Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 232
•
Trim: 6½ x 9¼
978-0-7591-2382-3 • Hardback • October 2014 • $67.00 • (£52.00)
978-0-7591-2383-0 • eBook • October 2014 • $63.50 • (£49.00)
Caroline B. Brettell is University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Ruth Collins Altshuler Director of the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute at Southern Methodist University. Her numerous publications include Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective 6E (co-edited with Carolyn Sargent); Crossing Borders/Constructing Boundaries; and Anthropology and Migration. She has served as president of the Social Science History Association as well as the Society for the Anthropology of Europe and on various review panels for the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Institutes of Health, among others.
Introduction: Anthropological Conversations across Disciplines
1—The Presence of the Past in Culture: Anthropology and History
Fieldwork in the Archives: Tackling the Methodology of History
The Presence of the Past: Anthropological History
The Presence of the Past: The Anthropology of History
Conclusion: The Presence of the Past: An Engaged Historical Anthropology
2—Space, Place, and Culture: Anthropology and Geography
Anthropology and Geography: Early Conversations
The Anthropology of Space and Place
Gendered Space and Feminist Geography
The New Anthropology of Landscape and the Environment
Conclusion: From the Etics of Region to the Emics of Space and Place
3—Writing Culture: Anthropology and Literature
Ethnography as Genre: Experimenting with Forms of Writing
The Literary Observer: Novelists with an Anthropological Eye
Conclusion: The Craft of Writing Anthropology
4—The Science in Culture: Anthropology and Biology
Biology and Culture in the Twentieth Century: From Boas to Sociobiology to Bioculturalism
New Directions in the Integration of Biology and Culture
Conclusion
5—The Individual and Culture: Anthropology and Psychology
Anthropology, Psychoanalysis, and Neo-Freudianism: Seeds of Interaction, Seeds of Cross-Disciplinarity
Stress, Trauma, and Meaning-Centered Psychology Anthropology
Conclusion: A Cross-Cultural Psychology
6—Culture and Population: Anthropology and Demography
Bridging the Divide: Methods, Concepts, and Epistemology
The Problems Explored by Anthropological Demographers
Conclusion: Toward Convergence and Cross-Disciplinarity?
Notes
References
Index
About the Author
Brettell has made an extremely valuable contribution to the literatures on thinking anthropologically and across disciplines. Six chapters devoted to 'conversations' between anthropology and history, geography, literature, biology, psychology, and demographics give readers a survey of the various topics and approaches that have crossed those lines and key scholars involved in such projects. The writing is clear and accessible, suitable for all audiences, and the content includes both historical and contemporary examples. . . .The book will be useful for anthropological readers in a variety of contexts (e.g., methods, disciplinary history, general philosophy of the field) and also very useful for non-anthropologists to get a sense of and appreciation for ways that anthropological approaches and works might be relevant to their own fields and for encouraging further conversations across disciplinary lines. Summing Up: Highly recommended. For all general and academic audiences.
— Choice Reviews
Ambitious and incredibly broad… I know of no other book which addresses so many of anthropology’s cross-disciplinary engagements while tackling many of the “big questions” that have concerned anthropologists over the last century. Brettell’s approach is immensely valuable and distinctive for its coverage of the ways that anthropology has engaged with numerous disciplines and the ways that these engagements have evolved and taken shape in both historical and current contexts. She does an exceptional job of bringing in recent and cutting-edge research (as well as classical studies) that tells the reader what is happening in anthropology today.
— Carolyn Schwarz, Goucher College
A thoughtful, insightful, wonderful review of the interdisciplinary possibilities anthropologists share with neighboring disciplines. We should all take its core message to heart: In addressing broad intellectual questions, anthropologists work best when they work with others. Full of provocative ideas to ponder late into the night.
— Robert Borofsky, Hawaii Pacific University, Hawai'i Pacific University
No discipline is an island, and Caroline Brettell’s superb overview of anthropology’s past and present shows how much of its vitality has always depended on exploring its borderlands. For all who want breadth and depth in their understanding of the debates which have moved anthropology forward, it is a smart strategy to devote some time to looking sideways. I know of no better guide to the territory than this book.
— Ulf Hannerz, Stockholm University; author of World Watching
Accessible, compelling, and enjoyable. Anthropological Conversations interrogates the interdisciplinary boundaries of contemporary anthropology through insightful essays on writing, space and place, history, landscape and the environment. Brettell challenges readers to explore the intersections of disciplines and the way that intellectual encounters have enriched the field. The book also highlights the importance of considering influence in multidirectional ways.
— Setha Low, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Illustrates the openness of a field that has engaged other disciplines throughout its history in interesting and significant ways
Each chapter highlights both classical anthropological studies and contemporary trends
Highlights numerous cutting-edge projects in anthropology that reach across disciplinary boundaries
Offers a unique approach to the history of anthropology
Stimulates readers to think about their own cross-disciplinary engagements and conversations
Addresses why anthropology is labeled the most scientific of the humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences
Tackles many of the big questions that have been of concern to anthropology over the last century
Explores some of the most fundamental questions of anthropology through the prism of interdisciplinary conversations