British Subjects

The anthropology of Britain is hotly debated. What does it mean to live in Britain and to be 'British', and is an anthropology of Britain even a legitimate undertaking? British Subjects presents a forthright voice in this debate. Key anthropological concerns such as community, rationality, aesthetics, the body, power, work and leisure, nationalism and transnationalism are found reflected in the lives of a wide range of British 'subjects'--from farmers to dancers, children to retired miners, new-agers to entrepreneurs. In disputing traditional claims that anthropology 'at home' and 'of one's own' is misconceived, unnecessary or unperceptive, this book clearly establishes that an anthropology of Britain can set excellent standards of subtle ethnography and complex analysis. Providing a nuanced appreciation of the intricacies of British society, this book shows how the anthropological study of Britain can offer an enlightening paradigm for the study of individual lives.

'With the publication of 'British Subjects' the recent work which has been done on the Anthropology of Britain will at last receive the recognition it has long deserved. Nigel Rapport has brought together a number of eminent scholars who have already made substantial contributions to our anthropological understanding of contemporary British society. In specially written chapters deriving directly from their fieldwork they demonstrate how anthropological research can throw light not only on small communities and interest groups, but on institutions such as primary education and professional performing companies, as well as on cultural domains such as the nature of social knowledge and the pursuit of leisure and entertainment. Those who associate anthropology only with an interest in simple societies in remote corners of the globe are in for a pleasant intellectual surprise. Those who have long been aware that anthropology is as much interested in 'us' as in 'them' will find welcome This book will be a landmark in the history of the discipline. It is formidable in a host of ways: in the range of scale and range of approaches, in the subtlety and richness of its observations, in the issues it develops and by its critical acuity with regard to the selective tendencies of certain anthropologists in their study of minorities. L'Homme

Nigel Rapport Professor of Anthropological and Philosophical Studies,University of St. Andrews