Society From the Inside Out

Society from the Inside Out focuses on the household as the primary factor in the development of social structure. This book consists of seven ethnographic papers, each providing a critical assessment of the particular way in which the household is embedded in society. The editors characterize the approach underlying these essays as giving "ethnographic priority" to the household and of studying society from the inside out. As such, it constitutes a significant contribution to the merits of a "macro" versus "micro" approach to studying social and cultural organizations. The contributors demonstrate how this view from the "inside out" is integral to a more adequate theory of society. Society from the Inside Out will be invaluable reading for those interested in South Asian culture and society, and will be useful supplementary reading for courses in anthropology, sociology, family studies, and methodology. "Packed with rich ethnographic description and analysis. The volume is well set out and illustrated with useful maps, figures, and tables." --Man "Society from the Inside Out is a valuable anthropological investigation of households which uses an ′inside-out′ approach. The authors clearly demonstrate the advantages gained in recognizing that households cannot merely be taken-for-granted entities with generalized definitions. . . . I was overwhelmed by the information supplied by each author. . . . Clearly, this is not a book to be read prior to retiring, but rather is to be understood as a detailed, densely compact version of the intricacies of a particular society." --Journal of Comparative Family Studies "The book provides some very valuable papers. For collecting and publishing them the editors deserve compliments." --Sociological Bulletin