Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition - Softcover

"Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is important to challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University"A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductory book."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University"For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN "Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is important to challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University "A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductory book."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University "For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN "Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is important to challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University "A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductory book."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University "For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN "Compared to other texts, Cultural Anthropology, 6/e, provides much more current examples of issues and concerns in anthropology, does a better job of integrating North American examples into the discussion, and is up-to-date on contemporary theoretical perspectives....I think that it is importantto challenge students to think critically (from an informed theoretical perspective) and this text really does allow me to encourage this kind of thinking."--Teresa Holmes, York University"A highly readable and accessible presentation. The text meets my needs as far as encouraging thinking beyond memorize-and-regurgitate, while it fulfills students' desires to 'tell me what I need to know for the test.'...[It] surpassed all expectations as to what one could achieve in an introductorybook."--Nora Haenn, Arizona State University"For professors of religion, anthropology, or global studies, this well-researched work will provide a readable, vast amount of well-organized material. The pedagogical aids (CD, questions, etc.) are well done."--Steve Madigan, College of St. Catherine, MN

This text is a sophisticated introduction to cultural anthropology that explores the interplay of cultural creativity, human agency, and material constraint in the shaping of human cultural traditions. Cultural practices that work become part of local traditions and serve as resources on which people can draw when faced with ambiguities in the future. However, the power struggles that go on in all societies always shape decisions about what "works" and what does not, further complicating the relationship between what people do and what "ecology" or "economics" or "rationality" is thought to require. The result is a tremendous variety of culturally constructed ways of life, none of which can easily be explained as the inevitable outcome of a single shaping force. This book focuses on people as creative beings bringing meaning to the world and transforming it through practical action.