In Search of Worldviews: What Anthropology Can Tell Us about the Middle East

The Middle East currently dominates the news, often with misleading stories that cast local people as terrorists or oppressed. In Search of Worldviews argues that in-depth anthropological studies are the best data-driven way to provide accurate information from local perspectives on everyday topics such as women's roles, why Islam is overtaking other major religions, why democracy has difficulty taking hold, how minorities cope, and formal and informal methods of conflict resolution. It also helps us understand ourselves better when we know how other cultures address the same human problems. Using anthropological techniques such as participant observations, historic document research, and institutional analysis, each chapter of this book poses an important question about the Middle East with a focus on local perspectives.