Product Description
Ranging from the Pacific islands to the Arctic north and from small villages to modern nation states, this concise introduction to social and cultural anthropology reveals the rich global variation in social life and culture. The text also provides a clear overview of anthropology, focusing on central topics such as kinship, ethnicity, ritual and political systems, offering a wealth of examples that demonstrate the enormous scope of anthropology and the importance of a comparative perspective. Unlike previous texts on the subject, "Small Places, Large Issues" broadens the study to incorporate the anthropology of complex modern societies, thus providing a unique key text for all students of social and cultural anthropology. Using reviews of key monographs to illustrate his argument, Eriksen's text remains an established introductory text in anthropology. This new edition is updated throughout and includes a new chapter on the history of anthropology. It also shows clearly and comprehensively, through numerous new examples, why classic studies of small-scale societies are relevant for the study of complex phenomena such as nationalism, consumption and the Internet. In this way, the book bridges an often perceived gap between "classic" and "contemporary" anthropology.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 1 review)

Informative and thought-provoking; however not an easy read

"Small Places, Large Issues" is an introductory textbook on the topic of Social Anthropology: the comparative study of humans in a social and cultural context. Dr Eriksen is a professor of Social Anthropology, and therefore the book is written more or less on an academic style and perspective. It covers most possible aspects: kinship, gender and age, politics and power, local organisation, religion and rituals, nationality and minorities, etc. In addition it contains brief biographies of the most important Anthropologists, quotes and references of Anthropologists and other renown Sociologists (Durkheim, Weber, Marx, etc.) as well as numerous examples and case studies -both from "traditional" and "modern" societies- relevant each time on the topic concerned. I believe apart from being informative, it is a highly stimulative book catapulting the reader with food for thought. For example, did you know that all humans have 99.8% of their genes in common or that even our feelings can be social products and not natural! However, sometimes it tends to be overwhelming and tiring with all that amount of information and theories on so many different levels.
June 02, 2000

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