Full Description
For junior/senior-level courses in Anthropology, History, Political Science, Religious Studies, International Relations, Middle East Studies, and Islamic Studies.Based on a synthesis of the extensive research of Middle Eastern and Western scholars, and the author's own research, this lively anthropological introduction to the Middle East and Central Asia explores the socio-political complexities of those regions and introduces students to the questions that have been, and are being, developed by scholars and writers concerned with the two regions.
Contents
I. INTRODUCTION. 1. Anthropology, the Middle East, and Central Asia. 2. Intellectual Predecessors: East and West. II. LOCATIONS: REGION, ECONOMY, AND SOCIETY. 3. Village and Community. 4. Pastoral Nomadism. 5. Cities in Their Place. III. CONSTRUCTED MEANINGS. 6. What Is a Tribe? 7. Personal and Family Relationships. 8. Change in Practical Ideologies: Self, Gender, and Ethnicity. 9. The Cultural Order of Complex Societies. IV. RELIGION AND EXPERIENCE. 10. Islam and the "Religions of the Book." 11. State Authority and Society. Appendix: Internet Resources for the Middle East and Central Asia. Glossary. Index.
