An essential collection of scholarly essays on the anthropology of Africa, offering a thorough introduction to the most important topics in this evolving and diverse field of study
The study of the cultures of Africa has been central to the methodological and theoretical development of anthropology as a discipline since the late 19th-century. As the anthropology of Africa has emerged as a distinct field of study, anthropologists working in this tradition have strived to build a disciplinary conversation that recognizes the diversity and complexity of modern and ancient African cultures while acknowledging the effects of historical anthropology on the present and future of the field of study.
A Companion to the Anthropology of Africa is a collection of insightful essays covering the key questions and subjects in the contemporary anthropology of Africa with a key focus on addressing the topics that define the contemporary discipline. Written and edited by a team of leading cultural anthropologists, it is an ideal introduction to the most important topics in the field, both those that have consistently been a part of the critical dialogue and those that have emerged as the central questions of the discipline's future.
Beginning with essays on the enduring topics in the study of African cultures, A Companion to the Anthropology of Africa provides a foundation in the contemporary critical approach to subjects of longstanding interest. With these subjects as a groundwork, later essays address decolonization, the postcolonial experience, and questions of modern identity and definition, providing representation of the diverse thinking and scholarship in the modern anthropology of Africa.
About the Author: Roy Richard Grinker is Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the George Washington University, USA. He is Editor-in-Chief of Anthropological Quarterly and his past book publications include the co-edited Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism (2007).
Stephen C. Lubkemann is a sociocultural anthropologist who has done extensive fieldwork in Mozambique, South Africa, Angola, and Liberia. He is Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the George Washington University, USA. Past publications include Culture in Chaos: An Anthropology of the Social Condition in War (2008), the co-edited volume Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (Wiley Blackwell, 2010), and the co-authored United States Institute of Peace report Looking for Justice: Liberian Experiences with and Perceptions of Local Justice Options (2009).
Christopher B. Steiner is the Lucy C. McDannel '22 Professor of Art History and Anthropology at Connecticut College, USA, where he also serves as Director of Museum Studies. Past book publications include African Art in Transit (1994), the co-edited Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and Africa in the Market: Twentieth-Century Art from the Amrad African Art Collection (2016).
Euclides Gonçalves is a social anthropologist and Director at Kaleidoscopio - Research in Public Policy and Culture - in Maputo, Mozambique. He is also a research associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Gonçalves has published on topics such as governance, bureaucratic processes, and political rituals in scholarly journals, including African Affairs, The Journal of Contemporary African Studies, and World Development.
