Anthropology: Credo Reference Books

This new edition of the highly acclaimed Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology provides a unique guide to the ideas, arguments and history of the discipline. Combining anthropological theory and ethnography, it includes substantial entries, short biographies of important figures in anthropology, and glossary items.

This work includes numerous entries in A-Z order, critically reviewing the literature on specific topics from abortion to world systems theory. In addition, nine major entries cover each of the major disciplines (political economy; management and business; human geography; politics; sociology; law; psychology; organizational behavior) and the history and development of the social sciences in a broader sense.

This practical, down-to-earth dictionary helps students new to the social sciences gain a thorough understanding of the key terms, from Action research to Utilitarianism. Each entry includes a concise core definition, a more detailed explanation, and an introduction to the associated debates and controversies. In addition, the book includes a useful outline of the practical application of each term, as well as a list of key figures and recommendations for further reading.

The central aim of this encyclopedia is to give the reader a comparative perspective on issues involving conceptions of gender, gender differences, gender roles, relationships between the genders, and sexuality.

This new and up-to-date dictionary contains numerous references to both European and American concepts, debates and terms that are relevant today- including words such as 'boat people', 'cybernazis', 'ebonics' as well as more established words and terms, such as 'affirmative action', 'caste', 'fortress Europe' and many more.

It is paradoxical that a subject that so easily captures the imagination is so difficult for the serious layman to access. Superficial media treatments and picture-book atlases and site guides on the one hand, jargon-heavy scholarly books and narrowly focused articles on the other-there are few ways to learn about the real world of archaeology outside the college classroom or the dig site. The Encyclopedia of Archaeology changes this, in making all aspects of archaeology accessible to a broad audience of the general scientific community, educators, students, and avocational archaeologists.

The Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology is unique because it is the first reference work to describe the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and to provide an overview of important topics in medical anthropology. No other single reference work comes close to marching the depth and breadth of information on the varying cultural background of health and illness around the world. More than 100 experts - anthropologists and other social scientists - have contributed their firsthand experience of medical cultures from around the world.

Hunting and gathering was humanity's first and most successful adaptation, occupying at least 90 percent of human history. Until 12,000 years ago, all humans lived this way. Surprisingly in an increasingly urbanized and technological world, dozens of hunting and gathering societies have persisted and thrive world-wide, resilient in the face of change, their ancient ways now combined with the trappings of modernity.

Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures is a fascinating and informative guide to the myriad discrete ethnic and cultural groupings that have inhabited our planet over the past 6000 years. It presents - in a simple and easy-to-follow A to Z structure within five regionally based sections (The Americas, Africa, Europe, South and Central Asia and the Middle East, and East and Southeast Asia and Oceania) - clear, concise and readable histories of a significant number of peoples, nations and cultures: from the Assyrians of the ancient Middle East to the modern-day Armenians, from the Belgae of ancient Europe to the modern-day Basques.

This book defines the current identity of community studies, provides a critical but reliable introduction to its key concepts, and is an engaging guide to the key social research methods used by community researchers and practitioners.

Entries in this volume synthesize a great deal of information about the historical and contemporary meanings of many of the central terms that structure the fields of American studies and cultural studies; they provide contexts for the usage of those terms by discussing how their meanings have developed over time; and they may even unlock a few mysteries and break a few codes.