Social and cultural anthropology has made many important contributions to modern thought: through its investigation of culture as a distinctively human characteristic; its doctrine of cultural relativism; and its methodology of fieldwork and ethnography. This Very Short Introduction explores the fundamental concepts of the field and its methods, as well as its relevance to contemporary life. Throughout, Peter Just and John Monaghan ground their discussion in concrete examples drawn from their own field experiences in Mexico and Indonesia. This new edition also considers some of the developments of the new generation of social and cultural anthropologists. It explores the 'cultural construction' of social categories, in particular ofgender, as well as discussing recent work on migration and the development of 'ontological anthropology.'ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introduction series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

In 1981, UT Press began to issue supplemental volumes to the classic sixteen-volume work, Handbook of Middle American Indians. These supplements are intended to update scholarship in various areas and to cover topics of current interest. Supplements devoted to Archaeology, Linguistics, Literatures, Ethnohistory, and Epigraphy have appeared to date. In this Ethnology supplement, anthropologists who have carried out long-term fieldwork among indigenous people review the ethnographic literature in the various regions of Middle America and discuss the theoretical and methodological orientations that have framed the work of areal scholars over the last several decades. They examine how research agendas have developed in relationship to broader interests in the field and the ways in which the anthropology of the region has responded to the sociopolitical and economic policies of Mexico and Guatemala. Most importantly, they focus on the changing conditions of life of the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. This volume thus offers a comprehensive picture of both the indigenous populations and developments in the anthropology of the region over the last thirty years.

Social and cultural anthropology has made many important contributions to modern thought: through its investigation of culture as a distinctively human characteristic; its doctrine of cultural relativism; and its methodology of fieldwork and ethnography. This Very Short Introduction explores the fundamental concepts of the field and its methods, as well as its relevance to contemporary life. Throughout, Peter Just and John Monaghan ground their discussion in concrete examples drawn from their own field experiences in Mexico and Indonesia. This new edition also considers some of the developments of the new generation of social and cultural anthropologists. It explores the 'cultural construction' of social categories, in particular ofgender, as well as discussing recent work on migration and the development of 'ontological anthropology.'ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introduction series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

In 1981, UT Press began to issue supplemental volumes to the classic sixteen-volume work, Handbook of Middle American Indians. These supplements are intended to update scholarship in various areas and to cover topics of current interest. Supplements devoted to Archaeology, Linguistics, Literatures, Ethnohistory, and Epigraphy have appeared to date. In this Ethnology supplement, anthropologists who have carried out long-term fieldwork among indigenous people review the ethnographic literature in the various regions of Middle America and discuss the theoretical and methodological orientations that have framed the work of areal scholars over the last several decades. They examine how research agendas have developed in relationship to broader interests in the field and the ways in which the anthropology of the region has responded to the sociopolitical and economic policies of Mexico and Guatemala. Most importantly, they focus on the changing conditions of life of the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. This volume thus offers a comprehensive picture of both the indigenous populations and developments in the anthropology of the region over the last thirty years.