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Cultural Anthropology
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Cultural Anthropology

12th Edition
  • Serena Nanda - John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
  • Richard L. Warms - Texas State University - San Marcos, USA
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February 2019 | 456 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Now with SAGE Publishing!

Cultural Anthropology integrates critical thinking, explores rich ethnographies, and prompts students to skillfully explore and study today’s world. Readers will better understand social structures by examining themselves, their own cultures, and cultures from across the globe. Serena Nanda and Richard L. Warms show how historical studies and anthropological techniques can help students think about the nature, structure, and meaning of human societies. With a practical emphasis on areas such as medicine, forensics, and advocacy, this book takes an applied approach to anthropology.

The authors cover a broad range of historical and contemporary theories and apply them to real-world global issues. The Twelfth Edition includes a wealth of new examples, along with updated statistical information and ethnographies that help students see the range of human possibilities.

This title is accompanied by a complete teaching and learning package. Contact your SAGE representative to request a demo.

 
Preface
 
About the Authors
 
Part I: INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 
Chapter 1. Anthropology and Human Diversity
Specialization in Anthropology

 
Some Critical Issues in Anthropology

 
Why Study Anthropology?

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 2. Doing Cultural Anthropology
Anthropology in Historical Perspective

 
Anthropological Techniques

 
Some Critical Issues in Ethnography

 
Ethical Considerations in Fieldwork

 
New Roles for the Ethnographer

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 3. The Idea of Culture
Defining Culture

 
Culture Is Made Up of Learned Behaviors

 
Culture Is the Way Humans Use Symbols to Classify Their World and Give It Meaning

 
Culture Is an Integrated System—Or Is It?

 
Culture Is a Shared System of Norms and Values—Or Is It?

 
Culture Is the Way Human Beings Adapt to the World

 
Culture Is Constantly Changing

 
Culture Counts

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 4. Communication
Origins and Acquisition of Human Language

 
The Structure of Language

 
Language and Culture

 
Nonverbal Communication

 
Language Change

 
Summary

 
 
Part II: EQUALITIES AND INEQUALITIES
 
Chapter 5. Making a Living
Human Adaptation and the Environment

 
An Overview of Subsistence Strategies

 
Foraging

 
Pastoralism

 
Horticulture

 
Agriculture

 
Industrialism

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 6. Economics
Economic Behavior

 
Allocating Resources

 
Organizing Labor

 
Distribution: Systems of Exchange and Consumption

 
Capitalism

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 7. Political Organization
Social Differentiation

 
Power and Social Control

 
Types of Political Organization

 
The Nation–State

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 8. Stratification
Explaining Social Stratification

 
Class and Caste in Social Stratification

 
Stratification and Race

 
Stratification and Ethnicity

 
Summary

 
 
Part III: FAMILIES IN SOCIETY
 
Chapter 9. Kinship
Kinship: Relationships Through Descent and Marriage

 
Unilineal Descent Groups

 
Nonunilineal Kinship Systems

 
The Classification of Kin

 
Principles for Classifying Kin

 
Types of Kinship Systems

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 10. Marriage, Family, and Domestic Groups
Functions of Marriage and the Family

 
Marriage Rules

 
Monogamy, Polygyny, and Polyandry

 
Exchange of Goods and Rights in Marriage

 
Different Kinds of Families

 
Families and Globalization

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 11. Gender
Sex, Sexuality, and Gender

 
The Cultural Construction of Gender

 
Gender Ideologies: Women’s Sexuality and Male Prestige Behavior

 
Controlling Female Sexuality

 
Variability in Gender and Sexuality

 
Theories of Gender and Stratification

 
Gender Relations and Systems of Production

 
Gender and Globalization

 
Summary

 
 
Part IV: SYMBOLS AND MEANINGS
 
Chapter 12. Religion
What Religion Does in Society

 
Characteristics of Religion

 
Rituals and Ways of Addressing the Supernatural

 
Religious Practitioners

 
Religion and Change

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 13. Creative Expression
Art in Its Cultural Context

 
Some Functions of Art

 
Art, Culture, and Symbolism

 
Art and the Expression of Cultural Themes

 
Art and Politics

 
Art and the Expression of Identities

 
Art and Representing the Other

 
Marketing World Art

 
Summary

 
 
Part V: CULTURE CHANGE
 
Chapter 14. Power, Conquest, and a World System
European Expansion: Motives and Methods

 
The Era of Colonialism

 
Making Colonialism Pay

 
Decolonization

 
An Interconnected but Unstable World

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 15. Culture, Change, and the Modern World
The Changing Political and Economic Environment

 
The Persistence of Poverty and Instability

 
Multinational Corporations

 
Urbanization

 
Population Pressure

 
Environmental Challenges

 
The Rights of Indigenous People

 
Summary

 
 
Appendix: A Brief Historical Guide to Anthropological Theory
19th-Century Evolutionism

 
The Early Sociologists

 
Boas and American Anthropology

 
Functionalism

 
Culture and Personality

 
Cultural Ecology and Neo-Evolutionism

 
Neomaterialism: Evolutionary, Functionalist, Ecological, and Marxist

 
Structuralism

 
Ethnoscience and Cognitive Anthropology

 
Sociobiology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Behavioral Ecology

 
Anthropology and Gender

 
Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology

 
Postmodernism

 
Anthropology and Globalization

 
Structure and Agency: Practice Theory approaches

 
 
References
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site
edge.sagepub.com/nanda12e


For additional information, custom options, or to request a personalized walkthrough of these resources, please contact your sales representative.


LMS cartridge included with this title for use in Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace by Desire2Learn (D2L), and Moodle

The LMS cartridge makes it easy to import this title’s instructor resources into your learning management system (LMS). These resources include:

  • Test banks
  • Editable chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides
  • Sample course syllabi
  • Lecture notes
  • All tables and figures from the textbook 
Don’t use an LMS platform?

You can still access all of the same online resources for this title via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site.
Student Study Site

edge.sagepub.com/nanda12e

 

The open-access Student Study Site makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime. It offers flashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts, as well as learning objectives that reinforce the most important material.

“This book is the complete package. No more and no less is needed to teach cultural anthropology. The book helps my students see the world bigger, but feel like the world is smaller.” 

Tiffany M. Blackmon
Northern Virginia Community College

“Well written. The prose and narrative are easy to follow and is great to engage and hold student interest. It’s has relevant references to applications of anthropology to real world events, circumstances and activities.” 

David Julian Hodges
Hunter College (CUNY)

“An updated take on the classic intro anthropology text that includes recent national and world developments and conversations”   

Heather York
Southern New Hampshire University

“This book focuses on social structures and it helps students look at themselves in their culture versus different cultures to better understand the social structures and institutions. The authors really put themselves into the shoes of the student in a beginning cultural anthropology course.”

 

Roxanne Gerbrandt
Austin Peay State University

It's good, but I have another that I prefer that saves students money.

Dr Beverly Bennett
Social Science Dept, Wilbur Wright College
January 15, 2021

Excellent and thorough coverage of topic. The book is well structured and forms the backbone of my course.

Professor Paul Hackett
Marketing Communication Dept, Emerson College
July 25, 2020
Key features
NEW TO THIS EDITION:

  • The new edition is available as a digital option through SAGE Vantage, an intuitive digital platform that offers auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools—including video—all designed to enable students to better prepare for class.
  • Learning Objectives help students center and focus on the chapter's key points, and are phrased using Bloom's Taxonomy of Measurable Verbs and move toward the critical thinking end of the taxonomy.
  • Ethnography features take in-depth looks at specific cultures, teaches students about the basic tool of anthropology, and helps students think about and figure out themselves.
  • Anthropology Makes a Difference features show students what they can do with an anthropology degree.
  • Global and Local features deal directly with current social issues and shows the direct relevance of anthropology to current events.
  • Unique chapter summaries are phrased in the form of questions that are then answered for a more applied feel and helps get students actively thinking.
KEY FEATURES:
  • A carefully developed visual and pedagogical program inspires students to see the world through an anthropological lens.
  • The book covers both historical and contemporary theories without any insistence on any particular approach. 
  • Contemporary, real-world global issues appeal to any introductory student from any discipline. 

Sample Materials & Chapters

6. Economics

11. Gender


Vantage Reference: 
Cultural Anthropology- Vantage Digital Option

For instructors

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