How to Think Like an Anthropologist

by Matthew Engelke

Overview

From an award-winning anthropologist, a lively, accessible, and at times irreverent introduction to the subject

What is anthropology? What can it tell us about the world? Why, in short, does it matter? For well over a century, cultural anthropologists have circled the globe, from Papua New Guinea to suburban England and from China to California, uncovering surprising facts and insights about how humans organize their lives and articulate their values. In the process, anthropology has done more than any other discipline to reveal what culture means—and why it matters. By weaving together examples and theories from around the world, Matthew Engelke provides a lively, accessible, and at times irreverent introduction to anthropology, covering a wide range of classic and contemporary approaches, subjects, and practitioners. Presenting a set of memorable cases, he encourages readers to think deeply about some of the key concepts with which anthropology tries to make sense of the world—from culture and nature to authority and blood. Along the way, he shows why anthropology matters: not only because it helps us understand other cultures and points of view but also because, in the process, it reveals something about ourselves and our own cultures, too.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691178783
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/13/2018
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Matthew Engelke is professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. An award-winning author and teacher, he is also a former editor of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Culture 25

2 Civilization 56

3 Values 83

4 Value 113

5 Blood 136

6 Identity 161

7 Authority 189

8 Reason 219

9 Nature 249

Conclusion 279

Acknowledgments 287

Notes 289

Bibliography 299

Further Reading 311

Index 315

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"We may not do research in faraway places or even nearby, among our curious neighbors, but we all need to be anthropologists. Thinking like an anthropologist means stopping to consider our common-sense categories in critical, comparative, and historically informed ways. Matthew Engelke's admirably lucid book gives us the tools we need."—James Clifford, author of Returns: Becoming Indigenous in the Twenty-First Century

Praise for the UK edition: "How to Think Like an Anthropologist is a terrific introduction to the field. Beautifully written, winningly told, and provocative, the book captures the basic feature of the discipline: that anthropology is a way of seeing and thinking. Anthropology invites you to see yourself as someone else might see you. In this way, it is the most world-changing of fields."—T. M. Luhrmann, author of When God Talks Back

Praise for the UK edition: "Accessible yet genuinely insightful, this is a lively, original, and inclusive introduction to anthropology both as a scholarly discipline and as a way of life. It combines superb storytelling and broad coverage—ranging from the classics to the author's own fieldwork experiences—and shows why anthropology really ought to be seen as the core of the social sciences: a discipline that trains one's brain to look deeply and empathetically into the lives of others."—Charles King, Georgetown University

Praise for the UK edition: Playful and perceptive, Matthew Engelke welcomes readers into the fascinating history and profound insights of anthropology. This elegant synthesis shows how the discipline can change the way we think about the world."—Caitlin Zaloom, author of Out of the Pits: Traders and Technology from Chicago to London

Editorial Reviews

…an affable introduction to the discipline…

The New York Times Book Review - James Ryerson

12/18/2017
Engelke (God’s Agents), professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics, leads a haphazard tour of culture and civilization in this scattershot primer on the field of anthropology. Relying primarily on the historical aspect of anthropology and the work of pre-WWII anthropologists, Engelke touches on the 19th-century German concept of kultur and summarizes the evolution of cultural theory. In attempting to make this information comprehensible to readers, he includes digressions on such topics as the TV series Downton Abbey, a 1990s Christian movement in Papua New Guinea, and computer-based algorithmic trading in London. Engelke attempts to address misconceptions about such topics as fatwas and linguistic communication, but the interpretations aren’t as fully fleshed out as some readers may hope. He also offers some anthropological tidbits, such as the importance of the “Bovine Mystique” in Basotho culture. Some important topics, such as race and identity, are merely touched upon. Though little of the literature surveyed is new, some modern anthropological work is mentioned, including that of medical anthropologist Margaret Lock, who studied the concept of death in Japan and contributed to the International Forum for Transplant Ethics. Engelke’s mixture of anecdote and survey is a decent introduction to the field, but falls short of its title’s promise. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Informing and perhaps occasionally startling readers who aren't themselves anthropologists—is a profoundly important goal. Engelke achieves his goal with crystal-clear writing, and occasional humor, too."—-Barbara J. King, NPR

"An affable introduction to the discipline."—-James Ryerson, New York Times Book Review

"Praise for the UK edition: Clearly the work of an author having tremendous fun with material he knows inside out . . . [T]hinking like an anthropologist is something that we should all do more often."—-Simon Underdown, Times Higher Education

"How to Think Like an Anthropologist accomplishes what it sets out to do in a clear and elegant way. It is an excellent introduction to the discipline and will be equally suited to the student of anthropology or the general reader interested in learning more about the field. And for veteran scholars in other fields who might be less well-acquainted with anthropology, perhaps How to Think Like an Anthropologist will give them pause for thought about what and how they think, and why."—-Yusuf Lenfest, Reading Religion

"[A] book written with great verve. . . . Whether you have some knowledge of anthropology but want to be more sure about the accuracy of what you think you already understand, or you have always wanted to know what anthropologists are up to but could never find a good path into the discipline . . . this is a book for you."—-Joel Robbins, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

From the Publisher