Zeitlyn David. An Anthropological Toolkit: Sixty Useful Concepts

Berghahn Books, 2022. — 150 p.Presenting sixty theoretical ideas, David Zeitlyn asks "How to write about anthropological theory without making a specific theoretical argument?"To answer, he offers a series of mini essays about an eclectic collection of theoretical concepts that he has found helpful over the years. The book celebrates the muddled inconsistencies in the ways that humans live their messy lives. There are, however, still patterns discernible: the actors can understand what is going on, they see an event unfolding in ways that are familiar, as belonging to a certain type and therefore, Zeitlyn suggests, so can researchers.This book is relevant to anthropology, communication studies, cultural studies and sociology.David Zeitlyn has been working with Mambila people in Cameroon since 1985. He taught at the University of Kent, Canterbury, for fifteen years before moving to Oxford as Professor of Social Anthropology in 2010. His recent books include Mambila Divination: Framing Questions, Constructing Answers (Routledge, 2020).