Read complete books and articles on: Political Anthropology

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12 of the Best Books and Articles on: Political Anthropology

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Political Anthropology: An Introduction » Read Now
by Ted C. Lewellen. 238 pgs.

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...POLITICAL ANTHROPOLOGY POLITICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AN INTRODUCTION SECOND EDITION TED C. LEWELLEN...Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lewellen, Ted C., 1940- Political...
2.

Anthropological Approaches to Political Behavior » Read Now
by Frank McGlynn, Arthur Tuden. 359 pgs.

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...0-8229-6094-X pbk. 1. Political anthropology. 2. Power Social sciences...concerns in the field of political anthropology as initially published...is indeed the concern of...
3.

Pathways of Power: Building an Anthropology of the Modern World » Read Now
by Sydel Silverman, Eric R. Wolf. 463 pgs.

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"Eric Wolf has literally set the terms for anthropological thinking about peasantries, culture and power, complex societies, and interactions between noncapitalist societies and capitalism. Every item in this excellent collection has stimulated and influenced both my own thought and that of many...
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"Eric Wolf has literally set the terms for anthropological thinking about peasantries, culture and power, complex societies, and interactions between noncapitalist societies and capitalism. Every item in this excellent collection has stimulated and influenced both my own thought and that of many others in our field, as well as beyond it. "--Katherine Verdery, University of Michigan
"This powerful body of work begins ('Anthropology') and ends ('Concepts') in a rather speculative vein, taking us into the ideas of others and then back to Wolf. In these two sections we get a picture of the development of currents in anthropology (and the social sciences more broadly) from the early fifties to the present and the way in which Wolf's intellectual and political development was threaded through those debates and controversies. In the middle two sections ('Connections' and 'Peasants') we get the pathbreaking pieces that made Wolf the major figure he is. "--Gavin Smith, University of Toronto
"Thereis a large,audience, to be found in anthropology and in related fields like history, cultural studies, gender studies, etc., who will receive the writings of Eric Wolf with appreciation. . . . His work is fully in the comparative anthropological tradition . . . [and] demonstrates the power of comparative historical analysis. "--Abraham Rosman, Barnard College, Columbia University
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4.

Anthropology of Policy: Critical Perspectives on Governance and Power » Read Now
by Cris Shore, Susan Wright. 298 pgs.

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Arguing that policy has become an increasingly central concept and instrument in the organisation of contemporary societies and that it now impinges on all areas of life so that it is virtually impossible to ignore or escape its influence, this book argues that the study of policy leads straight into issues at the heart of anthropology.
5.

The Political Landscape: Constellations of Authority in Early Complex Polities » Read Now
by Adam T. Smith. 331 pgs.

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"This highly original and challenging book defies every easy form of classification. Ostensibly about early polities, its penetrating and erudite asides extend with equal facility into contemporary politics and the symmetrical deficiencies of modernism and postmodernism. To my knowledge, imaginative...
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"This highly original and challenging book defies every easy form of classification. Ostensibly about early polities, its penetrating and erudite asides extend with equal facility into contemporary politics and the symmetrical deficiencies of modernism and postmodernism. To my knowledge, imaginative reflections of spatial representations have never previously found their way into the theoretical base of what has been thought of as an essentially materialistic archaeological science. It is a pleasure and a discovery to see the permanent and rightful place Adam Smith has now fashioned for them."--Robert McC. Adams, Secretary Emeritus, The Smithsonian Institution
"If social theory in cultural anthropology was transformed in the last decades by a "linguistic turn," research by archaeologists into the development and practices of early states now seems to be undergoing a "geographic turn." Adam Smith's book, although drawing from modern currents in geography, anthropology, sociology, and political philosophy, brings original archaeological contributions to social theory by examining the making and re-making of landscapes in early complex polities (especially in Mesopotamian, Urartian, and Maya states). Smith observes these (and other) early states as "political landscapes," in which monuments come to constitute authority and shape memories. Smith's book represents a comprehensive turn from metahistorical reifications of the state to investigations of how the content of social roles was determined through the production of landscapes. The landscape of archaeology will be changed decisively by this book."--Norman Yoffee, Professor, Dept. of Near Eastern Studies and Dept. of Anthropology,University of Michigan.
"This book emerges as both a remarkable scholarly achievement and something of a manifesto for contemporary political thinking and engagement."--Susan E. Alcock, author of "Archaeologies of the Greek P
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6.

Culture Incarnate: Native Anthropology from Russia (Part II "Political Anthropology: Interpreting Ethnicity, Ethnic Conflict, and Sociocultural Norms") » Read Now
by Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer. 274 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
7.

Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior » Read Now
by Christopher Boehm. 293 pgs.

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ARE humans by nature hierarchical or egalitarian? Hierarchy in the Forest addresses this question by examining the evolutionary origins of social and political behavior. Christopher Boehm, an anthropologist whose fieldwork has focused on the political arrangements of human and nonhuman primate...
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ARE humans by nature hierarchical or egalitarian? Hierarchy in the Forest addresses this question by examining the evolutionary origins of social and political behavior. Christopher Boehm, an anthropologist whose fieldwork has focused on the political arrangements of human and nonhuman primate groups, postulates that egalitarianism is in effect a hierarchy in which the weak combine forces to dominate the strong.
The political flexibility of our species is formidable: we can be quite egalitarian, we can be quite despotic. Hierarchy in the Forest traces the roots of these contradictory traits in chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and early human societies. Boehm looks at the loose group structures of hunter-gatherers, then at tribal segmentation, and finally at present-day governments to see how these conflicting tendencies are reflected.
Hierarchy in the Forest claims new territory for biological anthropology and evolutionary biology by extending the domain of these sciences into a crucial aspect ofhuman political and social behavior. This book will a key document in the study of the evolutionary basis of genuine altruism.
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8.

Greener Pastures: Politics, Markets, and Community Among a Migrant Pastoral People » Read Now
by Arun Agrawal. 222 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Social scientists theorizing about political economy & the allocation of resources have usually omitted migrant communities from their studies. In Greener Pastures Arun Agrawal uses the story of the Raikas, a little-known group of migrant shepherds in western India, to reexamine current scholarship...
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Social scientists theorizing about political economy & the allocation of resources have usually omitted migrant communities from their studies. In Greener Pastures Arun Agrawal uses the story of the Raikas, a little-known group of migrant shepherds in western India, to reexamine current scholarship on markets & exchange, local & state politics, & community & hierarchy. The Raikas are virtually invisible in the regions through which they travel, as well as to the wider Indian society, yet they must operate as part of these larger spheres for their economic survival. Agrawal analyzes the institutions developed by the shepherds to solve livelihood problems. First, by focusing on the relations of the shepherds with their landholder neighbors, he explains why the shepherds migrate. He shows that struggles between these two groups led to a sociopolitical squeeze on the access of shepherds to the fodder resources they need to feed their sheep. Then, in an examination of why the shepherds migrate in groups, he demonstrates how their migratory lives depend on market exchanges & points to the social & political forces that influence prices & determine profits. Finally, he looks at decision-making processes such as division of labor & the delegation of power. Politics is ubiquitous in the interactions of the shepherds with their neighbors & with state officials, in their exchanges in markets & with farmers, & in their internal relations as a community. Interspersing the words of the Raikas themselves with a sophisticated deployment of political theory, Agrawal has produced a volume that will interest scholars in a broad range of academic disciplines, including Asian studies, political science, human ecology, anthropology, comparative politics, rural sociology, & environmental studies & policy.
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9.

The Politics of Progress: The Origins and Development of the Commercial Republic, 1600-1835 » Read Now
by Hiram Caton. 627 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...to tribes, chiefdoms, and political societies; and it did good...Herbert Spencer," Current Anthropology 15 1974. : 216-18...Inheritance of Wealth," Current Anthropology 17...
10.

Acting in Concert: Music, Community, and Political Action » Read Now
by Mark Mattern. 190 pgs.

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11.

Language and Politics (Chap. 19 "Boundaries, Strategies, and Power Relations: Political Anthropology and Language") » Read Now
by Jean F. O'Barr, William O. O'Barr. 508 pgs.

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12.

Medical Anthropology and the World System » Read Now
by Hans A. Baer, Merrill Singer, Ida Susser. 432 pgs.

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