A History of Anthropology

by Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Finn Sivert Nielsen

Overview

This is the first book to cover the entire history of social and cultural anthropology in a single volume. Beginning with a summary of the discipline in the nineteenth century, exploring such major figures as Morgan and Taylor, it goes on to provide a comprehensive overview of the discipline in the twentieth century. The bulk of the book is devoted to themes and controversies characteristic of post First World War anthropology, from structural functionalism via structuralism to hermeneutics, cultural ecology and discourse analysis. The authors also look at the ambiguous relationship between anthropology and national cultures. This is a timely, concise history of a major intellectual discipline, in engaging and thought-provoking narrative that will appeal to students of the discipline world wide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849649193
Publisher:	Pluto Press
Publication date:	05/10/2013
Series:	Anthropology, Culture and Society
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Thomas Hylland Eriksen is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. He is the author of numerous books, including Ethnicity and Nationalism, A History of Anthropology, Small Places, Large Issues, Tyranny of the Moment and Globalisation, all available from Pluto Press. Finn Sivert Nielsen worked in the anthropology departments at the University of Tromso¸ and the University of Copenhagen.

Table of Contents

	Preface	vi
1.	Beginnings	1
2.	Victorians, Germans and a Frenchman	16
3.	Four Founding Fathers	36
4.	Expansion and Institutionalisation	54
5.	Forms of Change	76
6.	The Power of Symbols	96
7.	Questioning Authority	111
8.	The End of Modernism?	135
9.	Reconstructions	157
	Bibliography	179
	Index	192

Editorial Reviews

In this concise yet well-rounded history of anthropology, Eriksen (Univ. of Oslo and Nielsen (Univ. of Tromso provide historical portraits of the scholars, events, and thoughts that have shaped this academic discipline concerned with mostly human affairs. They reveal that the history of anthropology is not only forged out of its attentions toward and relationships with non-Western societies, but that it also reflects the intellectual, social, and political histories that define the Western experience. Beginning with the European Enlightenment and Age of Discovery that foregrounded European imperialism and colonialism, the authors locate developments in anthropological methods and theoretical orientations as historical artifacts of emerging social relations on a global scale shaped by inequalities of power. Paradigmatic shifts in anthropological thought and practice are grounded in current events and worldviews. Importantly, the essential anthropologists and their contributions are profiled in a succinct and clear prose of surprising depth that traverses a history of anthropology into the present. The result is an evenhanded narrative that captures the major and many of the not-so-major developments in anthropology. Especially useful for advanced students of the discipline, but as a history on its own, this book offers an insightful journey to faraway places and back home again. All levels and collections.
—CHOICE

LS. Ferzacca

In this concise yet well-rounded history of anthropology, Eriksen (Univ. of Oslo and Nielsen (Univ. of Tromso provide historical portraits of the scholars, events, and thoughts that have shaped this academic discipline concerned with mostly human affairs. They reveal that the history of anthropology is not only forged out of its attentions toward and relationships with non-Western societies, but that it also reflects the intellectual, social, and political histories that define the Western experience. Beginning with the European Enlightenment and Age of Discovery that foregrounded European imperialism and colonialism, the authors locate developments in anthropological methods and theoretical orientations as historical artifacts of emerging social relations on a global scale shaped by inequalities of power. Paradigmatic shifts in anthropological thought and practice are grounded in current events and worldviews. Importantly, the essential anthropologists and their contributions are profiled in a succinct and clear prose of surprising depth that traverses a history of anthropology into the present. The result is an evenhanded narrative that captures the major and many of the not-so-major developments in anthropology. Especially useful for advanced students of the discipline, but as a history on its own, this book offers an insightful journey to faraway places and back home again. All levels and collections.
—CHOICE

S. Ferzacca