Anthropology in Austria has come a long way, in terms of achieving diversity, growth and international visibility, since first emerging in Vienna, the capital of the former Habsburg Empire, and now of one of its main successor countries. This volume combines elements of critical self-reflection about that academic past with confidence in the intellectual currents presently in motion across the discipline. As with the country’s contributions to world literature and music, the trajectory of social-cultural anthropology may be seen as a good example of the global relevance of research in Austria within the humanities and social sciences. This ‘anthropology in motion’ situates itself at the intersections between contemporary and historical research, but also often between the natural and the social sciences. It shows a commitment to conceptual and theoretical pluralism, but, equally importantly, a dedication to the maintenance and improvement of standards of methodological quality. Whether empirical research is focused on studies at home or abroad, the blending of renewed forms of ethnographic fieldwork with solid comparative analyses and archival research characterizes many of these ongoing advances.

Issues of the construction of Self and Other, normally in the context of social exclusion of those perceived as different, have assumed a new urgency. This collection offers a fresh perspective on the ongoing debates on these questions in the social sciences and the humanities by focusing specifically on one theoretical proposition, namely, that the seemingly universal processes of identity formation and exclusion of the 'other' can be differentiated according to three modalities. All contributors directly engage with rigorous empirical testing and theoretical cross-examination of this proposition. Their results have direct implications not only for a more differentiated understanding of collective identities, but also for a better understanding of extreme collective violence and genocide.

By the early twenty-first century neo-nationalist forces have established themselves in a number of the world's large regions and subcontinents. From Australia to South Asia, in Eastern and Western Europe, comparable parties and movements have positioned themselves in national parliaments and governments, with some considerable impact on state power. In contrast to right-wing extremist parties in the past, these recent movements mostly operate within legal parliamentary channels, using essentialized notions of local culture to mobilize against real and alleged threats to local identities of status, gender, religion, nationhood and ethnicity. Prompted by this near-simultaneous rise to political influence of more than a dozen apparently similar parties across Western Europe, this collection offers a range of European case studies with selected global examples, such as the Front National, the late Pim Fortuyn, India and the BJP, and Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party in Australia. It takes up the theoretical and methodological challenges posed by this phenomenon and asks what distinctive contributions anthropology might make to its study. Andre Gingrich is Full Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Recent publications include Anthropology, by Comparison (co-edited with Richard G. Fox, 2002) and One Discipline, Four Ways: British, German, French, and American Anthropology: The Halle lectures (co-authored with Frederik Barth, Robert Parkin and Sydel Silverman, University of Chicago Press, forthcoming). Marcus Banks is Professor of Visual Anthropology at the University of Oxford, and author of Organizing Jainism in India and England (Clarendon Press, 1992); Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions (Routledge, 1996) and Visual Methods in Social Research (Sage, 2001), as well as numerous journal articles and book contributions.

Issues of the construction of Self and Other, normally in the context of social exclusion of those perceived as different, have assumed a new urgency. This collection offers a fresh perspective on the ongoing debates on these questions in the social sciences and the humanities by focusing specifically on one theoretical proposition, namely, that the seemingly universal processes of identity formation and exclusion of the 'other' can be differentiated according to three modalities. All contributors directly engage with rigorous empirical testing and theoretical cross-examination of this proposition. Their results have direct implications not only for a more differentiated understanding of collective identities, but also for a better understanding of extreme collective violence and genocide.

By the early twenty-first century neo-nationalist forces have established themselves in a number of the world's large regions and subcontinents. From Australia to South Asia, in Eastern and Western Europe, comparable parties and movements have positioned themselves in national parliaments and governments, with some considerable impact on state power. In contrast to right-wing extremist parties in the past, these recent movements mostly operate within legal parliamentary channels, using essentialized notions of local culture to mobilize against real and alleged threats to local identities of status, gender, religion, nationhood and ethnicity. Prompted by this near-simultaneous rise to political influence of more than a dozen apparently similar parties across Western Europe, this collection offers a range of European case studies with selected global examples, such as the Front National, the late Pim Fortuyn, India and the BJP, and Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party in Australia. It takes up the theoretical and methodological challenges posed by this phenomenon and asks what distinctive contributions anthropology might make to its study.

Comparison has long been the backbone of the discipline of anthropology. But recent developments in anthropology, including critical self-reflection and new case studies sited in a globalized world, have pushed comparative work aside. For the most part, comparison as theory and method has been a casualty of the critique of 'grand theory' and of a growing mistrust of objectivist, hard-science methodology in the social sciences.
Today it is time for anthropology to resume its central task of exploring humankind through comparison, using its newfound critical self-awareness under changing global conditions. In Anthropology By Comparision, an international group of prominent anthropologists re-visits, re-theorizes and re-invigorates comparison as a legitimate and fruitful enterprise. The authors explore the value of anthropological comparison and encourage an international dialogue about comparative research. While rejecting older, universalist comparative methods, these scholars take a fresh look at various subaltern and neglected approaches to comparison from their own national traditions. They then present new approaches that are especially relevant to the globalized world of the twenty-first century.
Every student and practitioner of anthropology and the social sciences will find this thought-provoking volume essential reading. Anthropology, by Comparison is a call to creative reflection on the past and productive action in the present, a challenge to anthropologists to revitalize their unique contribution to human understanding. Anthropology, by Comparison is an indispensable overview of anthropology's roots - and its future - with regard to the comparative study of humankind.

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Comparison has long been the backbone of the discipline of anthropology. But recent developments in anthropology, including critical self-reflection and new case studies sited in a globalized world, have pushed comparative work aside. For the most part, comparison as theory and method has been a casualty of the critique of 'grand theory' and of a growing mistrust of objectivist, hard-science methodology in the social sciences.
Today it is time for anthropology to resume its central task of exploring humankind through comparison, using its newfound critical self-awareness under changing global conditions. In Anthropology By Comparision, an international group of prominent anthropologists re-visits, re-theorizes and re-invigorates comparison as a legitimate and fruitful enterprise. The authors explore the value of anthropological comparison and encourage an international dialogue about comparative research. While rejecting older, universalist comparative methods, these scholars take a fresh look at various subaltern and neglected approaches to comparison from their own national traditions. They then present new approaches that are especially relevant to the globalized world of the twenty-first century.
Every student and practitioner of anthropology and the social sciences will find this thought-provoking volume essential reading. Anthropology, by Comparison is a call to creative reflection on the past and productive action in the present, a challenge to anthropologists to revitalize their unique contribution to human understanding. Anthropology, by Comparison is an indispensable overview of anthropology's roots - and its future - with regard to the comparative study of humankind.

What is a small country? Is a country small because of the size of its territory or its population? Can smallness be relative, based on the subjective perception of a country's inhabitants or in comparison with one's neighbors? How does smallness, however it is defined, shape a country and its relations with other countries? Answers to these questions, among others, can be found in Small Countries, the first and only anthropological study of smallness as a defining variable. In terms of population size, some two thirds of the countries of the world can now be considered small countries, and they can be found in all world regions except North America and East Asia. They exhibit great diversity with regard to culture, history, and institutional arrangements, so there can be no model of any "typical" small country. Yet the essays collected by Ulf Hannerz and Andre Gingrich identify a range of family resemblances in such areas as internal connectivity and sensibilities of identity. Contributors describe a number of similar problems with which small countries must cope, on domestic levels as well as in their transnational and global encounters. For some small countries, challenges such as media organization and branding have a negative impact on real or perceived vulnerability, while for others, the same challenges facilitate success stories. Comparative case studies cover a diverse set of regions, including the Caribbean, Middle East, Africa, and Europe, and employ diverse anthropological approaches. Tacit assumptions about scale, identities, and networks in everyday social life are best revealed through close, interpretive effort. At times a sense of shared belonging comes to the fore with particular events, such as a national crisis or an unexpected success in international sports, offering scope for situational analyses. In showing how small countries confront globalization, Small Countries reveals how the sense of scale intensifies when the world as a whole shrinks. Contributors: Regina F. Bendix, Aleksandar Boskovic, Virginia R. Dominguez, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Andre Gingrich, Beng-Lan Goh, Ulf Hannerz, Sulayman N. Khalaf, Eva-Maria Knoll, Jacqueline Knoerr, Orvar Loefgren, Joao de Pina-Cabral, Don Robotham, Cris Shore, Richard Wilk, Helena Wulff.