Seven Books that Will Make You THINK Like an Anthropologist

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Let us know what you think! What books would top out *your list of essential reads in anthropology? And, if you'd like to see longer-form discussions of any of the books from our list, let me know and I'll see what I can do 🍻

[@ArmchairAcademics]

@rogerbeckett5339, a bit of Marvin Harris goes a long way. Great suggestion. Thanks!

[@KayleyWhalen]

I read the book "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism" by Benedict Anderson in my first-ever Anthropology Class and it made me fascinated by the study of culture and society, transforming many of my preheld beliefs. I also love his book "Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination" which continues to influence my politics and inspired my interest in Southeast Asia and resistance to Colonialism and Orientalism. Great list of suggestions. Foucault also shattered my world. Hard to read without context and it definitely helped doing it in a classroom discussion context.

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Kayley! For my part, I was gutted to leave out Imagined Communities. I actually cut the list down from 10 to 7 to make the video a bit zippier and Benedict Anderson was in the 8th spot right after Clifford Geertz 🤦‍♂Under Three Flags is also fantastic, though it never quite achieved the same notoriety.

[@KayleyWhalen]

​@Armchair Academics next video: 7 MORE books everyone should read. Kinda cool I called #8. Under 3 Flags really challenged what I thought I knew about Nationalism and Anarchism especially the influence of both on Filipino writer/activist Jose Rizal. I was really inspired by how he spent his life traveling to other countries to join and learn from other political movements against oppression. Including Puerto Rico, where i have family. Now I've been trying to do much the same thing with my travels. Including traveling in the Phillipines and meeting with contemporary activists there. Absolutely recommend both Benedict Anderson books, but it was truly "Under 3 Flags" that transformed my life.

[@noeditbookreviews]

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS CHANNEL!?

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks for posting @noeditbookreviews! I hope you find our stuff helpful.

[@selectagage]

I was both delighted and surprised that you included the cheese and the worms! I didn’t realize It had such a large impact, it certainly did on my way of seeing history! Great list!

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks so much!

[@Ephilates2024]

Thanks for the channel. I’m enjoying the content. I have been reading Arnold van Gennep’s Rites of Passage. I think it could make an interesting subject for your treatment. Durkheim pretty systematically prevented him from gaining a university position. Fascinating intro to ROP by David I. Kertzer.

[@ArmchairAcademics]

thanks for posting! Rites of Passage is a classic! It's been an age since I read it and would definitely have to revisit the text, but we'll see if we can't work it into a list one of these days. And I didn't know the Durkheim anecdote about van Gennep! Sounds quite a bit like departmental politics these days, as well.

[@voyagerlast]

eleminete the orientalism term. it is a relic of industrial era.

[@Bblaubaer]

Interesting list! I really love your channel, because there is no much anthropology on KZbin (but perhaps I am wrong). I like the books, but see differences in anthropology education. For me it is Latour, Barad, Clifford (not Geertz, but James), Marx, Fabian (!!!), M.D.Jackson, Welz...

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks so much, Bblaubaer. I really appreciate the kind words. And I completely agree that there's much too little anthropology-related content on the platform. That's hopefully something we can begin to change! The names on your list make a lot of sense, really. Karen Barad, in particular, is someone that I admire. At the end of the day, putting these kinds of things together says as much (probably more) about my own disciplinary orientation than it does about important texts in the field; but it's still a fantastic exercise... and I hope provides a good entry point for readers that are adjacent to anthropological texts. Thanks again for the thoughtful comment!

[@selectagage]

Bruno Latour. The pasteurization of France

[@user-pg6su2om5c]

I agree with the seven books that you have presented. But what about the civilizing process of Norbert Elias? A bit older though from the ones listed above.

[@ArmchairAcademics]

Thanks for posting! Now that you mention it, I probably should have slipped in a reference to The Civilizing Process when I was discussing Europe and the People Without History. That's a definite omission. I appreciate you bringing it up 🍻 For my part, I don't think that Elias has aged as well as some of the other works I referenced, but its is a classic and is arguably the first meta-historical (and widely read) counterpoint to social darwinism that emerged from the field -- at least after its second edition in the late 50s or early 60s. So it marks a very important flashpoint in the intellectual history of the discipline. Thanks again!

[@jameskeating4719]

Thanks much ❤love

[@pathumanuradha5581]

Hi sir how is it going it was amazing and I got a question yu . I got an assignment to do related to anthropology which is " a study about malinowski and his contribution to the subject " so how should I analyse that ? What kind of parts need to be there in the content? Should I include his biography ? I am confused so could you please give me an explanation about it. thank yu sir