Can elements of one culture--kinship relations, for example--be profitably compared to similar elements in other cultures? According to much anthropological thinking of recent decades, the answer is "no." Cultures are closed systems, many people argue, and their internal elements can only be understood with respect to the culture as a whole. Cultural anthropologist Robert C. Hunt, drawing on his vast experience studying cultures around the world, here makes a powerful counter-argument that the various elements making up a culture not only can but must be compared across cultures if we are to...

Can elements of one culture--kinship relations, for example--be profitably compared to similar elements in other cultures? According to much anthropological thinking of recent decades, the answer is 'no.' Cultures are closed systems, many people argue, and their internal elements can only be understood with respect to the culture as a whole. Cultural anthropologist Robert C. Hunt, drawing on his vast experience studying cultures around the world, here makes a powerful counter-argument that the various elements making up a culture not only can but must be compared across cultures if we are to...

Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture is the first of its kind. Each chapter considers four questions: what we don't know about specific aspects of traditional agriculture, why we need to know more, how we can know more, and what research questions can be pursued to know more. What is known is presented to provide context for what is unknown.

Traditional agriculture, nonindustrial plant cultivation for human use, is practiced worldwide by millions of smallholder farmers in arid lands. Advancing an understanding of traditional agriculture can improve its practice and contribute to...