Human Evolution, Language and Mind by William Noble and
Iain Davidson, Cambridge University Press, 拢15.95/$22.95,
ISBN 0 521 57635 0
GOSSIP, friendship, science and landscape are just four of the 200 intriguing
entries in the Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology
(Routledge, 拢75, ISBN 0 415 09996 X) edited by Edinburgh social
anthropologists Alan Barnard and Jonathan Spencer. Students鈥攁nd those in
search of some specialist knowledge鈥攚ill find entries such as 鈥渟candals,
anthropological鈥� easy to read, and the further reading lists helpful. Appendices
give potted biographies of famous (and usually dead) anthropologists and a
glossary of technical terms.
But anyone thinking of writing an anthropological bestseller should first
consult Popularizing Anthropology (Routledge, 拢14.99, ISBN 0 415
13613 X) edited by Jeremy MacClancy and Chris McDonagh, both of Oxford Brookes
University. Some of the book鈥檚 contributors are frankly pessimistic鈥攖hey
point to examples of popular anthropology that are shallow, misleading and
downright offensive to other cultures. But Edinburgh anthropologist Alan
Campbell takes a different view in his chapter. He claims 鈥渢he main reason why
`scholars鈥� don鈥檛 write popular work is not that they have some sort of
conscientious objection to it. It鈥檚 that they can鈥檛 do it.鈥�
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Popular or not, no self-respecting academic can entirely elude controversy as
鈥渒nowledge鈥� itself increasingly becomes a bone of contention. E. Doyle McCarthy,
professor of sociology at Fordham University, supplies a readable introduction
to the sociology of knowledge in his Knowledge as Culture (Routledge,
拢12.99, ISBN 0 415 06497 X).