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2 Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not THAT bad...
Whilst I agree to a certain extent with the previous reviewer about the fact that this book is basically a dialogue with anthropological theory, I must confess that when I read it I didn't expect it to be anything else. I don't believe Cohen pretends to be writing a critique of contemporary society (although his trenchant and pungent remarks re political individualism as...
Published on June 22, 2005 by B. J. C. White
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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Academic Abstraction
If you're a university professor who likes to philosophize and/or wants to impress other university professors, or are a university student with similar goals, this is a good book for you. If you're looking for something applicable, or tied to modern real-world society, it'll just make your head hurt. The book basically just pits anthropological theorists against one...
Published on May 3, 2004 by G.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not THAT bad...,
By B. J. C. White "in search of the lost chord" (Christchurch, New Zealand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS CL (Hardcover)
Whilst I agree to a certain extent with the previous reviewer about the fact that this book is basically a dialogue with anthropological theory, I must confess that when I read it I didn't expect it to be anything else. I don't believe Cohen pretends to be writing a critique of contemporary society (although his trenchant and pungent remarks re political individualism as expressed in the Thatcherite rhetorics of 80s Britain seem to be a nod in that direction). The central thrust of this book is exactly what the title suggests: that anthropological treatments of identity require a better self-consciousness on the part of the anthropologist. its part of trend in the direction of reflexive ethnography that actually takes account of the positionality - the life story if you like - of the anthropologist. If you want to give an account of others, you ought reasonably be expected to give an account of yourself, and to explain how the first is contingent on the second.
And no, it didn't make my head hurt. I give it about 3.5 stars, really. This is a book about anthropology - if you're not interested in anthropology, and how the discipline works, don't buy it.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Academic Abstraction,
By
This review is from: Self Consciousness: An Alternative Anthropology of Identity (Paperback)
If you're a university professor who likes to philosophize and/or wants to impress other university professors, or are a university student with similar goals, this is a good book for you. If you're looking for something applicable, or tied to modern real-world society, it'll just make your head hurt. The book basically just pits anthropological theorists against one another, with a couple of tie-ins to tribal case studies. There is a -great- deal of theorist name-dropping which a beginning reader will not understand. The book finishes with a couple of adamant theoretical statements about academic concepts that don't clearly tie in to or suggest any "real world" course of action. As abstract academic books go, though, I will say that the subject matter is interesting and the writing could be a lot worse. |
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Self Consciousness: An Alternative Anthropology of Identity by Anthony P. Cohen (Paperback - November 28, 1994)
$44.95
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