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Social and Cultural Anthropology for the 21st Century

Connected Worlds
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Social and Cultural Anthropology for the 21st Century: Connected Worlds offers a lively and accessible introduction to socio-cultural anthropology, aimed at undergraduates encountering the subject for the first time. It presents a rich array of ethnographic examples, highlighting how anthropological fieldwork aids understanding of today's diverse and complex world. The book covers foundational topics like kinship, exchange, and religion, alongside pressing contemporary issues such as climate change, economic crisis, social media, refugees, sexuality, and race. By foregrounding global connections and their local effects, it equips students with analytical tools to navigate a world marked by cross-cultural contact, evolving communication technologies, and uncertainty.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for undergraduate students new to social and cultural anthropology as well as more advanced learners seeking a refresher. It suits readers interested in understanding both the historical foundations and urgent social issues shaping anthropology in the twenty-first century.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A lively, accessible, and wide-ranging introduction to socio-cultural anthropology for undergraduates that draws on a wide range of ethnographies to showcase how anthropological fieldwork and analysis can help us to understand the contemporary world in all its complexity and variety.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Social and Cultural Anthropology for the 21st Century: Connected Worlds is a lively, accessible, and wide-ranging introduction to socio-cultural anthropology for undergraduate students. It draws on a wealth of ethnographic examples to showcase how anthropological fieldwork and analysis can help us understand the contemporary world in all its diversity and complexity.

The book is addressed to a twenty-first-century readership of students who are encountering social and cultural anthropology for the first time. It provides an overview of the key debates and methods that have historically defined the discipline and of the approaches and questions that shape it today. In addition to classic research areas such as kinship, exchange, and religion, topics that are pressing concerns for our times are covered, such as climate change, economic crisis, social media, refugees, sexuality, and race.

Foregrounding ethnographic stories from all over the world to illustrate global connections and their effects on local lives, the book combines a focus on history with urgent present-day social issues. It will equip students with the analytical tools that they need to negotiate a world characterized by unprecedented cross-cultural contact, ever-changing communicative technologies, and new forms of uncertainty.

The book is an essential resource for introductory courses in social and cultural anthropology and as a refresher for more advanced students.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Susana Narotzky, University of Barcelona praises the book as a masterful introduction that skilfully balances classical anthropology themes with contemporary issues. She highlights the authors’ clear language, strong ethnographic grounding, and engagement with both theoretical and methodological debates, commending its focus on connections that make life possible.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781138829121

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 30 November 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Routledge

Illustration: 6 Line drawings, black and white; 56 Halftones, black and white; 62 Illustrations, black and white

Audience: Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Width: 174.0mm

Height: 246.0mm

Weight: 700g

Pages: 316

About the Author

Marzia Balzani is research professor of anthropology, New York University Abu Dhabi. She has published on the anthropology of South Asia, political ritual, diasporic Islam, and gendered and religious persecution. In 2003–08 she was chief examiner for social and cultural anthropology for the International Baccalaureate and in 2010–12 she was chief examiner for Anthropology for the A level (AQA).

Niko Besnier is professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and honorary research fellow at La Trobe University. He has published widely on globalization, sport, sexuality and gender, economic relations, and language. In 1998–2003, he was chief examiner for social and cultural anthropology for the International Baccalaureate, and in 2015–19, he edited the journal American Ethnologist.

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