Marcel Mauss

Marcel Mauss: A Centenary Tribute - Methodology & History in Archaeology S.

Publisher Marketing: "Each of the essays in this volume deals with various facets of his work, and all of them should be read." . American Anthropologist "This book offers a unique insight into the influence of one of the discipline's most important theorists. James and Allen are thoughtful editors . . . their respect produces the best form of criticism in fourteen essays by British, and other European, anthropologists . . . This is intriguing and stimulating reading . . . Mauss's work receives careful attention in this book which is helpful, incisive, and broadly significant to anthropology." . JRAI Marcel Mauss, successor of Emile Durkheim and one-time teacher of Claude Levi-Strauss, continues to inspire social scientists across various disciplines. Only selected texts of Mauss's work have been translated into English, but of these, some, as for instance his "Essay on the Gift," have proved of key significance for the development of anthropology internationally. Wendy James has taught at the University of Khartoum and has research experience in the Sudan and Ethiopia. She is currently Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. After studying classics and medicine N. J. Allen qualified in Social Anthropology at Oxford, undertaking fieldwork in Nepal. He is currently Reader in the Social Anthropology of South Asia at the University of Oxford.

Contributor Bio:  James, Wendy Wendy James is Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of St. Cross College. She has carried out research in the Sudan and Ethiopia intermittently over four decades, and has long-standing academic links with universities and other institutions in the region ofnorth-eastern Africa. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and has served as President of the Royal Anthropological Institute. She has published widely not only on Africa but on the history and current scope of anthropology, as well as acting on various occasions as a consultant to the UN andassociated agencies. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Copenhagen in 2005. Contributor Bio:  Allen, N J qualified in Social Anthropology at Oxford, undertaking fieldwork in Nepal. He has lectured at Durham and, since 1976 in Oxford.