ABSTRACT

Anthropologists travel back in time and across the globe to understand human culture but, surprise, there is culture right here in the United States. This second edition of the best-selling textbook and anthology, Reflecting on America, again focuses on how we can recognize the common cultural thread running through diverse American phenomena from heroin addiction and Big Business‘s efforts to shape the identities of children, to Civil War reenactments and the popularity of burlesque in the Midwest. In addition, this second edition includes chapters written especially for this volume on striptease, Burning Man, The Big Bang Theory TV show, and Groundhog Phil. Written throughout with verve and quirky humor, and offeringQuestions for discussion after every article, this  book is perfect for undergraduate classes in anthropology and American studies. Drawing together twenty-two scholars with expertise in anthropological ideas about culture, Reflecting on America examines what it means to be American.

chapter 1|2 pages

Introduction: Upon Further Reflection

ByClare L. Boulanger

chapter 2|6 pages

America—The View from across the (Reflecting) Pond

ByClare L. Boulanger

part |46 pages

Ecology/Economy

chapter 3|10 pages

Mickey, Nicky, and Barbie: Kinderculture in America

ByRichard H. Robbins

chapter 4|11 pages

Consuming Ourselves to Death

ByRichard Wilk

chapter 5|10 pages

The Button: Not a Simple Notion

ByPaul Grebinger

chapter 6|10 pages

Safety and Health in the “Safer and Healthier” Agriculture

ByBrandi Janssen

part |55 pages

Family Life and Leisure

chapter 7|15 pages

Chauffeuring and Commuting: A Story of Work, Family, Class, and Community

ByLara Descartes, Conrad P. Kottak, Autumn Kelly

chapter 8|14 pages

Military Families: The Long Journey Home

BySarah Hautzinger, Jean Scandlyn

chapter 9|8 pages

Every Time We Type Goodbye: Heartbreak American-Style

ByIlana Gershon

chapter 10|13 pages

Striptease, Leisure, and Labor in the Midwestern United States

ByBeth Hartman

part |46 pages

Class and Power

chapter 12|16 pages

Gender, Race, and Class in America: Home in New Haven

ByMicaela di Leonardo

chapter 13|14 pages

Welcome to an East Harlem Shooting Gallery

ByPhilippe Bourgois

part |58 pages

Ritual and Religion

chapter 14|13 pages

A Pilgrimage to the Past: Civil War Reenactors at Gettysburg

ByMatthew H. Amster

chapter 15|12 pages

Memories of Burning Man

ByS. Megan Heller

part |52 pages

Ideology

chapter 18|11 pages

Little Boys Writ Big: Gender, Economy, and The Big Bang Theory

ByClare L. Boulanger

chapter 19|16 pages

Warmaking as the American Way of Life

ByCatherine Lutz

chapter 20|12 pages

American Cultural Denial: The CATs’ Compass

ByE.L. Cerroni-Long

chapter 21|10 pages

Living up to our Words

ByPaul Durrenberger