War, Conflict & Anthropology : a guide to library resources
Contents:
A related library guide which may be helpful:
Terrorism
Starting Points
When you need to define your topic and/or get some background reading try consulting a dictionary or encyclopedia on war/military topics or conflict or on mass violence.
The guide to Anthropology dictionaries/encyclopedias will help if you need explanations of anthropological terminology or theory.
To find overviews on the subject try the following:
Anthropology of violence and conflict (2001) [print]
[Consists of two theoretical essays defining violence followed by individual studies of violence and warfare. A book review is linked here] Anthropology of war (1990) [print]
[Addresses the nature and causes of warfare in tribal societies. A book review is linked here] Anthropology of war : views from frontline (2009) [print]
[Essays on ethnographic work at the frontlines]
Culture in chaos (2008) [print]
[Reexamines the way social norms change during war. A book review is linked here]
Fieldwork under fire (1995) [print]
[A collection of essays written by anthropologists who have experienced the unpredictability and trauma of political violence firsthand. A book review is linked here]
No peace, no war: an anthropology of contemporary armed conflicts (2004) [print]
[Departs from the usual analysis that considers the new wars mindless mass actions to offer the paradoxical idea that to understand war one must deny war special status. A book review is linked here]
Studying war : anthropological perspectives (1994) [print]
[Presents a cross-section of anthropological approaches to war. A book review is linked here]
Violence in war and peace (2004) [print]
[Anthropologists & others undertake an exploration of violence through various conceptions and modes of violence. A book review is linked here]
War : back to the future (1999) [electronic]
[A review of the state of the study of war as described and analyzed by anthropologists. Published in vol.28 of the Annual Review of Anthropology. Also available in print format]
Finding Books Using The Library Catalogue
Books can be found by searching the library catalogue. Keyword searching is probably the bestway of identifying material, and your results will be maximised by using keyword searching techniques such as truncation and Boolean searching, and by incorporating subject headings into your search where appropriate. Here are some examples on how to construct searches:
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"Sri Lanka" and "ethnic conflict"
"culture conflict" and (anthropol* or ethnograph*)
(war* or violence) and "cross cultural studies"
ethnograph* and war
Finding Journal Articles Using Databases
Journal articles can be found through databases listed in the Electronic Databases for Anthropology guide - Sociological Abstracts, Anthropology Plus, Academic OneFile and Academic Search Premier are probably the best starting points.
In addition, there are bibliographies of books & journal articles in the library which are probably most useful for identifying earlier material.
Web Resources
Useful resources on the Web:
Library of Congress Web Archives : 2003 Iraq War
[Includes newspapers, websites, veteran organizations, maps, photos, official government
documents, legal materials, scholarly papers, cartoons, periodicals. Select Browse then
Subject - includes "Political violence" and "War on terrorism"]
Last update: 26 June 2009 Helen Attar
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