Familiar Space in Social Memory

In this article, I present an analysis of the results of a memory task (free listing) about social relationships administered to Tongans of Polynesia. Contrary to claims by Weller and Romney (1988) and Ross (2004), the free listing activity did not yie…

Identity and Social Innovation

Foundational to this discussion are two papers on “identity” by George A. Akerlof and Rachel Kranton [2000, 2005]. We contribute to their development of this issue with additional factors that are arguably essential to the analysis of identity formatio…

Empirical Formalism

The empirical status of formal systems of ideas is a crucial topic in the effort to establish a fully empirical anthropology. In anthropology, the dominant view of formal analysis, and the nature of formal structure, is derived from positivistic philos…

Book Review: Network Analysis and Ethnographic Problems: Process Models of a Turkish Nomad Clan, by Douglas R. White and Ulla C. Johansen (Oxford, UK and Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004, Cloth / 2006, Paper, 544 pages)

Book Review: Network Analysis and Ethnographic Problems: Process Models of a Turkish Nomad Clan, by Douglas R. White and Ulla C. Johansen (Oxford, UK and Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004, Cloth / 2006, Paper, 544 pages)