(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best anthropology books

edit:- Found this report

http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/beware%20false%20prophets%20-%20jul%2010.pdf

>Wilkinson and Pickett’s empirical claims are critically re-examined using (a) their own data on 23 countries, (b) more up-to-date statistics on a larger sample of 44 countries, and (c) data on the US states. Very few of their empirical claims survive intact.

The use of box-plots to adjust for outliers is a pretty important statistical technique missing from the original studies.

Which is pretty much what my guesstimation amounted to. I.e. them cherries dun been picked. I'd welcome to see a rebuttal to this report though. You have to skip through quite some pages to get to the data but there's a lot of it.

>Because it is neither an independent state or a democracy.

And that matters why? You're agreeing with me that these data points would radically alter this persons claims of correlation, yet you're dismissing them on spurious grounds, which seems like what someone would do if they wanted the correlation to be true.

We're talking about how inequality effects life outcomes in societies. It's more arbitrary cherry picking to say "nope, that one doesn't count for reason X". Who decided reason X was an important criteria? Why does reason X effect what effect income inequality has, or the outcomes its linked two? Those are the only two instances where adjustment is necessary.

Are we saying that if a place is not an independent state or a democracy then inequality becomes a good thing?

If Hong Kong has some magical property that makes inequality a positive thing, might we not want to apply that to other inequal nations?

Or more likely, it actually doesn't matter, and Hong Kong actually has significant levels of political autonomy and is a prime example of a nation with an inequal income distribution but strong metrics in life outcomes. Hong Kong would almost entirely cancel out effect of the US on those graphs and that would bring the whole thing closer to statistical insignificance.

Unless you're going to include all nations in the analysis then

>Talk about cherry picking. :) Aren't you the one that tries to argue that there isn't only one cause of inequality?

That's exactly my point.

You're saying American has problems with inequality because its government is not progressive enough. I brought up an example of a country with high income inequality but much more progressive laws. If you have a strong theoretical framework to prove that in you should be able to explain then why a nation with a strong welfare state, progressive taxation and progressive employment laws has high levels of inequality as well.

Otherwise to pick America and say "this has not very progressive laws and inequality so regressive laws cause inequality" is just anecdotal evidence.

>How did you draw that conclusion?

By not including states very similar to Portugal in standard of living, economy type and democratic system but who's only significant difference is a slightly lower GDP per capita.

You need some kind of mathematical criteria to exclude data points, you can't just "reckon" that certain countries aren't good examples, you need to show your working. If you can't likely you don't have enough maths in your work to say anything meaningful. In fact excluding data points is generally bad practise if the data itself is sound. its much better to include the data point and the adjustments you make to compensate for obfuscating factors as you get a better set of data all togther.

>If Wilkinson really is so guilty of cherry picking as you claim, I am sure that some of his critics have provided better statistics.

That's not necessarily the case at all. Sloppy data methods are everywhere, especially in soft sciences like economics.

This book claims to have fact checking of the claims of the Spirit Level, however since I've read neither the Spirit Level now the critique book I don't feel I have a place to recommend either.

This quote of a review of the book:

>It starts by exposing the empirical flaws in Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s The Spirit Level (SL), which claims that just about every social problem is caused by income inequality. Using where possible the same data sources as the authors, Snowdon shows that the results have been influenced by the choice of countries and indicators. Including just a handful of additional countries is enough to make many of the SL graphs, which show data points scattering around a straight line, dissolve into shapeless point clouds

Seems to tally with the limited search I've done of it so far. The point isn't that adding a few countries proves there's no correlation, but that the dataset is clearly not extensive enough if viable example countries can be found which will spoil the correlation.

To produce my own accurate analysis of the impact of income inequality would take hundreds of hours of research and would take hundreds of pages to write. I'm not going to do it. Even if I was you wouldn't bother to read it, and its not necessary for me to do it to recognize cherry picking when I see it. He needs a credible reason to exclude eastern european states that would ruin his correlation, but still include states like Portugal and Greece which are similarly borderline 2nd world countries.

If someone comes to me and say "hey I've measured a bunch of different countries and it turns out inequality is strongly linked with bad life outcomes", and I can within a few minutes of looking on wikipedia see several countries that would dramatically alter that correlation, and there's no compelling reason, I don't have to do 100s of hours of research to do a better analysis to say why it is cherry picking.

Agreed about the syllabi. I saved all of mine from college for later reference.

I find Anthropological "readers" to be a great place to start. They are a quick way to get familiar with the range of topics, styles, theories, etc that Anthropologists cover. Conformity and Conflict is a good one. I personally found this Anthro Theory book to be very useful. It has a lot of foot notes and chapter summaries. If you're interested in the religious side of cultural anth, this one is aight.

Straight up reading full ethnographies is time consuming and doesn't give a good overview imo. Could burn you out. /shrug

Also Anthropology is the fucking shiiiiiiiiiit. Represent. >.>

Philosophy of mind addresses some of these issues under the heading of intentionality.

In (continental) humanities side of things, sociology of emotions and affect theory is so in vogue recently that some scholars already identified as a turn. The focus and approaches vary but one influential strand of thought takes Spinoza-Deleuze's "affect" as a central concept and separates it from emotion. I won't get into details but basically "affects" are about physical bodies' capacities to act and be acted on. For that reason the term abolishes the distinction between physical and mental effects and covers them both. Brian Massumi is maybe the most influential thinker in affect theory who refined the concept of "affect" and put it in context of broader discussions.

The indispensable resources are:

Gregg and Seigworth. The Affect Theory Reader

[Clough and Halley. The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social] (http://www.amazon.com/Affective-Turn-Theorizing-Social/dp/0822339250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375771321&sr=1-1&keywords=affective+turn)

[Brian Massumi. Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation] (http://www.amazon.com/Parables-Virtual-Sensation-Post-Contemporary-Interventions/dp/0822328976/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375771409&sr=1-1&keywords=parables+of+virtual)

Not known that much outside of anthropology but this is very good too: Tim Ingold. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description

Well I would figure out what attracts you to the field in the first place.
Is it the diving? Are you primarily interested in developments in nautical technology or are you more interested in anthropological questions? Do you want to be a professor?

I would strongly recommend reading as much literature as you can do get a grasp on the field as it currently exists. Here are a couple books that I would recommend starting with.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0306453304/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

http://www.amazon.com/Shipwreck-Anthropology-Richard-A-Gould/dp/1938645049

I used to be versed enough in the subject to confidently post an extended answer on the question, but the short answer is Yes!

Consider how inert the mind feels compared to other parts of the body when undergoing stress or intense emotion (Heart, liver, gut/intestines). Different aspects of lived experience, such as religious rapture, inspiration, and fear were tied to different parts of the body, which would be felt as most active during these times. Of course the correlation between lived internal experience and organs varied from culture to culture. This also extended to the bodily origin of thoughts.

Here is a fascinating read on the subject. In the culture analyzed by this book, thoughts are considered to originate in the liver, and drift their way up into the head.

A really good book that I think it's one of the best books on Linguistic Anthropology

Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology by Laura Ahearn

Books from Alessandro Duranti are really good.

By the way, we are organizing the Conference on Asian Linguistic Anthropology 2020 in Sarawak, Malaysia. Let us know if you are interested in submitting an abstract there.

It's been a while since I read it, but I recall thinking at the time, as a non-academic, that its conclusions were contrary enough to my understanding of the art that I didn't feel convinced. But it was an interesting read.

I'd recommend Downey's book, and as someone else recommended T.J. Desch-Obi's book is good too.

Not specific to international studies, but generally considered essential for political science students is Robert Putnam's Making Democracy Work. The thesis is not universally accepted (nor is it completely unproblematic), but it's an important and highly influential work with major implications. The only background I'd say is required is an understanding of the prisoner's dilemma.

It's considered essential for students less for its arguments than for its lucidity and methodological transparency. If a layperson asked me how positivist social science is done, I would sooner give them this book than a textbook. It's also a near-perfect example of how to present data visually.

Also, steer clear of Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations.

Soheir Sukkary-Stolba is my former Cultural prof and she's a medical anthropologist who did most of her field work with women in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Her reading for the class (http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Anthropology-Handbook-SUKKARY-STOLBA-SOHEIR/dp/0757527566/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322526027&sr=1-2) featured articles she'd written during her field work and focus mostly on reproductive health and child care. It's a textbook so the price is kind of ridiculous but her articles are really fascinating if you have an interest in reproductive health.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

You can check out The Other Side of Eden: Hunters, Farmers and the Shaping of the World by Hugh Brody. I read it for my intro to socio/cultural class. A lot on the Inuktitut people, it's super interesting and well written.

There is a new guide coming out in November. Looks like it might be pretty good.

http://www.amazon.com/Identifying-Interpreting-Animal-Bones-Anthropology/dp/162349026X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382195886&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=indentiftying+and+interpreting+animal+bones

I'd really be interested in anthropology, science, and bestsellers as you mentioned. I'm also getting into science fiction. I'm really open to new genres as long as its not too long (under 400-500) and I can get most of what we read from the library.

Lately I've read When Breathe Becomes Air, The Killer of Little Shepherds, and Branded Beauty. All 3 are non fiction, two semi-biographical. Parts of Metro 2033, based on the video game.

I'm really interested in reading [Visual Anthropolgy: Photo as a Research Methos](Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method https://www.amazon.com/dp/0826308996/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hSaIyb7CP5P64). But understand if its not everyone's cup of tea. :)

Texts and Reference Books

Days in the Lives of Social Workers

DSM-5

Child Development, Third Edition: A Practitioner's Guide

Racial and Ethnic Groups

Social Work Documentation: A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording

Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond

[Thoughts and Feelings: Taking Control of Your Moods and Your Life]
(https://www.amazon.com/Thoughts-Feelings-Harbinger-Self-Help-Workbook/dp/1608822087/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3ZW7PRW5TK2PB0MDR9R3)

Interpersonal Process in Therapy: An Integrative Model

[The Clinical Assessment Workbook: Balancing Strengths and Differential Diagnosis]
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0534578438/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_38?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARCO1HGQTQFT8)

Helping Abused and Traumatized Children

Essential Research Methods for Social Work

Navigating Human Service Organizations

Privilege: A Reader

Play Therapy with Children in Crisis

The Color of Hope: People of Color Mental Health Narratives

The School Counseling and School Social Work Treatment Planner

Streets of Hope : The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood

Deviant Behavior

Social Work with Older Adults

The Aging Networks: A Guide to Programs and Services

[Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice]
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415884810/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change

Ethnicity and Family Therapy

Human Behavior in the Social Environment: Perspectives on Development and the Life Course

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work

Generalist Social Work Practice: An Empowering Approach

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook

DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents

DBT Skills Manual

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets

Social Welfare: A History of the American Response to Need

Novels

[A People’s History of the United States]
(https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0062397346/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511070674&sr=1-1&keywords=howard+zinn&dpID=51pps1C9%252BGL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch)


The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Life For Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Tuesdays with Morrie

The Death Class <- This one is based off of a course I took at my undergrad university

The Quiet Room

Girl, Interrupted

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Flowers for Algernon

Of Mice and Men

A Child Called It

Go Ask Alice

Under the Udala Trees

Prozac Nation

It's Kind of a Funny Story

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Bell Jar

The Outsiders

To Kill a Mockingbird

I also highly recommend The Wayfinders - part of the (I think) 2009 CBC Massey Lecture series.

The first or second chapter (it's been about a year since I read it) concentrates on the Micronesian navigating culture.

Great read!

I'm glad you asked me because it made me dig through my books to find it and I've been meaning to read it again.
It's a great read.

Amazon link

If anyone is interested in learning more about the Karen people then I recommend picking up a copy of this book:

Revolution as Development: The Karen Self-Determination Struggle Against Ethnocracy (1949 - 2004) by Jack Fong

It isn’t very well known outside of historians and political scientists who study Burma/Myanmar but it is a very good read.

Mike Davis wrote a book called "City of Quartz" where he wrote about a Riot Renaissance in Brutalist Architecture. It's a great read for people interested in Urban Planning and Architecture.

One approach would be to search for syllabi for undergraduate anthropology courses and see what texts they require. Then you could work through different "courses" on your own.

For example, an older edition of this book was used in my intro to anthro course when I was an undergrad. Something like it or one of its competitors might be a good place to start. If you live in a metropolitan area, I'm sure your public library has plenty of books to get you started.

The book Readings for Diversity and Social Justice is pretty powerful and follows a nice format: Naming the issue, discussing historical context, discussing with stats how it currently stands, personal stories from oppressed peoples, and next steps to create change.

Each chapter follows a different type of oppression with racesim at the forefront. What Adams is so good at is pointing out that nearly every oppressed demographic (age, gender, religion, disability, class, etc) is also affected by race. Race is intersected with all of these and cannot be separated. I've really enjoyed it.

Oh dear.

Those graphs are from The Spirit Level, so notorious for cherry picking its data that it's now been thoroughly debunked.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0956226515?pc_redir=1412589373&robot_redir=1

Well worth a read to see why.

I wouldn't say that inequality isn't an issue, but I'm instantly wary of anything that tries to assert "facts" based on that data.

A theory of everything that explains nothing

Is The Spirit Level right about inequality and obesity?

The-spirit-level-revisited

The Spirit Level Delusion: Fact-Checking the Left's New Theory of Everything

Link to the book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spirit-Level-Delusion-Fact-Checking-Everything/dp/0956226515/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1272529304&sr=1-1-spell

Have you heard of this book (http://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Eden-Hunters-Farmers/dp/0865476101)? If so, do you think Brody's assessment of native life is accurate?

https://www.amazon.com/Readings-Diversity-Social-Justice-Maurianne/dp/0415892945

Sorry, but that was a really poor article and conflates different kinds of inequality.

> inequality contributed to the financial crisis.

Yes, trying to fix inequality by encouraging people to buy homes who couldn't afford them.

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> (some) inequality is bad for economic growth.

Talks about gender equality in education. Focuses on correlation (using regression analysis), not causation. The paper does suggest some possible underlying causes (high mortality rate for women, so-called 'missing women'), but doesn't dive further into explanation.

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> inequality is bad politics.

This is a really weak argument. Politicians may have some incentives to visibly favor equality, but behind the scene they have incentives to favor inequality (lobbying, cronyism, campaign finance).

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> inequality slows down poverty reduction

If you define poverty as "the bottom 20%", then yes inequality matters. That's a tautology, which raises the question of what is a meaningful way to observe and measure poverty.

Btw, since redistributive policies has started in the US, the poverty rate (as define by an income threshold) hasn't improved anymore.

It is important to try and understand poverty, which is more subtle than some simple high-level aggregates suggest. For example, there are significant demographic factors which differ across income groups (young and retired, single parent families, people lacking full-time employment tend to have less income, duh).

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> the moral case is a good one

The moral case for less coerced redistribution is also a good one. Also, it depends how you ask the question (framing). Most people are really not that impacted by inequality in their daily lives (you don't live or interact with Bill Gates much).

Finally, the correlation between inequality and various bad social effects (crime, health, etc.) have been widely debunked (the data doesn't support the claims that were made in the first place). See The Spirit Level Delusion.

All that being said, I sympathize with the Occupy Wall Street movement's concerns. But most of the symptoms are caused by cronism, not a lack of redistribution.