Layton's study of continuity and change in rural France and his comparisons with other European regions, make possible a reinterpretation of the eighteenth-century enclosures in England. Here, he presents an engaging dialog between ethnography and social history, suggesting a revision of the theories of Marx, Giddens, and Bourdieu.

This text presents revised versions of 28 papers given at the third World Archaeological Congress held in New Delhi in 1994. Contributors from the British Isles, Scandinavia, North and South America, India, Australia and the Pacific demonstrate the value of cross-disciplinary research drawing upon ideas and methods of archaeology, anthropology and geography. Academic and indigenous authors have collaborated to present the values and ideas concerning the landscape from peoples in the Amazon, Siberia, Vanuatu and Australia. Other papers draw upon ethnohistory and archaeology to investigate the...

This work asks whether the idea of world heritage is an essential mechanism for the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage, or whether it subjugates a diversity of cultural traditions to specifically Western ideas.

Robert Layton provides an authoritative introduction to the richness and diversity of art forms in non-Western societies. He addresses the problems of aesthetic appreciation across cultures, the varied uses of art, and the fundamental problem of what constitutes "art" in societies varying from the traditional kingdoms of West Africa, with their specialist craftsmen using precious metals, to Australian hunter-gatherers, with their sand paintings and body decoration. Art forms discussed include bark, sand and rock painting, ivory, bone and wood carving, brass casting, masks, and house and body...

Through the study of civil society, the evolution of social relations, and the breakdown of social order, Order and Anarchy re-examines the role of violence in human social evolution. Drawing on anthropology, political science, and evolutionary theory, it offers a novel approach to understanding stability and instability in human society. Robert Layton provides a radical critique of current concepts of civil society, arguing that rational action is characteristic of all human societies and not unique to post-Enlightenment Europe. Case studies range from ephemeral African gold rush communities...

Through the study of civil society, the evolution of social relations, and the breakdown of social order, Order and Anarchy re-examines the role of violence in human social evolution. Drawing on anthropology, political science, and evolutionary theory, it offers a novel approach to understanding stability and instability in human society. Robert Layton provides a radical critique of current concepts of civil society, arguing that rational action is characteristic of all human societies and not unique to post-Enlightenment Europe. Case studies range from ephemeral African gold rush communities...