From Anthropology to Social Theory: Rethinking the Social Sciences (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781108423809)

Presenting a ground-breaking revitalization of contemporary social theory, this book revisits the rise of the modern world to reopen the dialogue between anthropology and sociology. Using concepts developed by a series of 'maverick' anthropologists who were systematically marginalised as their ideas fell outside the standard academic canon, such as Arnold van Gennep, Marcel Mauss, Paul Radin, Lucien L騅y-Bruhl and Gregory Bateson, the authors argue that such concepts are necessary for understanding better the rise and dynamics of the modern world, including the development of the social sciences, in particular sociology and anthropology. Concepts discussed include liminality, imitation, schismogenesis and trickster, which provide an anthropological 'toolkit' for readers to develop innovative understandings of the underlying power mechanisms of globalized modernity. Aimed at graduate students and researchers, the book is clearly structured. Part I introduces the 'maverick' anthropologists, while Part II applies the maverick tool-kit to revisit the history of sociological thought and the question of modernity.

Author: Arpad Szakolczai, Bjn Thomassen
ISBN-10: 1108423809
ISBN-13: 9781108423809
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 01/17/2019
Pages: 294
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 6.30h x 9.20w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 07/01/2019