"The best and most provocative essays by anthropologists on politics, power, colonialism, nationalism, and globalization. This volume showcases the strengths of anthropological analysis: bringing detailed ethnographic and historical analysis to the understanding of the most pressing issues that contemporary societies face." Louise Lamphere, University of New Mexico "Joan Vincent has a rare grasp of anthropology's past and vision of ... Read moreits future. The twenty-first-century renewal of political anthropology will be excellently served by her thoughtful assemblage of foundational texts, modern classics, recent achievements, and current controversies." Ulf Hannerz, Stockholm University "In this incomparable volume, Joan Vincent has brilliantly compiled the key texts in the anthropological study of politics. Suitable as a textbook for the beginning student and as a reference work for the professional academic, it will appeal to scholars in many different disciplines. Not only does this volume provide readers with a genealogy of an anthropological approach to politics, it introduces or reacquaints them with some of its most important contemporary contributors." Akhil Gupta, Stanford University Show Less