Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application

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Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application, edited by Satish Kedia and John van Willigen, comprises essays by prominent scholars on the potential, accomplishments, and methods of applied anthropology. Domains covered in the volume include development, agriculture, environment, health and medicine, nutrition, population displacement and resettlement, business and industry, education, and aging. The contributors demonstrate in compelling ways how anthropological knowledge, skills, and methodologies can be put to work in addressing social, economic, health, and technical problems facing societies today. With their genuine commitment to protecting the diversity and vitality of human communities, applied anthropologists working in real-life settings have and will continue to have a lasting impact on people around the world. The editors enrich the volume by providing introductory and concluding chapters that offer a detailed historical context for applied anthropology and an exploration of its future directions.

Reviews

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 *

Author Bio

Satish Kedia is Associate Professor of Anthropology The University of Memphis. John van Willigen is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky.