Monday, June 28, 2021

Top 10 books of everyday social anthropology

Gillian Tett is chair of the US editorial board at the Financial Times and the author of books including Fool's Gold (2009) and Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life (2021).

"[W]hile culture is hard to define," she argues, "nobody can ignore it – certainly not in a world that is so globalised and dangerously polarised that we clearly need to gain empathy for others."

At the Guardian Tett tagged ten "books that help explain why culture – and anthropology – matter so much today." One title on the list:
Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex and Gender in the 20th Century by Charles King

The title is odd but this is a truly fantastic book on the history of anthropology in the 19th and 20th centuries. Essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of modern western thought or the current debate around diversity issues. It’s a lively insight into a part of western history that tends to be ignored. Indispensable for anyone engaged in legal, government and corporate policies.
Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue