Understanding Culture : An Introduction to Anthropological Theory

Salzman's text explores six major streams of anthropological theory: interdependence in human life (functionalism); agency in human action (processualism and transactionalism); determining factors (materialism and political economy); coherence in culture (configurationalism and structuralism); transformation through time (history and evolution); and critical advocacy (feminism and postmodernism). Each theoretical approach is initially presented in its own terms, to show its assumptions, aims, and accomplishments. Each approach is elucidated and illustrated through the arguments and ethnographic examples offered by original theorists and astute practitioners.

The introductory and concluding chapters of Understanding Culture frame the diverse theoretical positions and the debates among them within the broader philosophical opposition between explanation and explication. A caution is offered about presentism, the reflex acceptance of currently popular theories and easy dismissal of earlier theories, because an informed appreciation of a wide range of theoretical approaches is beneficial for understanding cultures. Includes glossary of major terms, brief biographies of major culture theorists, and suggestions for further reading.

Also by Philip Carl Salzman and available from Waveland Press: Classic Comparative Anthropology: Studies from the Tradition (ISBN 9781577667100). Title of related interest also available from Waveland Press: Garbarino, Sociocultural Theory in Anthropology: A Short History (ISBN 9780881330564).