“Ethnographies” are detailed descriptions of social life in different times and places. Traditionally, ethnographies focused in-depth on a group of people such as the Nuer or a particular North Indian Village. Today, they are just as likely to focus on a particular aspect of social life such as new reproductive technologies, meanings of the veil, home decoration or even being a Millwall football club fan! Ethnographies can be really interesting to read and give you a fascinating insight into a place or group of people. In their ethnographies anthropologists often write about their experiences of doing research; how they felt, what it was like to live in an unfamiliar place, so they are also good ways to find out what it might be like to be a professional anthropologist.
Here are some particularly accessible ones:
The Sport of Kings: Kinship, Class and Thoroughbred Breeding in Newmarket
Rebecca Cassidy (2008)
