Product Description: Yanomami raises questions central to the field of anthropology—questions concerning the practice of fieldwork, the production of knowledge, and anthropology's intellectual and ethical vision of itself. Using the Yanomami controversy—one of anthropology's most famous and explosive imbroglios—as its starting point, this book draws readers into not only reflecting on but refashioning the very heart and soul of the discipline...read more

Product Description: How does one describe the Pacific's pasts? The easy confidence historians once had in writing about the region has disappeared in the turmoil surrounding today's politics of representation. Earlier narratives that focused on what happened when are now accused of encouraging myths of progress...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Assesses current theories and approaches in anthropology and envisages future directions of the discipline. Contributors include: Clifford Geertz, Roy Rappaport and Eric Wolf. Contemporary theory is emphasized in the text.

The unravelling of an anthropological puzzle concerning a Polynesian island's social organization clarifies the strength and limitations of the anthropological approach to constructing knowledge. (view table of contents)

Product Description: This title assesses the current state of anthropological research in Polynesia through a series of original essays on prehistory, social organisation, socialisation, mana and tapu, chieftainship, art, and early contact. The essays, taken together, offer a broad understanding of Polynesian societies...read more