From Anthropology to Social Theory
Rethinking the Social Sciences

A rethinking of contemporary social theory that provides a vision about the modern world through key ideas developed by 'maverick' anthropologists.

Arpad Szakolczai (Author), Bjørn Thomassen (Author)

9781108438384, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 January 2019

294 pages
22.7 x 15.1 x 2.2 cm, 0.44 kg

'With their call for the removal of subject-based ownership of techniques, Arpad Szakolczai and Bjørn Thomassen offer a convincing and increasingly urgent argument that the social sciences are in need of radical rejuvenation. This is not in order to 'retain relevance' (or some similarly anodyne phrase) but to allow social scientists to do what they should do best and help address dynamic real-world issues.' Simon Underdown, Times Higher Education

Presenting a ground-breaking revitalization of contemporary social theory, this book revisits the rise of the modern world to reopen the dialogue between anthropology and sociology. Using concepts developed by a series of 'maverick' anthropologists who were systematically marginalised as their ideas fell outside the standard academic canon, such as Arnold van Gennep, Marcel Mauss, Paul Radin, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl and Gregory Bateson, the authors argue that such concepts are necessary for understanding better the rise and dynamics of the modern world, including the development of the social sciences, in particular sociology and anthropology. Concepts discussed include liminality, imitation, schismogenesis and trickster, which provide an anthropological 'toolkit' for readers to develop innovative understandings of the underlying power mechanisms of globalized modernity. Aimed at graduate students and researchers, the book is clearly structured. Part I introduces the 'maverick' anthropologists, while Part II applies the maverick tool-kit to revisit the history of sociological thought and the question of modernity.

Introduction: rethinking social theory with anthropology
Part I. Maverick Anthropologists: 1. Arnold van Gennep: liminal rites and the rhythms of life
2. Gabriel Tarde and René Girard: imitation and the foundations of social life
3. Marcel Mauss: from sacrifice to gift-giving or revisiting foundations
4. Lucien Lévy-Bruhl and Colin Turnbull: participation, experience, and home
5. Paul Radin: the trickster
6. Gregory Bateson and Johan Huizinga: Schismogenesis and play
7. Victor Turner: liminal experiences as the grounding of social theory
Part II. Rethinking Modernity and Its Sociology: 8. A reflexive political anthropology of sociology
9. A reflexive political anthropology of modernity.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM], Social theory [JHBA], Sociology & anthropology [JH]