The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology is the first reference work in this discipline, with contributions from leading scholars all over the world. The last couple of decades mark the turning point in the direction and identity of the discipline and the articles included in this Encyclopaedia pertain to some of these major theoretical and methodological debates and emerging issues. The ethnographical material selected is global in its scope and contains data, and contributions, from all over the world, pertaining to every type of society and culture. The articles have been arranged theme wise covering all major areas like Culture, Behaviour, Religious Beliefs and Practices, Kinship, Gender, Medical Anthropology, Political Anthropology, Practising Anthropology, Ecological Anthropology, Research Methodology, Ethnicity and Identity, Sexuality and Culture, Family and Marriage etc. The Encyclopaedia presents almost all sub-themes of the discipline to include non-Western and Western, First world and Third world, Aborigines, Rural and Urban and a host of other subcultural types, including those based on caste, class, region, gender and ethnicity.