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Satish Kedia and John van Willigen, eds., Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2005,370 pages.
This is a very good collection and one that is wholly American in substance and content. In nine discreet chapters individual contributors review common fields of applied anthropological work: health and medicine; nutritional anthropology; anthropology applied to the aged; development; displacement and resettlement; agriculture; environmental anthropology; business and industry, and anthropology applied to education. These applied areas are referred to as sub-disciplines of Applied Anthropology or alternatively as Domains of Application, a term first introduced by van Willigen is his earlier Applied Anthropology and revisited here. The book is in essence a collection of applied anthropological area studies which are framed by a clear and cogent introduction and summary written by the editors. Kedia and van Willigen have wisely chosen to have contributors speak to common issues and themes. As a result, individual readings commonly, but not uniformly, address the historical context and development of various styles of anthropology, relevant theory, typical settings and roles associated with application and appropriate methodologies.
The concept of domain is useful, and one I have always found relevant in teaching Applied Anthropology at the undergraduate and graduate levels. As originally conceived by van Willigen, "the domain of application consists of two major components: the methodology of application, which maps the relationship between information, policy, and action; and the context of application, which includes the knowledge relevant to a particular problem area and work setting" (1986: 9). I have always taken the concept to suggest that domains are an expanded "field" of the applied anthropologist; settings where the researcher, advocate or administrator must learn local context and culture, as well as the...