Cultural Anthropology; 9th Edition [Paperback]

Kottak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2001

In very good condition, no marks or highlights.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill College; 9th Edition edition (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072554185
• ISBN-13: 978-0072554182
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,921,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best introductory text I could find, June 7, 2002

By 

E. N. Anderson (Riverside, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cultural Anthropology; 9th Edition (Paperback)

This remains the best, fullest, most comprehensive, and most reliable introductory cultural anthropology textbook that I can find. William Haviland's is competitive, but farther from my area of expertise (ecological anthropology). Thus, I find myself using Kottak, to the profit of my introductory class. The student aids are noteworthy: excellent CD, excellent lists of terms, chapter summaries, quizzes, questions, everything.
I agree with the overall approach and most of the specifics. I could probably find some theoretical point to debate on every page, if I wanted to be obsessive, but I find only minor errors of fact. (Prestige is NOT the same as cultural capital [p. 263]; the map color key is wrong on p. 375....) The only serious mistake is giving credence to Michael Harner's theory that Aztec cannibalism was due to shortage of protein; this idea was conclusively refuted by Bernard Ortiz de Montellano and others.
My only real complaint with the book is that Kottak keeps using "we" and "our society" to mean middle-class Anglo-America. This may still work somewhere, but in my class it excludes 80% of the students, 50% of the TA's, AND the professor. Most of my students are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants, largely from Asia, many from Latin America. Many have no idea of what middle-class Anglo-American culture is up to. (As Dan Moerman pointed out some years ago, that old Nacirema paper is totally lost on most of our students these days.)
Even so, I will use this text again next year (barring unforeseen circumstances). It's the best on the block.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a solid introductory text, March 17, 2002

By 

abt1950 "abt1950" (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cultural anthropology (Paperback)

I teach anthropology at a community college and have used recent editions of this text several times. It's well written, its presentation of the material is clear, and my students seemed to like it. Although there are things that I would like added (for instance, additional coverage of biocultural issues), this book has many strengths. Its treatment of ethnicity and race as cultural concepts is very good. Kottak devotes two chapters to these topics and places them in the first half of the book, where they are less likely to be missed in the end-of-the-semester rush. (I don't know about other professors, but I never cover as many chapters as I plan to...) All in all, this is a well-balanced text that provides good coverage of important issues.