The tenth-anniversary edition of this classic book, with a new prefaceTranslated Woman tells the story of an unforgettable encounter between Ruth Behar, a Cuban-American feminist anthropologist, and Esperanza Hernández, a Mexican street peddler.“A brave...

An anthropologist's quest to understand the deep social and political divides in American society, and the everyday strategies that can overcome them. In 2016, Anand Pandian was alarmed by Donald Trump's harsh attacks on immigrants to the United States,...

Based on over a decade of research, a powerful, moving work of narrative nonfiction that illuminates the little-known world of the anexos of Mexico City, the informal addiction treatment centers where mothers send their children to escape the violence of...

At this stalled and disillusioned juncture in postcolonial history—when many anticolonial utopias have withered into a morass of exhaustion, corruption, and authoritarianism—David Scott argues the need to reconceptualize the past in order to reimagine a...

A beautifully illustrated history of Indigenous tattooing practices around the worldTattooing within Indigenous communities is a time-honored practice that binds the tattoo recipient to a deeply felt collective history. More than mere decoration, tattoos...

A bold new synthesis of paleontology, archaeology, genetics, and anthropology that overturns misconceptions about race, war and peace, and human nature itself, answering an age-old question: What made humans so exceptional among all the species on...

Why human biology is far more expansive than the simple categories of female and maleBeing human entails an astonishingly complex interplay of biology and culture, and while there are important differences between women and men, there is a lot more...

Corpse Magic examines beliefs about vengeance the slain magically enact on their killers, focusing on lethal violence in Colombia and the United States. Corpse Magic is a response to the global ubiquity of violence. In this bracing new work, the...

An enthralling tour of the world’s rarest and most endangered languagesLanguages and cultures are becoming increasingly homogenous, with the resulting loss of a rich linguistic tapestry reflecting unique perspectives and ways of life. Rare Tongues tells...

"Since the end of the nineteenth century, the division between nature and culture has been fundamental to Western thought. In this groundbreaking work, renowned anthropologist Philippe Descola seeks to break down this divide, arguing for a departure from...

In Quest of the Hero makes available for a new generation of readers two key works on hero myths: Otto Rank's Myth of the Birth of the Hero and the central section of Lord Raglan's The Hero. Amplifying these is Alan Dundes's fascinating contemporary...

Breastfeeding is a biocultural phenomenon: not only is it a biological process, but it is also a culturally determined behavior. As such, it has important implications for understanding the past, present, and future condition of our species. In general,...

Although the era of European colonialism has long passed, misgivings about the inequality of the encounters between European and non-European languages persist in many parts of the postcolonial world. This unfinished state of affairs, this lingering...

A top scholar reveals the most complete picture to date of how early human speech led to the languages we use today  The emergence of language began with the apelike calls of our earliest ancestors. Today, the world is home to thousands of complex...

Provides perspectives on the fundamental concerns of suicide study from the viewpoints of history, philosophy, literature, anthropology, sociology, biology, psychiatry, and epidemiology.

In recent years, studies in several overlapping fields have enlarged our understanding of human origins. This book brings together essays by leading archaeologists, anthropologists, biologists, and paleontologists to provide a vivid portrait of what is...