An Anthropology of Anthropology

Eleven essays that explain the core concepts of the discipline, from caste, kingship and the fetish to ritual, mourning and play. A rigorous guide to the ideas anthropologists still argue about.

Valerio Valeri

David Graeber's short, provocative essay on what anthropology can teach us about societies without the state, from gift economies to direct democracy. One of the most read anthropology texts of this century.

David Graeber

Bruno Latour's distinguished lecture to the American Anthropological Association, arguing that the ecological crisis turns anthropology into the key discipline of our time.

Bruno Latour

A practical guide to the ethical questions of fieldwork: consent, privacy, vulnerability, harm and online research. Useful for anyone planning an ethnographic project.

Ron Iphofen

A clear history of the tense relationship between anthropologists and development work, from colonial advisers to today's aid agencies, and the positions anthropologists take toward it.

David Lewis