Customer Reviews

The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of Culture

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The RAT may have been published over 30 years ago, but it still remains one of the most comprehensive histories of anthropological theory. Harris starts at the beginning, tracing the development of social theory which would lead to the birth of anthropology. This is something that few book do any longer, and it is very helpful. Harris cannot be said to be objective though, and he tells you this is his introduction. He is out to show the history of anthropology as a develpoment of his theory of cultural materialism. This isn't really a setback though, at least he is honest with what he is doing. Overall, the RAT is more far-ranging and comprehensive than any other history of anthropology I have come across, and I have looked.

This book is at once a history of anthropological debates from Spencer to Levi-Strauss and a plea for methodological rigor. So it is very different--and I think far more useful for students of anthropology--than theoretical surveys like Moore's that give a succession of self-contained descriptions of famous anthropologists under their respective research programs.
It is also quite polemical. Theories seem to be evaluated based on their proximity to historical materialism, so it is unsurprisingly that Durkheim and Levi-Strauss do not fare well in Harris's ledger. But even if one doesn't agree with his conclusions, Harris deftly leads the reader through each debate. It is to his credit that we see what is at stake in each argument. This is the book's greatest strength.
Some may avoid the book because it stops before poststructuralism and thus thought to be outdated. But there are many good books on poststructuralism in anthropology (Ortner, Ingold's "Key Debates", etc.), and I have not found a better book than this one for understanding so many key debates over such a long period of time. An excellent reference.

A good book for advanced students of cultural anthropology. The author, Dr. M. Harris, presented a critical review of the rise of theories of culture from the 17th century to mid twentieth century. The book also reads like Who's Who in anthropological theories.

The author used too many jargons and big words (where plain english could have sufficed) that make the book a little bit difficult to read and understand, which is why the book is for graduate students. One needs to read recent books in theories of culture to balance the author's often one sided argument and also to bring the debates to date.

A fine collection to have.