HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Clifford James Geertz (; August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades... the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States."Shweder, Richard A., and Byron Good, eds. 2005. ''Clifford Geertz by His Colleagues''. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...
.
He served until his death as
professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
at the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
,
Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
.


Life and career

Geertz was born in San Francisco on August 23, 1926. He served in the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
from 1943 to 1945. Geertz received a
bachelor of arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...
from Antioch College at Yellow Springs,
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
in 1950 and a
doctor of philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
in 1956. When in Harvard University, he studied at the Department of Social Relations with an interdisciplinary program led by Talcott Parsons. Geertz worked with Parsons, as well as
Clyde Kluckhohn Clyde Kluckhohn (; January 11, 1905 in Le Mars, Iowa – July 28, 1960 near Santa Fe, New Mexico), was an American anthropologist and social theorist, best known for his long-term ethnographic work among the Navajo and his contributions to the ...
, and was trained as an anthropologist. Geertz conducted his first long-term fieldwork together with his wife, Hildred, in
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
, a project funded by the Ford Foundation and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
. He also studied the religious life of a small, upcountry town for two-and-a-half years, living with a railroad laborer's family.Geertz, Clifford. 2001. ''Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics''. Princeton:
Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
.
After finishing his thesis, Geertz returned to Indonesia, in Bali and
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, after which he would receive his PhD in 1956 with a dissertation entitled ''Religion in Modjokuto: A Study of Ritual Belief In A Complex Society''. Throughout his life, Geertz received honorary doctorate degrees from around fifteen colleges and universities, including Harvard,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, and the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
; as well as awards such as the Association for Asian Studies' (AAS) 1987 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies. He was a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
, the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, and the United States National Academy of Sciences. Following his divorce from anthropologist Hildred Geertz, his first wife, he married Karen Blu, another anthropologist.


Teaching

He taught or held fellowships at a number of schools before joining the faculty of the anthropology department at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1960. In this period Geertz expanded his focus on
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
to include both
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
and Bali and produced three books, including ''Religion of Java'' (1960), '' Agricultural Involution'' (1963), and ''Peddlers and Princes'' (also 1963). In the mid-1960s, he shifted course and began a new research project in
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
that resulted in several publications, including ''Islam Observed'' (1968), which compared Indonesia and
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
. In 1970, Geertz left Chicago to become professor of social science at the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
in
Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...
from 1970 to 2000, then as
emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
professor. In 1973, he published ''The Interpretation of Cultures'', which collected essays Geertz had published throughout the 1960s. That became Geertz's best-known book and established him not just as an Indonesianist but also as an anthropological theorist. In 1974, he edited the anthology ''Myth, Symbol, Culture'' that contained papers by many important anthropologists on symbolic anthropology. Geertz produced ethnographic pieces in this period, such as ''Kinship in Bali'' (1975), ''Meaning and Order in Moroccan Society'' (1978; written collaboratively with Hildred Geertz and Lawrence Rosen) and ''Negara'' (1981).


Later life

From the 1980s to his death, Geertz wrote more theoretical and essayistic pieces, including book reviews for the '' New York Review of Books''. As a result, most of his books of the period are collections of essays—books including ''Local Knowledge'' (1983), ''Available Light'' (2000), and ''Life Among The Anthros'' (2010), which was published posthumously. He also produced a series of short essays on the stylistics of ethnography in ''Works and Lives'' (1988), while other works include the autobiographical ''After The Fact'' (1995). Geertz conducted extensive ethnographic research in Southeast Asia and North Africa. This fieldwork was the basis of Geertz's famous analysis of the Balinese cockfight among others. While holding a position in Chicago in the 1960s, he directed a multidisciplinary project titled ''Committee for the Comparative Studies of New Nations''. As part of the project, Geertz conducted fieldwork in
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
on "bazaars, mosques, olive growing and oral poetry," collecting ethnographic data that would be used for his famous essay on thick description.Geertz, Clifford. 1973. "Thick Description: Towards an Interpretive Theory of Culture." Pp. 3–30 in '' The Interpretation of Cultures''. New York: Basic Books. Geertz contributed to social and cultural theory and is still influential in turning
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
toward a concern with the frames of meaning within which various peoples live their lives. He reflected on the basic core notions of
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
, such as culture and
ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...
. He eventually died of complications following heart surgery on October 30, 2006. At the time of his death, Geertz was working on the general question of ethnic diversity and its implications in the modern world.


Main ideas, contributions, and influences

Geertz's often-cited essay " Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight" is a classic example of thick description, a concept adopted from the British philosopher
Gilbert Ryle Gilbert Ryle (19 August 1900 – 6 October 1976) was a British philosopher, principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase " ghost in the machine." He was a representative of the generation of British o ...
which comes from ordinary language philosophy. ''Thick description'' is an anthropological method of explaining with as much detail as possible the reason behind human actions. Many human actions can mean many different things, and Geertz insisted that the anthropologist needs to be aware of this. The work proved influential amongst historians, many of whom tried to use these ideas about the 'meaning' of cultural practice in the study of customs and traditions of the past. Another of Geertz's philosophical influences is that of
Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian- British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is consi ...
's post-analytic philosophy, from which Geertz incorporates the concept of
family resemblance Family resemblance (german: Familienähnlichkeit, link=no) is a philosophical idea made popular by Ludwig Wittgenstein, with the best known exposition given in his posthumously published book '' Philosophical Investigations'' (1953). It argues t ...
s into anthropology. Geertz would also introduce anthropology to the " umwelt- mitwelt-vorwelt-folgewelt" formulation of Alfred Schütz's
phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
, stressing that the links between the "consociate," "contemporary," "predecessor," and "successor" that are commonplace in anthropology derive from this very formulation. At the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, Geertz became a champion of symbolic anthropology, a framework which gives prime attention to the role of symbols in constructing public meaning. In his seminal work '' The Interpretation of Cultures'' (1973), Geertz outlined culture as "a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life." He was one of the earliest scholars to see that the insights provided by common language, philosophy and literary analysis could have major explanatory force in the social sciences. Geertz aimed to provide the social sciences with an understanding and appreciation of “thick description.” Geertz applied thick description to anthropological studies, particularly to his own '
interpretive anthropology Symbolic anthropology or, more broadly, symbolic and interpretive anthropology, is the study of cultural symbols and how those symbols can be used to gain a better understanding of a particular society. According to Clifford Geertz, " lieving, wi ...
', urging anthropologists to consider the limitations placed upon them by their own cultural cosmologies when attempting to offer insight into the cultures of other people. He produced theory that had implications for other social sciences; for example, Geertz asserted that culture was essentially semiotic in nature, and this theory has implications for comparative political sciences. Max Weber and his interpretative social science are strongly present in Geertz's work. Drawing from Weber, Geertz himself argues for a “ semiotic” concept of culture:Geertz, Clifford. 1973. '' The Interpretation of Cultures''. New York: Basic Books.
Believing…that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun…I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretative one in search of meaning. It is explication I am after, construing social expression on their surface enigmatical. (p.5)
Geertz argues that to interpret a culture's web of symbols, scholars must first isolate its elements, specifying the internal relationships among those elements and characterize the whole system in some general way according to the core symbols around which it is organized, the underlying structures of which it is a surface expression, or the ideological principles upon which it is based. It was his view that culture is public, because “meaning is,” and systems of meanings are what produce culture, because they are the collective property of a particular people. We cannot discover the culture's import or understand its systems of meaning, when, as Wittgenstein noted, “we cannot find our feet with them.” Geertz wants society to appreciate that social actions are larger than themselves:
It is not against a body of uninterrupted data, radically thinned descriptions, that we must measure the cogency of our explications, but against the power of the scientific imagination to bring us into touch with the lives of strangers.”
In seeking to converse with subjects in foreign cultures and gain access to their conceptual world, this is the goal of the semiotic approach to culture. Cultural theory is not its own master; at the end of the day we must appreciate, that the generality “thick description” contrives to achieve, grows out of the delicacy of its distinctions, not the sweep of its abstraction. The essential task of theory-building here is not to codify abstract regularities, but to make thick description possible; not to generalize across cases, but to generalize within them. During Geertz's long career he worked through a variety of theoretical phases and schools of thought. He would reflect an early leaning toward functionalism in his essay "Ethos, Worldview and the Analysis of Sacred Symbols", writing that "the drive to make sense out of experience, to give it form and order, is evidently as real and pressing as the more familiar biological needs."


Legacy

Geertz's research and ideas have had a strong influence on 20th-century academia, including modern anthropology and communication studies, as well as for geographers, ecologists, political scientists, scholars of religion, historians, and other humanists.
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
Professor Daniel Pals (1996) wrote of Geertz that "his critics are few; his admirers legion." Talal Asad attacked the dualism in Geertzian theory: the theory does not provide a bridge between external symbols and internal dispositions. Asad also pointed out the need for a more nuanced approach toward the historical background of certain concepts.Asad, Talal (1983). ''Anthropological Concepts of Religion: Reflections on Geertz''. Man (N.S.) 18:237-59. Criticizing Geertz's theory of religion in general, Asad pointed out a gap between 'cultural system' and 'social reality' when attempting to define the concept of religion in universal terms. He would also criticize Geertz for ascribing an authorizing discourse around conversations of comparative religion that, Asad argues, does not really exist. Furthermore, Asad criticized Geertz for operating according to a eurocentric view of religion that places import on signs and symbols that may or may not carry through in non-Christian religious cultures. Asad, Talal. 1993. "The Construction of Religion as an Anthropological Category." ''Genealogies of religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam'', pp. 27-54.


Interlocutors

* Stephen Greenblatt *
Robert Darnton Robert Choate Darnton (born May 10, 1939) is an American cultural historian and academic librarian who specializes in 18th-century France. He was director of the Harvard University Library from 2007 to 2016. Life Darnton was born in New Yor ...
* Mark R. Woodward * Talal Asad


Publications


Bibliography of major works

*1960.
The Religion of Java
'' Chicago: University Of Chicago Press (1976, revised ed.). . * 1963. '' Peddlers and Princes: Social Development and Economic Change in Two Indonesian Towns.'' Chicago: University Of Chicago Press. . * 1964. '' Agricultural Involution: the process of ecological change in Indonesia''. Berkeley:
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...
. * 1966. "Religion as a Cultural System." Pp. 1–46 in ''Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion'', edited by M. Banton. ''ASA Monographs'' 3. London: Tavistock Publications. *1968. ''Islam Observed, Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia''. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press (1971). . * 1973. '' The Interpretation of Cultures.'' New York: Basic Books (2000). . *1975. ''Kinship in Bali'', coauthored by H. Geertz. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press (1978), paperback: * 1980.
Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali
'' Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
. . * 1983.
Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology
'' Basic Books (2008). . * 1984. "Anti Anti-Relativism." ''
American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John ...
'' 86(2):263–78. * 1988. ''Works and Lives: The Anthropologist As Author''. Stanford: Stanford University Press (1990), paperback: . * 1995.
After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist
'' Boston:
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
(1996, revised ed.). . * 2000. '' Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics.'' Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. * 2002. "An inconstant profession: The anthropological life in interesting times." ''Annual Review of Anthropology'' 31: 1–19
Viewable at hypergeertz.jku.at


Complete bibliography

* 1957. "Ritual and Social Change: A Javanese Example." ''American Anthropologist'' 59(1):32–54. *1959. "Form and Variation in Balinese Village Structure." ''American Anthropologist'' 61:991–1012. *1959 "The Javanese Village." Pp. 34–41 in ''Local, Ethnic, and National Loyalties in Village Indonesia,'' edited by G. W. Skinner. New Haven: Southeast Asian Program, Yale University. *1960. ''Religion of Java''. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. *1961. "The Rotating Credit Association: A 'Middle Rung' in Development." ''
Economic Development and Cultural Change ''Economic Development and Cultural Change (EDCC)'' publishes studies that use modern theoretical and empirical approaches to examine both the determinants and the effects of various dimensions of economic development and cultural change. It covers ...
'' 10:241–63. *1962. "Studies in Peasant Life: Community and Society." '' Biennial Review of Anthropology'' 1961, edited by B. J. Siegal. pp. 1–41. Stanford: Stanford University Press. *1962. "The Growth of Culture and the Evolution of Mind." Pp. 713–40 in ''Theories of the Mind,'' edited by J. Scher. New York: Free Press. *1963. ''Agricultural Involution: The Process of Agricultural Change in Indonesia''. Berkeley:
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...
. *1963. ''Peddlers and Princes: Social Change and Economic Modernization in Two Indonesian Towns''. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...
. *1963. (as editor)
Old Societies and New States: The Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa
'. New York: Free Press. *1963. "The Integrative Revolution: Primordial Sentiments and Civil Politics in the New States." Pp. 105–57 in ''Old Societies and New States'', ed. C. Geertz. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. *1964. "Ideology as a Cultural System." Pp. 47–76 in ''Ideology and Discontent,'' edited by D. Apter. New York: Free Press. *1965. ''The Social History of an Indonesian Town''. Cambridge:
MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publ ...
. *1965. ''Modernization in a Muslim Society: The Indonesian Case.'' Pp. 20157 11 in ''Man, State, and Society in Contemporary South East Asia'', edited by R. O. Tilman (ed). London: Pall Mall. *1966. "Person, Time, and Conduct in Bali: An Essay in Cultural Analysis." ''Southeast Asia Program, Cultural Report Series''. New Haven:
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
. *1966. "Religion as a Cultural System." Pp. 1–46 in ''Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion,'' edited by Michael Banton. ''ASA Monographs'' 3. London: Tavistock Publications. *1966. "The Impact of the Concept of Culture on the Concept of Man." Pp. 93–118 in ''New Views of the Nature of Man'', edited by J. Platt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *1967. "Politics Past, Politics Preset: Some Notes on the Contribution of Anthropology to the Study of the New States." ''European Journal of Sociology'' 8(1):1–14. *1967. "The Cerebral Savage: On the Work of Claude Lévi-Strauss." ''Encounter'' 48(4):25–32. *1967. "Tihingan: A Balinese Village." Pp. 210–43 in ''Villages in Indonesia'', edited by R. N. Koentjaraningrat. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in ...
. *1967. "Under the Mosquito Net." '' New York Review of Books'' September 14. *1968. ''Islam Observed: Religious Development in Morocco and Indonesia''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 136 pp. *1968. "Thinking as a Moral Act: Dimensions of Anthropological Fieldwork in the New States." Antioch Review 28(2):139–58. *1972. "Religious Change and Social Order in Soeharto's Indonesia." ''Asia'' 27:62–84. *1972. "The Wet and the Dry: Traditional Irrigation in Bali and Morocco." '' Human Ecology'' 1:34–9. *1972. "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight." ''Daedalus'' 101(1). *1973. ''The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays''. New York: Basic Books. **1973. "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture." Pp. 3–30 in ''The Interpretation of Cultures''. *1976. "From the Native's Point of View." Pp. 221–37 in ''Meaning in Anthropology'', edited by K. H. Basso and H. A. Selby. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. *1977. "Found in Translation: On the Social History of the Moral Imagination." ''
Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Fiction ...
'' 31(4):788–810. *1977. "Curing, Sorcery, and Magic in a Javanese Town." Pp. 146–53 in ''Culture, Disease, and Healing: Studies in Medical Anthropology'', edited by D. Landy. New York: Macmillan Publishing. *1979. ''Meaning and Order in Moroccan Society: Three Essays in Cultural Analysis'', written with H. Geertz and L. Rosen. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
. See his own contribution on "Suq: The Bazaar Economy in Sefrou" (Pp. 123–225). *1980. ''Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth-Century Bali''. Princeton:
Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
. *1983. ''Local Knowledge: Further Essays in'' ''Interpretive Anthropology''. New York: Basic Books. **"Centers, Kings, and Charisma: Reflections on the Symbolics of Power." Pp. 121–46 in ''Local Knowledge.'' **"From the Native's Point of View: On the Nature of Anthropological Knowledge." pp. 55–70.In: ''Local Knowledge.'' *1983. "Notions of Primitive Thought: Dialogue with Clifford Geertz." Pp. 192–210 in ''States of Mind,'' edited & composed by J. Miller. New York:
Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
. *1984. "Anti Anti-Relativism: 1983 Distinguished Lecture." ''
American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John ...
'' 82:263–78. *1984. "Culture and Social Change: The Indonesian Case." '' Man'' 19:511–32. *1986. Pp. 251–75 in ''The Uses of Diversity''. In: ''Tanner Lectures on Human Values'', Vol. 7, edited by S. M. McMurrin. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...
& University of Utah Press. *1988. ''Works and Lives: The Anthropologist as Author''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Includes the following studies: **"The World in a Text: How to Read Tristes Tropiques" (pp. 25–48). **"Slide Show: Evans-Pritchard's African Transparencies" (pp. 49–72). **"I-Witnessing: Malinowski's Children" (pp. 73–101). **"Us/not-Us: Benedict's Travels" (pp. 102–28). *1989
"Margaret Mead, 1901-1978."
''
Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences The ''Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences'' has been published by the United States National Academy of Sciences since 1877 and presents biographies of selected members. This series of annual volumes (often abbreviated ''BMNAS ...
'' 58:329–41. *1990. "History and Anthropology." '' New Literary History'' 21(2):321–35. *1991. "The Year of Living Culturally." ''New Republic'' (October 21):30–6. *1992. "'Local Knowledge' and Its Limits: Some Obiter Dicta." '' Yale Journal of Criticism'' 5(2):129–35. *1993. "'Ethnic Conflict': Three Alternative Terms." ''Common Knowledge'' 2(3):54–65. *1994. "Life on the Edge" eview of Tsing 1993, ''In the Realm of the Diamond Queen'' ''New York Review of Books'' 41(7 April ):3–4. *1995. ''After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist, The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures.'' Cambridge:
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
. *1995. "Culture War" eview essay of Sahlins 1995, "How 'Natives' Think and Obeyesekere, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook" '' New York Review of Books'' 42(19 November 30):4–6. *1999 "'The pinch of destiny': Religion as Experience, Meaning, Identity, Power." ''Raritan'' 18(3 Winter): 1–19. *2000. ''Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics.'' Princeton:
Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
. *2010. ''Life Among the Anthros and Other Essays'', edited by F. Inglis. Princeton:
Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
.


See also

* Clifford Geertz's theory of religion * Thick Description * Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight * List of important publications in anthropology


References


Further reading

* Alexander, J.C., P. Smith, and M. Norton, eds. 2011. ''Interpreting Clifford Geertz: Cultural Investigation in the Social Sciences.'' New York: Palgrave Macmillan. *Griffin, Em. 2012. ''A First Look At Communication''. New York: McGraw-Hill. * Inglis, F. 2000. ''Clifford Geertz: Culture, Custom and Ethics.'' Cambridge. Polity Press * Lloyd, Christopher. 1993. ''The Structures of History.'' Oxford: Blackwell. *Isaac, Joel (2018). " The Intensification of Social Forms: Economy and Culture in the Thought of Clifford Geertz". ''Critical Historical Studies'' 5(2): 237–266.


External links

*
HyperGeertz©WorldCatalogue
contains all publications (= directly or indirectly noted public contributions) by Prof. Clifford James Geertz, in all languages], compiled by Ingo Mörth and Gerhard Fröhlich, Austria
Interview of Clifford Geertz
video)


Clifford Geertz: A Life of Learning
(Charles Homer Haskins Lecture for 1999)

by Andrew L. Yarrow published on November 1, 2006, in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
Geertz author page and archive
from '' The New York Review of Books''
Interview of Clifford Geertz by Alan Macfarlane 5 May 2004 (video)Symbolic and Interpretive AnthropologiesNational Academy of Sciences Biographical MemoirThe deepest scholar monograph on Clifford Geertz (spanish)

Guide to the Clifford Geertz Papers 1930s-2007
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geertz, Clifford 1926 births 2006 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Antioch College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Institute for Advanced Study faculty University of Chicago faculty American rhetoricians Anthropologists of religion Javanists Microhistorians Symbolic anthropologists Social anthropologists United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American anthropologists University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Indonesianists Members of the American Philosophical Society