Cultural Anthropology: A Reader for a Global Age

by Kenneth J. Guest

Best-selling author Ken Guest presents the essential readings and diverse voices that will help students understand their rapidly globalizing world. This concise, affordable reader is designed to complement any introductory syllabus and is the perfect companion to Guest's market-leading texts.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Read For School, College, Reference, School

396 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2013

Reviews

[Lily · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

This textbook wasn't 100% bad, but it is really not worth reading just for the slightly good parts. I only read parts of it because it was absolutely required for a class that I was absolutely required to take.

I am honestly sad for my fellow university students. We get one worldview perspective and only one shoved down our throats over and over again, and I am so sick of it. I self-censor myself these days when I disagree with what the main narrative is, and I am even afraid to ask genuine questions for fear of being ridiculed. There is no welcoming place for dissent in higher education anymore, and in the name of inclusion, the college environment has become completely uninclusive.

Don't get me wrong. My classmates weren't bad, and my professor wasn't bad, either. I just wish the class in general could've been a better experience.

Psychology 101 was a better class. And welp, I want to make a good living for myself someday. I just need to get through this thing called college first.

[Lilith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read an anthropology textbook in undergrad, and I really enjoyed Guest's. A thoughtful and thorough introduction to so many fields of research within the discipline.

[Lolo S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a community college Cultural Anthropology class.

I learned so much from this book. It covers a range of aspects of human culture: race, gender, sexuality, family, art, immigration, etc. The topics are viewed through the lens of globalization: how time-space compression and the mass movement of people and ideas are changing cultures around the world.

I never took an antro class in undergrad. After reading this book and taking the class, I feel like anthropology should be a required class, otherwise called "how not to be an asshole". It's eye-opening to realize that cultures the world over share the same struggles for power and revel in the same joys of art and tradition.

[Elisabeth White Shirley]

Yet another textbook

[Rye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just declared my major in anthropology. Expect much more of this, friends.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This cultural anthropology textbook features a focus on modernity and how modern issues and globalization affect the cultures of the world. While I admire this focus, and there is some interesting information in here, this textbook generally makes bad use of its premise. It focuses on modern theories of anthropology, implicitly rejecting the past outright. It also does not consider the individual well enough, even as a contrast to the study of cultures. This textbook is also very dry.

[Laura Sinclair-harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

These chapters are long and sometimes it feels like Guest is inventing vocabulary words, but overall an interesting view of the world today. I liked the social life of things sections and profiles of modern anthropologists.

[Ericka Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite anthropology textbook, I think there are definitely better ones, but this is the book that got me hitched on the study of anthropology. It analyzes a whole bunch of cultures throughout different topics. The book discusses modern-day issues and anthropological study.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the textbook for my cultural anthropology class, and it's pretty great. One of my favorite classes so far.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very much a basic introduction, frequently alluding to complexity without really diving into it. But it's good for what it is.