make academic material more accessible to the general public. I certainly recommend it as a supplementary text for anyone interested in understanding Jesus and his time period.

Great, but Dry
All in all, I've been very pleased with this purchase. The book came to me highly recommended and I wasn't disappointed. I would caution the reader though when I say that the book is more than a little dry. Also, Malina tends to rely on abstract models to make his point, which is fine, but may not work well for some. On the whole, though, the book is indispensable and will serve anyone well. ... Read more

Product Description
Learn anthropology within a strong active learning environment when you open Robbins' unique Fifth Edition. This brief, cost-effective text presents a variety of questions focused on the most important issues anthropologists study in first of-of-its-kind, problem-based format. You'll find yourself thinking critically about today's world as you read engaging Chapter Openers, complete integrated exercises, and review unique Case Studies in Doing Anthropology at the end of each chapter, now with new locator maps for your convenience.Robbins's text presents a variety of questions focused on the most important issues anthropologists study in a unique, problem-based format. Within the book's engaging narrative, you'll learn how to analyze your own culture as a basis for understanding the cultures of others. Presentations organized around problems rather than topics, creating a natural discussion of traditional concerns, such as kinship, caste, gender roles, and religion. Meaningful questions integrated throughout further guide you in exploring these subjects. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

to the study of cultures
this is a decent book, very informative, but not my favorite though that doesn't stop me from reading it. for those that wish to get a different perspective on our culture then this is a good book to check out

Quick shipping. Good book.
The book is "used." Has tatttered corners and front cover but the book is clean. The writing on the inside helps.

would help if recieved
I'm sure the book was a great help for those who actually got their copy, my seller never sent the book and i'm still trying to get my money bacy

Arrived before my first quiz
I selected free ground shipping and still got it in a couple days! Thanks Amazon, you guys are great!

As for the content, its for school... it does its job.

Good Condition
The book was in good condition and it was mailed to me within a week, which was perfect for me. The book itself was good, a couple of creases, that's all. I would recommend this book supplier to anyone not needing this book within days. ... Read more

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The first single-authored comprehensive introduction to major contemporary research trends, issues, and debates on the anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean.  

The text provides wide and historically informed coverage of key facets of Latin American and Caribbean societies and their cultural and historical development as well as the powerful role of power and inequality in this development.

One reviewer writes, “The text moves well and builds over time, paying close attention to balancing both the Caribbean and Latin America as geographic regions, Spanish and non-Spanish speaking countries, and historical and contemporary issues in the field. I found the geographic breadth to be especially impressive.”

Another notes that the contents “reflect the insights of an anthropologist who knows Latin America intimately and extensively.”

Customer Reviews (2)

Never recived book
I never recived the Henry Sonabria book i purchased a month ago, the book was for a class in college and i have been waiting for the books arival yet it ceases to arrive..! Please either refund my money or send me the book.

Book Sent to Wrong Address, Full Refund Given
I didn't receive the item after a month, and then called the supplier.Turns out the book was sent to the wrong address, or a USPS distribution center, where it was deemed damaged.A full refund was given.It would have been better if the supplier was a bit more proactive, but then again, if it took me a month to start investigation, well I take some responcibility too. :D4 Stars.The money's back in my account. ... Read more

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Written by Kottak, recent inductee to The National Academy of Sciences, this text for cultural anthropology emphasizes anthropology's integrated and comparative nature with "Bringing It All Together" essays that show how anthropology's sub-fields and dimensions combine to interpret and explain a common topic. Another distinctive feature, "Understanding Ourselves," illustrates the relevance of anthropological facts and theories to students' everyday lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Cultural Anthropology
Exactly what I needed for my online course.CD did not work; however, I only needed it for one part of an assignment.I got along fine without it.

Cultural Anthropology
Text book.Got in a very timely manner.Saved a lot by not buying in college bookstore.

Cultural anthropology
i have received the product, Cultural anthroloplogy book and i am very pleased with the results when i gt my book. it was overall delivered on time and in great condition. it even included the cd-rom. it was great ... Read more

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This collection of 49 readings with extensive background description exposes students to the breadth of theoretical perspectives and issues in the field of medical anthropology.The text provides specific examples and case studies of research as it is applied to a range of health settings: from cross-cultural clinical encounters to cultural analysis of new biomedical technologies to the implementation of programs in global health settings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Thanks
This book arrived on time and in excellent condition. It was appropriately packaged. Thank You

Good Condition
Received book in good condition, no complaints on service or quality.Would recommend this seller in the future.

Fantastic book on an interesting subject.
This book has to be one of the best primary source collections for the field of Medical Anthropology.Illustrates many of the themes running through the heart of the field fabulously, although it could have been organized better.Highly recommended. ... Read more

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How do people learn and experience their culture? How do people make a living? What does it mean to be in a family? How do we make sense of peoples’ beliefs and ritual practices? In exploring questions such as these, this cultural anthropology reader focuses on contemporary global concerns and includes a significant number of articles by authors from outside the United States.

A dynamic development in the fourth edition is the inclusion of“Anthropology and Public Debate” sections, in which opposing anthropological arguments on current hot topics are featured. In addition, “Doing Fieldwork” essays consider the nature and dilemmas of fieldwork, the changing status of the field, the nature of anthropological learning in the field, and ethical issues and dilemmas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Talking to People Review
Although the book was in very good condition it took almost 4 weeks for the book to arrive. I am not sure whether this has to do with the seller or the post-office, however other books ordered at the same time through other sellers arrived weeks earlier. ... Read more

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Pregnancy. For many women it is an exhilarating period of their lives. Having already made the decision to conceive, now women are confronted with a more encumbering choice, one riddled with emotional and moral implications: the option to test the health of their fetus prior to birth. Rayna Rapp, one of the leading feminist anthropologists in the United States, explores the complex and contradictory nature of prenatal diagnosis and its social impact and cultural meaning through the narratives of the people who have experienced it. Rich with the voices and stories of participants, these touching, firsthand accounts examine how women of diverse racial, ethnic, class and religious backgrounds perceive prenatal testing, the most prevalent and routinized of the new reproducing technologies. This Pandora's box of moral issues has prompted complex questions, such as: What do women want and not want from technology in pregnancy? What conditions are "worth" an abortion? How do women receiving a "bad" diagnosis cope with their ultimate decisions? Based on the author's decade of research and her own personal experiences with amniocentesis, Testing Women, Testing the Fetus explores the "geneticization" of family life in all its complexity and diversity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting but inconclusive
I read Rapp's Testing Women, Testing the Fetus for an anthropology/gender studies class, and as an examination of the way different ethnic groups in NYC approach amniocentesis and prenatal testing as a whole, it might be very interesting.

However, that is not what the book is about.The book is supposed to be about the impact that amniocentesis has on women's lives as they are faced with the decision not only to have the test, but what to do with the information they recieve.But Rapp was so intent on characterizing each of her interview subjects by race, occupation (hence class) and gender, that she ultimately separated and categorized her subjects in ways that left the reader hanging.She did not make any definite conclusions about amniocentesis, only that women make decisions about amnio based on values they had before they even got pregnant, possibly due to ethnicity.

If I were pregnant this book wouldn't help me at all in making a decision.But the chapters on how the tests are analyzed are quite interesting, and the chapters on disability and the way we as a society deals with disabled children in an age when it's easy for them never to be born changed the way I think about disability, and for that reason alone I think it should be read.

Ethnographic method, ethno(graphic) reality
How does one, as an anthropologist, write about amniocentesis?Rapp's work redefines the scope of anthropological inquiry helping us look at U.S. culture as an acceptable site of investigation.Focusing on both the"medical establishment" and the "clients" it serves,the book leads us into alternate worlds of creating/inventing medicaltechnology, and delivering medical technology.It is not as simple asputting women through a standardized process; their are questions ofindividual need, race, spirituality, class, profession, family support, andmany other factors that affect the process of amniocentesis and the valueof the procedure to the women who receive or refuse the technology.Beautifully written, Rapp follows many threads, both narrative andscientific, to reveal a picture that is not quite so neat. ... Read more

Product Description
This anthology provides a single-volume overview of the essential theoretical debates in the anthropology of art. Drawing together significant work in the field from the second half of the twentieth century, it enables readers to appreciate the art of different cultures at different times.

An essay from the editors, offering an intellectual critique of the history of the discipline and exploring the contribution that the analysis of art can make to human societies, prefaces the volume. The readings themselves cover all the major debates in the field, including: definitions of art and aesthetics; the nature of representational processes; the nature of authenticity; the Primitivism controversy; the history of trade and commodification; and the role of contemporary artists.

This anthology is the ideal resource for readers new to the anthropology of art. At the same time, it allows those with some knowledge of the discipline to see how art and aesthetics can contribute to their research. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the few lecture books worth keeping.
Excellent book for anyone interested in Museum Studies / Curation and understanding important debates in anthropology and art.Have used this book many times for scholastic and personal research purposes.

good
I got this book relatively quickly, but there was a huge chunk of paper missing from the top of the middle pages, although still legible. I don't know why this happened, but it's okay. ... Read more

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Authors Stein and Rowe continue to share their love of discovery with students in this balanced, objective introduction to physical anthropology that does not assume that students have any previous knowledge of the subject. Carefully streamlined, making it more accessible and affordable, this edition provides students with a pedagogical program designed to facilitate comprehension. Every concept is carefully explained and illustrated, guiding students step-by-step through difficult material. As always, the authors use the most current data to unravel the mystery of the evolution of humankind, and to examine the dynamic relationship between humans and their environment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Physical Anthropology Book
The book itself in in great condition; however, I paid for expedited shipping (6-8 business days) and it took 14 business days to arrive. As a result, I fell behind in my class because I was not able to begin reading. ... Read more