Think Like an Anthropologist

Engelke's subtle and self-reflexive study presents an excellent overview of the debates and issues that have shaped this hugely influential social science. . . Using an eclectic range of examples, including bridewealth in modern China and the role of social values in Downton Abbey, he shows how anthropology reveals both the limits of common sense and the universal lessons that can be drawn from communities everywhere -- PD Smith * Guardian * Think Like an Anthropologist sets forth the anthropological sensibility as a mode of thinking that might encourage us to better appreciate the complexity and diversity of the modern world -- Lamorna Ash * TLS * Informing -- and perhaps occasionally startling readers who aren't themselves anthropologists -- is a profoundly important goal. Engelke achieves his goal with crystal-clear writing, and occasional humor, too -- Barbara J. King * NPR * An affable introduction to the discipline -- James Ryerson * New York Times Book Review * Clearly the work of an author having tremendous fun with material he knows inside out . . . Thinking like an anthropologist is something that we should all do more often -- Simon Underdown * Times Higher Education * We may not do research in faraway places or even nearby, among our curious neighbors, but we all need to be anthropologists. Thinking like an anthropologist means stopping to consider our common-sense categories in critical, comparative, and historically informed ways. Matthew Engelke's admirably lucid book gives us the tools we need -- James Clifford, author of Returns: Becoming Indigenous in the Twenty-First Century A terrific introduction to the field. Beautifully written, winningly told, and provocative, the book captures the basic feature of the discipline: that anthropology is a way of seeing and thinking. Anthropology invites you to see yourself as someone else might see you. In this way, it is the most world-changing of fields -- T. M. Luhrmann, author of When God Talks Back Playful and perceptive, Matthew Engelke welcomes readers into the fascinating history and profound insights of anthropology. This elegant synthesis shows how the discipline can change the way we think about the world -- Caitlin Zaloom, author of Out of the Pits