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BOOKREVIEWS 229Tropes" (1993) embody his distinctive style and his ironic view of theethnographic nterprisewhile suggestingthe"historicalurn"hathis work took attheUniversityof Chicago.In the formeressay, acritiqueof Berlin andKay'sBasicColorTerms,he summarizeshis thesis as follows: "It s not, then,that color termshave their meanings imposedby the constraintsof humanand physical nature;rather, heytakeon such constraints nsofaras theyaremeaningful"p. 141,italicsin original). The isomorphismwith Marx's statementon the relationshipof"consciousness" o "socialbeing"seems obvious. Missing fromthese sixteenselections are, of course, the monographs on Polynesian ecology, politicalstructure,and the more recent works on Pacific Island history, as well as thecomplex theoretical ideas put forth in his Culture and Practical Reason(represented ereby one chapter)orhis critiqueof sociobiologyin Useand Abuseof Biology (both 1976 ). Inthe long Introductionpp.9-41), however,he managesto integrate deasfromvirtuallyall of thesepausesin his journeywhile deliveringwell-deservedzingers such as "'Discourse'is the new culturalsuperorganic" p.12) and "Relativism s theprovisionalsuspensionof one's ownjudgments n orderto situatethe practicesat issue in the historicaland culturalorder hat made thempossible" (p. 21).Unlike many collections of essays, this one has been carefully proofedandclearly printed. It deserves a place on the shelf of every open-mindedanthropologist.

Philip K. BockUniversityof New Mexico

Anthropological Theory Today. Henrietta L. Moore, ed. Cambridge,Eng.:Polity Press, 1999, 304 pp. $28.95, paper;$62.95, cloth.HenriettaL. Moore wantsanthropologistso return o theory.She believes thatthebattleagainst grandnarratives, he "crisis of representation," nd the "linkingofanthropologyas a practice o questionsof power,dominationand discrimination"has resulted n a retreat romtheory-"even from theprojectof anthropology" p.1). The subsequent"retreat o ethnographicparticularism"s not an adequateresponse,so Moore hasput togethera volumewithcontributionsntended o movebeyond this impasse. There is no pretensethat these will provide syntheses ofknowledge,however; heywill be "interventionsn adebate."Critique, ven meta-critique,will still be the orderof the day.There s muchto consider n Moore's substantial ntroduction s she presentsherview of fundamentalquestions regardinganthropologyandtheoryand as sheintroduces he ninepapersat somedepth.Oneof Moore's basicpoints s the extentto which anthropological heory"borrows,appropriates nd transforms heories

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230 JOURNAL FANTHROPOLOGICALESEARCHfrom other disciplines" (p. 10). Much in this book owes more to those otherdisciplinesthan it does to pre-postmodern nthropology.Moore claims that"anthropologys anthropology" ecause it "deals notjustwith 'culturaldifference,' 'other cultures' and 'social systems,' but how thosedifferencesand social systemsare embedded n hierarchical elationsof power" p.2). Power, inequality,hierarchy,and domination are the givens at the base ofMoore's discussion, as they are the foundation of so much contemporaryanthropology.It seems odd that such a monumentalpresupposition,with suchpowerfulconsequences orthenatureof researchandthought, s neversubjected oexamination.The paper by Pascal Boyer, "HumanCognition and CulturalEvolution,"comes as a surprise;t is verydifferent n spirit romtherest of the book.It is basedupon the experimental method and research in cognitive psychology,neuroscience,and even evolutionarybiology. Boyer reportswhatresearchersarediscoveringaboutconceptualdevelopment n children and adultsthroughcross-cultural tudiesandexperimentsanddiscussestheimplicationsof theseforculturaltransmissionand evolution.Theyfindthatthehumanmindeverywhereprocessesfundamental deas similarly, and this chapterpoints more in the directionofuniversality than postmodernist thought allows. Boyer's discussion of theapplicationof the Darwinianmetaphor f "blindvariationandselective retention"to thedevelopmentof culture s suggestive,but it must sit uncomfortablywith theother contributors.ThomasJ. Csordas'schapteroffersa usefulsurveyof thinkingabout hebodyin anthropologyandincludes a bibliographical ssay. He has his own perspectiveto proposeas well. Csordaswantsto increase attention o the phenomenologicalnotion of embodiment,bodily experience,perception,andfeeling ("being-in-the-world") in a discussion that has long been dominatedby semiotics, textuality,symbols, language,andrepresentation.Moore's chapter,"WhateverHappenedto Women and Men? Gender andOtherCrisesin Anthropology," truck his outsideras a model of clearexpositionand restraint,a well-balanced and interestingpresentationof some of the majorissues in this vital domain.James Weiner writes of the value of psychoanalysisfor anthropology,withparticulareference o unconsciousmotivation, hedevelopmentof identityandtheself through heperceptionof others.Nicholas Thomasblursgenres n "BecomingUndisciplined:Anthropologyand CulturalStudies."JamesG. Carrier nd Daniel Milleraddress heproblemof linkingtheprivateandmicroscopic o thepublic,theglobal,themacroscopic.Theirsolution nvolvesempathetic thnographictudiesof local economies.Theyintend heirapproach san alternative o the formalmodels of academiceconomists andplanners.Afterasurveyof severalclassic approaches o the problemof economy andvirtue,theyadvocate ethnographicstudies of consumption,of people's experience of andrelation o materialobjects,and theways thatthey acquireobjectsand use them tocreate social relationships. They recommend studies of commodity chains

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BOOKREVIEWS 231(inspired by Mintz's work on sugar). They are emphatic in their dislike ofeconomistsandof the new institutions orfurtheringheglobal economyandtrade;however,theimpactsof these new institutionsneed moreempathetic thnographicstudybeforethey areso confidentlycondemned.AihwaOng's discussionof thepoliticaleconomies of contemporaryMalaysiaand Singaporeis a rebuketo "traditionalpolitical anthropology" or allegedlyessentializing cultures, indulging in cultural relativism, and leading some tobelieve that hereare"fundamentalWesternandnon-Western ulturaldifferences,"with Western ocietiesbeingindividualistic ndnon-Western nes communitarian.I questionthis genealogy, but by the end of her article,Ong finds that thereis,indeed,a"caring ocietymodel in South-EastAsia" andthat t does drawupon"thecultural ogics of Asian traditions" p. 66). (She rationalizesharsh authoritarianmeasures to curtail criticism and individual freedom in these states. There issomethingpatronizing n her acceptanceof controls on "Others" hat she wouldsurely reject for herself.). Ong calls upon anthropologynot "to ignore the'alternativemodernities'producedelsewhere in the world,"apparentlyunawarethatBenedict, Herskovits,and their studentswere makingthe sameplea at leastsixty yearsago.CatherineLutz and DonaldNonini call for thestudyof violence andeconomy,andtheyoffera classificationof six majorcategoriesof violence, fromeveryformof killingto hurtfulwords andunemployment.Every categoryrestsupona baseofcapitalism.It is clear how the authors eel aboutcapitalismbut not so clear howsolid a foundationtheir view is for a usable understandingof violence andeconomic systems.DebboraBattaglia("Towardan Ethics of the Open Subject") s concernedabout the harmwe do to others when we assume thatthey have undividedselvescapable of agency. She warns us that "acceptingthat persons are locations ofrelations,anylimitationof another's ocialitymoves them nthe directionof socialdisconnectionanddeath" p. 133).I doubt hevalidityandusefulnessof Battaglia'sview of the self andagency, andI am unconvincedby herTrobriand xamples.Ialso found her sweepingessentializationof "Euro-Americans"p. 136) oddly outof keepingwith herphilosophyandproclaimedvalues.

HerbertS. LewisUniversityof Wisconsin-Madison

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