Abstract

Fredrik Barth is one of the towering figures of twentieth-century anthropology. This intellectual history traces the development of Barth's ideas and explores the substance of his contributions. In an accessible style, Thomas Hylland Eriksen's biographical study reveals the magic of ethnography to professional anthropologists and non-practitioners alike.

Exploring his six decade career, it follows Barth from early ecological studies in Pakistan, to political studies in Iran, to groundbreaking fieldwork in Norway, New Guinea, Bali and Bhutan. Eriksen argues that Barth's voracious appetite for fieldwork holds the key to understanding his remarkable intellectual development and the insights it produced. The book raises many of the same questions that emerge from Barth's own work - of unity and diversity, of culture and relativism, of art and science.
'The book is rich with discussions of Barth’s work, thought, and activities on the world stage of anthropology. Thomas Hylland Eriksen has given us a fine intellectual and professional portrait of a first-class anthropologist and a credit to the breed'
History of Anthropology Newsletter
'Fredrik Barth was an extraordinary ethnographer who did path-breaking fieldwork in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Indonesia and New Guinea. This book tells Barth's story with sympathy, insight and great verve'
Adam Kuper, Centennial Professor, London School of Economics
'A timely and essential guide ... Eriksen is probably the person best situated to write this admirable intellectual biography and accomplishes the task with elegance and balance'
American Anthropologist