Introduction to Anthropology

Designed to meet the scope and sequence of your course, OpenStax Introduction to Anthropology is a four-field text integrating diverse voices, engaging field activities, and meaningful themes like Indigenous experiences and social inequality to engage students and enrich learning. The text showcases the historical context of the discipline, with a strong focus on anthropology as a living and evolving field.  There is significant discussion of recent efforts to make the field more diverse—in its practitioners, in the questions it asks, and in the applications of anthropological research to address contemporary challenges.  In addressing social inequality, the text drives readers to consider the rise and impact of social inequalities based on forms of identity and difference (such as gender, ethnicity, race, and class) as well as oppression and discrimination. The contributors to and dangers of socioeconomic inequality are fully addressed, and the role of inequality in social dysfunction, disruption, and change is noted.

Senior Contributing Authors

Jennifer Hasty, University of Pennsylvania
David G. Lewis, Oregon State University
Marjorie M. Snipes, University of West Georgia

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology?
• Introduction
• 1.1 The Study of Humanity, or "Anthropology Is Vast"
• 1.2 The Four-Field Approach: Four Approaches within the Guiding Narrative
• 1.3 Overcoming Ethnocentrism
• 1.4 Western Bias in Our Assumptions about Humanity
• 1.5 Holism, Anthropology’s Distinctive Approach
• 1.6 Cross-Cultural Comparison and Cultural Relativism
• 1.7 Reaching for an Insider’s Point of View
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 2 Methods: Cultural and Archaeological
• Introduction
• 2.1 Archaeological Research Methods
• 2.2 Conservation and Naturalism
• 2.3 Ethnography and Ethnology
• 2.4 Participant Observation and Interviewing
• 2.5 Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis
• 2.6 Collections
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 3 Culture Concept Theory: Theories of Cultural Change
• Introduction
• 3.1 The Homeyness of Culture
• 3.2 The Winkiness of Culture
• 3.3 The Elements of Culture
• 3.4 The Aggregates of Culture
• 3.5 Modes of Cultural Analysis
• 3.6 The Paradoxes of Culture
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 4 Biological Evolution and Early Human Evidence
• Introduction
• 4.1 What Is Biological Anthropology?
• 4.2 What’s in a Name? The Science of Taxonomy
• 4.3 It’s All in the Genes! The Foundation of Evolution
• 4.4 Evolution in Action: Past and Present
• 4.5 What Is a Primate?
• 4.6 Origin of and Classification of Primates
• 4.7 Our Ancient Past: The Earliest Hominins
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 5 The Genus Homo and the Emergence of Us
• Introduction
• 5.1 Defining the Genus Homo
• 5.2 Tools and Brains: Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, and Homo erectus
• 5.3 The Emergence of Us: The Archaic Homo
• 5.4 Tracking Genomes: Our Human Story Unfolds
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 6 Language and Communication
• Introduction
• 6.1 The Emergence and Development of Language
• 6.2 Language and the Mind
• 6.3 Language, Community, and Culture
• 6.4 Performativity and Ritual
• 6.5 Language and Power
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 7 Work, Life, and Value: Economic Anthropology
• Introduction
• 7.1 Economies: Two Ways to Study Them
• 7.2 Modes of Subsistence
• 7.3 Gathering and Hunting
• 7.4 Pastoralism
• 7.5 Plant Cultivation: Horticulture and Agriculture
• 7.6 Exchange, Value, and Consumption
• 7.7 Industrialism and Postmodernity
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 8 Authority, Decisions, and Power: Political Anthropology
• Introduction
• 8.1 Colonialism and the Categorization of Political Systems
• 8.2 Acephalous Societies: Bands and Tribes
• 8.3 Centralized Societies: Chiefdoms and States
• 8.4 Modern Nation-States
• 8.5 Resistance, Revolution, and Social Movements
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 9 Social Inequality
• Introduction
• 9.1 Theories of Inequity and Inequality
• 9.2 Systems of Inequality
• 9.3 Intersections of Inequality
• 9.4 Studying In: Addressing Inequities within Anthropology
• Key Terms
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 10 The Global Impact of Human Migration
• Introduction
• 10.1 Peopling of the World
• 10.2 Early Global Movements and Cultural Hybridity
• 10.3 Peasantry and Urbanization
• 10.4 Inequality along the Margins
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 11 Forming Family through Kinship
• Introduction
• 11.1 What Is Kinship?
• 11.2 Defining Family and Household
• 11.3 Reckoning Kinship across Cultures
• 11.4 Marriage and Families across Cultures
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 12 Gender and Sexuality
• Introduction
• 12.1 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in Anthropology
• 12.2 Performing Gender Categories
• 12.3 The Power of Gender: Patriarchy and Matriarchy
• 12.4 Sexuality and Queer Anthropology
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 13 Religion and Culture
• Introduction
• 13.1 What Is Religion?
• 13.2 Symbolic and Sacred Space
• 13.3 Myth and Religious Doctrine
• 13.4 Rituals of Transition and Conformity
• 13.5 Other Forms of Religious Practice
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 14 Anthropology of Food
• Introduction
• 14.1 Food as a Material Artifact
• 14.2 A Biocultural Approach to Food
• 14.3 Food and Cultural Identity
• 14.4 The Globalization of Food
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 15 Anthropology of Media
• Introduction
• 15.1 Putting the Mass into Media
• 15.2 Putting Culture into Media Studies
• 15.3 Visual Anthropology and Ethnographic Film
• 15.4 Photography, Representation, and Memory
• 15.5 News Media, the Public Sphere, and Nationalism
• 15.6 Community, Development, and Broadcast Media
• 15.7 Broadcasting Modernity and National Identity
• 15.8 Digital Media, New Socialities
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 16 Art, Music, and Sport
• Introduction
• 16.1 Anthropology of the Arts
• 16.2 Anthropology of Music
• 16.3 An Anthropological View of Sport throughout Time
• 16.4 Anthropology, Representation, and Performance
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 17 Medical Anthropology
• Introduction
• 17.1 What Is Medical Anthropology?
• 17.2 Ethnomedicine
• 17.3 Theories and Methods
• 17.4 Applied Medical Anthropology
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 18 Human-Animal Relationship
• Introduction
• 18.1 Humans and Animals
• 18.2 Animals and Subsistence
• 18.3 Symbolism and Meaning of Animals
• 18.4 Pet-Keeping
• 18.5 Animal Industries and the Animal Trade
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 19 Indigenous Anthropology
• Introduction
• 19.1 Indigenous Peoples
• 19.2 Colonization and Anthropology
• 19.3 Indigenous Agency and Rights
• 19.4 Applied and Public Anthropology and Indigenous Peoples
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography

Chapter 20 Anthropology on the Ground
• Introduction
• 20.1 Our Challenging World Today
• 20.2 Why Anthropology Matters
• 20.3 What Anthropologists Can Do
• Key Terms
• Summary
• Critical Thinking Questions
• Bibliography