Geertz, Clifford (1926–2006)

Clifford Geertz was an influential American anthropologist who made seminal contributions to the study of culture and religion. Geertz earned a doctorate in anthropology in 1956 from Harvard University's Department of Social Relations. He later served on the faculty at the University of Chicago from 1960 to 1970 and was appointed to a senior research position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, from [Page 435]1970 to 2000. Over the course of his life, Geertz was increasingly recognized for his contributions to what became known as the symbolic and interpretive school of anthropology. Symbolic and interpretive anthropology treats culture as a system of shared meanings that are transmitted through key symbols, rituals, and social practices.

For Geertz, the analysis of culture is not ...