A provocative introduction to fieldwork and the concept of culture

Anthropology and Egalitarianism is an artful and accessible introduction to key themes in cultural anthropology. Writing in a deeply personal style and using material from his fieldwork in three dramatically different locales—Indonesia, West Africa, and Monticello, the historic home of Thomas Jefferson—Eric Gable shows why the ethnographic encounter is the core of the discipline's method and the basis of its unique contribution to understanding the human condition. Gable weaves together vignettes from the field and discussion of major works as he explores the development of the idea of culture through the experience of cultural contrast, anthropology's fraught relationship to racism and colonialism, and other enduring themes.

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Overall, this book is a success and a useful text for ethnographers of all types. Its self-reflective nature should make any researcher think deeply on her or his own process, and the accessibility of the writing makes it useful for classrooms of all levels. . . . Gable's writing is always pleasant and at times beautifully eloquent.