Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology

By Clifford Geertz

Book Overview

From the preeminent anthropologist, a landmark exploration of how culture shapes human society

"Shrewd and often illuminating."--New York Times

Over his storied career, Clifford Geertz pioneered ground-breaking approaches to anthropology, arguing that interpreting and analyzing cultural symbols was central to understanding a wide range of societies. In Local Knowledge, he revisits and expands the core ideas that reshaped an entire field.

In chapters covering everything from art in Renaissance Italy to political pageantry in Java, Geertz deepens our understanding of human societies though the intimacies of "local knowledge." Geertz explores the very meaning of culture and the importance of shared symbolism as a means of understanding the world. Through his signature analysis and undeniable, intellectual rigor, this foundational text invites readers to better understand how culture produces the ideas and systems that populate our everyday lives.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465041620
• ISBN13: 9780465041626
• Release Date: March 1985
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Still more interpretive tools

Cultural scholarship has grown to depend upon people like Clifford Geertz for the conceptual tools required for such studies. Representations, events, societies, individuals, institutions, economies, material practices, et al, interact with such a degree of complexity that conceptual tools and methods, such as those discussed in these essays, allow anyone interested in exploring the meaning of culture the opportunity to ride the avalanche of symbols which both clarify and confuse that meaning.

Dense description

This is composisted of short essays after he published the excellent masterpiece, "The interpritation of culture". It is not easy reading because of his writing style. However, it makes more sense to understand what is Anthropology and how undrstand culture.