What do you think?
Rate this book
Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective
CULTURAL A CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE, Third Edition is a sophisticated synthesis of social and cultural anthropology. Keesing was concerned with the political and ethical implications of anthropological fieldwork and was sensitive to the global conditions of inequality caused by the spread of capitalist relations of production. Thus, his book is more "political" than other introductory texts in the field. Keesing was also committed to the belief that students should not merely memorize terms and theories, but should also be challenged to ponder the deep questions raised by human diversity. Roger Keesing's untimely death in 1992 necessitated that a co-author execute his planned revision. Dr. Andrew Strathern was chosen because, like Keesing, his training is in the British social anthropological tradition, his fieldwork has concentrated on the Pacific, and his recent teaching experience has acquainted him with American cultural anthropology. In this revision, Dr. Strathern preserved Keesing's vision, arguments, and the ethnographies presented as illustrations of Keesing's theories, while also examining each sentence to determine whether its assertions needed to be updated, modified, or abandoned. Small changes made in this way incorporated a larger aim of updating and recasting the book to better fit and reflect a world 20 years since publication of the first edition.
576 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Roger M. Keesing
16 books3 followersProfessor Roger Martin Keesing was a linguist and anthropologist, noted for his fieldwork on the Kwaio people of Malaita in the Solomon Islands, and his writings on a wide range of topics including kinship, religion, politics, history, cognitive anthropology and language. Keesing was a major contributor to anthropology.
He was the son of Felix M. Keesing, another distinguished anthropologist with an interest in the South Pacific. Keesing studied at Stanford and Harvard and began work in 1965 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In 1974 he became a professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, heading the Department of Anthropology from 1976. In 1990 he moved to McGill University in Montreal.
In 1974 he wrote a famous article, one of around a hundred published over the course of his career, defining and specifying a view of culture inspired by linguistics and Marxian thinking. He also wrote several books, and is perhaps best known among students of anthropology as the author of Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective, regarded as one of the most authoritative general introductory works on the subject.[citation needed] This was based on a book originally authored by his father, and was extensively revised by Keesing over the course of many years, beginning with an updated edition of the original in 1971, and continuing with a full rewrite in 1976, revised further in 1981. Since Keesing's death this task was taken up by Dr Andrew Strathern, and the book remains popular.
In 1989, Keesing worked closely with the author to translate Jonathan Fifi'i's autobiography "From pig-theft to parliament : my life between two worlds" which chronicled his life from his poor Kwaio origins through to the Maasina Ruru movement and onto his career as a politician.
Keesing died suddenly of a heart attack at the Canadian Anthropology Society dance and reception in 1993, and his ashes were transferred to the Solomon Islands, where the families of his Kwaio associates accord him the status of an andalo or ancestral spirit.
He was the son of Felix M. Keesing, another distinguished anthropologist with an interest in the South Pacific. Keesing studied at Stanford and Harvard and began work in 1965 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In 1974 he became a professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, heading the Department of Anthropology from 1976. In 1990 he moved to McGill University in Montreal.
In 1974 he wrote a famous article, one of around a hundred published over the course of his career, defining and specifying a view of culture inspired by linguistics and Marxian thinking. He also wrote several books, and is perhaps best known among students of anthropology as the author of Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective, regarded as one of the most authoritative general introductory works on the subject.[citation needed] This was based on a book originally authored by his father, and was extensively revised by Keesing over the course of many years, beginning with an updated edition of the original in 1971, and continuing with a full rewrite in 1976, revised further in 1981. Since Keesing's death this task was taken up by Dr Andrew Strathern, and the book remains popular.
In 1989, Keesing worked closely with the author to translate Jonathan Fifi'i's autobiography "From pig-theft to parliament : my life between two worlds" which chronicled his life from his poor Kwaio origins through to the Maasina Ruru movement and onto his career as a politician.
Keesing died suddenly of a heart attack at the Canadian Anthropology Society dance and reception in 1993, and his ashes were transferred to the Solomon Islands, where the families of his Kwaio associates accord him the status of an andalo or ancestral spirit.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 5, 2012
A classic anthropology text that never seems to date. A sentimental attachment as it was my first text book as a mature student in 1997.
Read
December 16, 2019I wanna finish this book.
June 18, 2012
Toinen, mielenkiintoinen tenttikirja, jota en myöskään ehtinyt lukea kokonaan lukemisen hitauden takia.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews