The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is the first instalment of The SAGE Handbook of the Social Sciences series and encompasses major specialities as well as key interdisciplinary themes relevant to the field. Globally, societies are facing major upheaval and change, and the social sciences are fundamental to the analysis of these issues, as well as the development of strategies for addressing them. This handbook provides a rich overview of the discipline and has a future focus whilst using international theories and examples throughout. The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Anthropology is an essential resource for social scientists globally and contains a rich body of chapters on all major topics relevant to the field, whilst also presenting a possible road map for the future of the field. Part 1: Foundations; Part 2: Focal Areas; Part 3: Urgent Issues; and Part 4: Short Essays: Contemporary Critical Dynamics.

Governance and Democratization

Governance and democratization
Sten Hagberg

Introduction

Even though anthropologists have, for a long time, been conducting research on the politics of almost any societal phenomena, less attention has been paid to the actual workings of democracy in elections, political parties, democratic assemblies, and formal decision-making. The popular anthropological expression ‘the politics of …’ has become so common that one sometimes wonders what is not politics! And, yet, anthropologists have to a large extent left the field of democracy open to other disciplines. Democracy is, at best, dealt with as a context, or a framework, for discussing other issues. Most anthropologists do not sufficiently integrate formal politics and decision-making in ethnographic analysis. It is as if the legitimate focus on the ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles