Tapestry of Culture

When we think about society and culture, often we think of our own culture – the culture in which we were raised or currently live – as the default. The eleventh edition of The Tapestry of Culture uses anthropological tools to translate the concepts, ideas, and behaviors of other cultures into language recognizable by today’s students. The book’s comparative approach balances the history of ethnography, fieldwork, and anthropological with today’s globalized world, including the impact of climate change, social movements, social media and technology, global health issues, and shifting political landscapes.

New to the Eleventh Edition
New Chapter 12, “Global Health and Wellness,” examines the historical, political, and cultural issues that shape disease and health including inequalities in access to physical and mental health services, the delivery of health care services, and health intervention strategiesNew Chapter 11, “Spaces and Places of Creative Expression,” explores how social media and internet technologies play a major role in how contemporary audiences view and understand creativity including music, dance, theater, film, painting and other performance stylesExpanded discussion of the cultural construction of gender and sexuality, as well as LGBTQ issues in activism explores gender and sexuality through queer studies and in postcolonial settings (Chapter 7)New discussion of critical race theory highlights its contributions to analyzing multiple forms of racism and discrimination while providing an exploration of the challenges of multiculturalism in contexts of nationality, ethnicity, and political representation (Chapter 14)New discussions of environmental anthropology, political ecology, climate change inequality, social movements, globalization, and transnationalism highlight these contemporary issues as subjects of anthropological inquiry (Chapter 1)

Maxine Weisgrau is adjunct associate professor of anthropology at Columbia University.
Abraham Rosman was professor emeritus of anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University.
Paula G. Rubel was professor emerita of anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University.