About the Book
A thoroughly updated and revised new edition of this popular classic of modern anthropology.
This book provides an unparalleled account of theoretical developments in anthropology from the 1920s to the present, including functionalism, structuralism, hermeneutics, neo-Marxism and discourse analysis.
Thomas Eriksen and Finn Sivert Nielsen include summaries of ‘Enlightenment’, ‘Romantic’ and ‘Victorian’ anthropology, from the cultural theories of Morgan and Taylor to the often neglected contributions of German scholars. They explore the ambiguous relationship between anthropology and national cultures.
Including brief biographies of major anthropologists and coverage of key debates including totemism, kinship and globalisation, this is an engaging and essential text for students at all levels.
Contents
• Proto-Anthropology
• Victorians, Germans and a Frenchman
• Four Founding Fathers
• Expansion and Institutionalisation
• Forms of Change
• The Power of Symbols
• Questioning Authority
• The End of Modernism?
• Global Networks
About the Author / Editor
Thomas Hylland Eriksen is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo.
Finn Sivert Nielsen is a freelance anthropologist and author.
