This is a thoroughly updated and revised edition of a popular classic of modern anthropology. The authors provide summaries of "Enlightenment", "Romantic" and "Victorian" anthropology, from the cultural theories of Morgan and Taylor to the often neglected contributions of German scholars. The ambiguous relationship between anthropology and national cultures is also considered.The book provides an unparalleled account of theoretical developments in anthropology from the 1920s to the present, including functionalism, structuralism, hermeneutics, neo-Marxism and discourse analysis. There are brief biographies of major anthropologists and coverage of key debates including totemism, kinship and globalization.This essential text on anthropology is highly engaging, authoritative and suitable for students at all levels.

Thomas Hylland Eriksen is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway. He is the author of numerous books, including Ethnicity and Nationalism, A History of Anthropology, Small Places, Large Issues, Tyranny of the Moment and Globalisation, all available from Pluto Press.Finn Sivert Nielsen is a Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen.