Contemporary Cultures, Global Connections: Anthropology for the 21st Century

The anthology Contemporary Cultures, Global Connections: Anthropology for the 21st Century, brings together work by cultural anthropologists who study contemporary life. While many readers in the discipline draw on what is considered “classic” material about exotic peoples living in isolation in far-off locations, this book presents excellent examples of what anthropologists are researching and writing about right now. The selections reflect the reality that most anthropologists today focus on cities, technology, media, government policies, corporations, migration, and other institutions and processes that shape life in the modern world.

Contemporary Cultures, Global Connections will be useful to scholars and students not only in anthropology but in other disciplines because of the growing interest in ethnography as a tool for understanding social values, institutions, and behavior. The chapters trace relationships and processes that cross regional and cultural boundaries to produce both similarities and differences. The authors address issues of knowledge production, representation, racialization, and constructions of gender. Combining theoretical depth and empirical scope, the 27 chapters in the anthology challenge readers to critically reflect on common assumptions about society and human nature.

Contemporary Cultures, Global Connections: Anthropology for the 21st Century is a path-breaking collection for use in teaching cultural anthropology and interdisciplinary fields such as global studies, international studies, and gender studies.

Victoria Bernal is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. She has carried out ethnographic research in Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, and cyberspace. She is the author of Cultivating Workers: Peasants and Capitalism in a Sudanese Village. Her numerous articles explore issues of gender, migration, Islamic revival, cyberspace, nationalism, diaspora, violence, and civil society.