Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application
"There are several single-author textbooks currently available describing how the concepts and methods of academic cultural anthropology can be adopted, with certain modifications, to achieve specific social transformations and policy goals. Each of them carries the title Applied Anthropology, followed by a distinguishing subtitle. In comparison, this edited volume is notable for its multiplicity of perspectives, contributed by some of the discipline's heaviest hitters. The book will find two enthusiastic audiences: academic anthropologists seeking to learn more about anthropology's fifth field, and students of applied anthropology requiring exemplars of practice. Some of the domains discussed--development, business, health--are thoroughly covered in the single-author texts; others (agriculture, aging, resettlement) are not. The usual introductory textbook materials on history, theory, and methods are concisely reviewed in the first chapter, so the book can be used as a stand-alone as well as a supplementary text. A short but admirable summary chapter places the contributors' work into the context of significant contemporary phenomena (e.g., demographic changes and globalization) as well as current trends in applied anthropology (e.g., greater interdisciplinarity, reflexivity, and community participation). Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice