Clifford Geertz by Fred Inglis

Clifford Geertz by Fred Inglis

This is the first full-scale study of the work of Clifford Geertz, who is one of the best-known anthropologists in the world today. In a lively and accessible introduction to his work, Fred Inglis situates Geertz's thought in the context of his life and times, reviewing its forty-year range. The book begins with a chapter-long biography, and places Geertz in the anthropological tradition from which he broke so decisively. This break was inspired by the work of Wittgenstein and Kenneth Burke, who provided Geertz with the lead to construct his theory of symbolic action. This theory was vigorously at odds with the dominant idiom of scientistic inquiry in the human sciences, and since then Geertz has led the practice of these sciences in quite a different direction. Geertz's progress is charted in detail by his field work in Java, Bali and Morocco, as well as his work in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. His two remarkable collections of essays, the Interpretation of Cultures and Local Knowledge, are enthusiastically summarized and criticized. The celebrated and controversial essay on the Balinese cock fight is defended against its critics, and in an extended conclusion, his account of the Balinese Theatre-State is, as Geertz suggests, proposed as a more adequate method for the combined study of culture and politics than the professionals' routine application of heavy-handed concepts such as 'power' and 'status'. This book provides a comprehensive overview of one of the most gripping, lucid and entertaining of contemporary thinkers, and in so doing, makes anthropology once again the popular science. It will be of great interest to anthropologists and to students and scholars of cultural studies.

'A book on Geertz was overdue and Fred Inglis was the one to write itHe has done admirably. This study of the work of Clifford Geertz is both comprehensive and entertaining.' Henk Wesseling, Professor of General History at the University of Leiden and Rector of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study

'Fred Inglis's biography is useful and charming. It is useful because it contains so many facts, and because it is perhaps the most detailed intellectual analysis of Geertz's work now available.' Times Literary Supplement

'Inglis has done a masterful job reviewing some of the highlights of Geertz's career and showing how they fit together in a meaningful trajectory.' Choice

'Clifford Geertz is priviledged; he is the first and only anthropologist in the prestigious Key Contemporary Thinkers series ... There is probably no better intellectiual biographer to present Clifford Geertz than Fred Inglis ... For anyone who wants to get into Geertz's head and have a succinct, lively and entertaining account of his work, then Inglis is required reading.' Social Anthropology

''Considerable depth of analysis and insight' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

"It will certainly become a standard reference on the work of this great anthropologist" Paul Shankman, University of Colorado-Boulder. Anthropological Forum 13(1), 2003

Fred Inglis is Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sheffield. He has frequently written for The Nation, the New Statesman and The Independent, and contributes regularly to BBC Radio.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780745621586
ISBN 10	0745621589
Title	Clifford Geertz
Author	Fred Inglis
Series	Key Contemporary Thinkers
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Polity
Year published	2000-07-26
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable