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Anthropology in the SOAS Library

The Library has important collections on the anthropology and ethnology of the regions and individual countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Islands of the Pacific, including works by, and about, noted anthropologists.

The Library holds general theoretical works, dictionaries and encyclopaedias on anthropology, ethnology and sociology.

The Library collects material on religions and the study of religions; on ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples; on music and ethnomusicology; on traditional agriculture and ethno-botany; on human rights; on Islamic, customary and traditional law; on land rights and development studies; on mass media, film and broadcasting; and on popular fiction. This material, including general and interdisciplinary works, and publications on specific countries and regions, is relevant to the study of anthropology.

Key journals

  • American anthropologist
  • American ethnologist
  • Annual review of anthropology
  • Anthropology today
  • Current anthropology
  • Human organization
  • IDS bulletin
  • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, formerly Man
    Visual anthropology review
  • World development

Key reference works

  • Anthropological Index.
  • Companion encyclopedia of anthropology/ edited Tim Ingold. London: Routledge, 1994.
  • The Development dictionary: a guide to knowledge as power/ edited by Wolfgang Sachs. London: Zed, 1992.
  • Discovering anthropology/ compiled and edited by Simon Coleman and Bob Simpson. London: RAI, 1998.
  • Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. 4v.
  • Encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology/ edited by Alan Barnard, Jonathan Spencer. London: Routledge, 1996.
  • Encyclopedia of philosophy. New York: Macmillan, 1967. 8v.
  • The film studies dictionary / Steve Blandford, Barry Keith Grant and Jim Hillier. London: Arnold, 2001
  • International bibliography of anthropology.
  • International encyclopedia of the social sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1968. 17v.
  • Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society/ Raymond Williams. Rev. ed. London: Fontana, 1983.
  • The Macmillan international film encyclopedia / [Ephraim Katz]. 4th ed. London: Macmillan, 2001.
  • The New encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. [Rev.] Chicago, 1997. 32v.
  • Oxford companion to philosophy/ edited by Ted Hondrich. Oxford University Press, 1995.
  • The Social science encyclopedia/ edited by Adam and Jessica Kuper. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 1996.

Special collections in SOAS Library & Archives

  • Anthropological photographs, field-notes and unpublished papers of Christoph von Fuhrer-Haimendorf. Currently being digitised, click here to view.
  • Research data gathered by Melvin Lee Perlman.
  • Relevant Departments & Centres in the School

Other related materials in SOAS Library

Materials on the regions of Asia and Africa are to be found in various collections in the Library. See Subject guides for more information.

Relevant Departments & Centres in the School

Centre for Development Policy and Research (CDPR)
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Centre for Gender Studies
Food Studies Centre