Anthropology 234 - Culture, Power and Politics

This course is a general introduction to anthropological analysis of politics and the political. Through a broad survey of anthropological texts and theories, this course explores what an ethnographic perspective can offer to the understandings of power and government. Special emphasis is placed on the role of culture, symbols and social networks in the political life of local communities. Examples are drawn from a number of case studies in Africa, East Asia, Latin America and the United States, and range in scale from studies of local politics in small-scale societies to analyses of nationalism and political performance in modern nation-states. Enrollment limited to 30.