Social Anthropology

In industrial societies imagining the future is a serious business; our assumptions about the future govern the present management of domestic, national and global resources, and are projected, some would say inflicted, on societies whose visions are different. Contemporary Futures focuses not so much on whether the future can be known, but on interpreting the way we and others picture it. The contributors, all social anthropologists, explore the effects that this picture has on the present, on group identity and belief in the self and its survival, on our relationships with other cultures, and on the future itself. They provide a cross-cultural perspective on a range of futures visualised at this time and discusses the implications of

Every year, leading social anthropologists meet to debate a motion at the heart of current theoretical developments in their subject and this book includes the first six of these debates, spanning the period from 1988 to 1993. Each debate has four principal speakers: one to propose the motion, another to oppose it, and two seconders.The first debate addresses the disciplinary character of social anthropology: can it be regarded as a science, and if so, is it able to establish general propositions about human culture and social life? The second examines the concept of society, and in the third debate the spotlight is turned on the role of culture in people's perception of their environments. The fourth debate focuses on the place of language in the formation of culture. The fifth takes up the question of how we view the past in relation to the present. Finally, in the sixth debate, the concern is with the cross-cultural applicability of the concept of aesthetics.

Have you ever wondered how the internal space of our brain connects with the external space of society? Drawing on hermeneutics and neuroscience Stephen Reyna develops an anthropological theory that explains the relationship between the biological and the cultural.Recent popular interest in the brain is evident, and now social anthropologists are starting to consider connections between science and anthropology. Reyna is an anthropologist prepared to tackle big and difficult questions. This accessibly written book will cause quite a stir in anthropology, and will appeal to those interested in the mysteries of the brain.

In this bold theoretical work, Bruce Lincoln explores the ways in which myth, ritual, and classification hold human societies together--and how, in times of crisis, they can be used to take a society apart and reconstruct it. Without overlooking the role of coercive force in the maintenance (or overthrow) of social structures, Lincoln argues his thesis with compelling illustrations drawn from such diverse areas as Platonic philosophy, the Upanishads of India, ancient Celtic banquets, professional wrestling, and the Spanish Civil War. This wide-ranging interdisciplinary study--which draws on works in history, semiotics, anthropology, sociology, classics, and indology--offers challenging new insights into the complex dynamics of social cohesion and change.

In 80 entries this work provides an introduction to the key ideas of cultural anthropology. In each article--culture, race, materialism, semiotics, "primitive," etc.--Winthrop provides a balance between describing a concept's contemporary theoretical relevance and tracing its development, including the broader intellectual context transcending professional anthropology. Thus the article on "interpretation" discusses St. Augustine, Schliermacher, Dilthey, and Gadamer, as well as Geertz and Evans-Pritchard. That on "ethnology" treats Boemus, Acosta, and Prichard as well as the Boasians. The article on "nature" contrasts the Greek concept of physis with the Roman natura. Though this is a work of synthesis rather than of original historical scholarship, Winthrop quotes primary sources as much as possible, to let the key figures speak for themselves.