SPA Book Series: Culture, Mind and Society

Through its book series entitled “Culture, Mind, and Society,” the Society for Psychological Anthropology publishes innovative research in culture and psychology now emerging from the discipline of anthropology and related fields.

In recent years, new developments in the social sciences have been marked by increasing dialog and innovation on the borders of established disciplines. The field of psychological anthropology has long occupied the spaces between anthropology and other disciplines concerned with human psychological functioning in natural contexts.

As anthropologists seek to bridge gaps between ideation and emotion or agency and structure; and as psychologists, psychiatrists, and medical anthropologists search for ways to engage with cultural meaning and difference, this interdisciplinary terrain is more active than ever.

The book series of the Society for Psychological Anthropology establishes a forum for the publication of manuscripts of the highest quality that illuminate the workings of the human mind, in all of its psychological and biological complexity, within the social, cultural, and political contexts that shape thought, emotion, and experience.

We publish single-authored works as well as edited volumes of collected essays. In both cases, we seek manuscripts that address topics, issues, and theories of general significance in anthropology and the social sciences, but which also demonstrate the importance of ethnographic research that grounds these discussions in people’s lived experience of thought, meaning, and desire.

Published by Palgrave MacMillan

Attachment Reconsidered: Cultural Perspectives on a Western Theory

Chinese Modernity and the Individual Psyche

Dreaming Culture: Meanings, Models, and Power in U.S. American Dreams

Subjectivity and Suffering in American Culture: Possible Selves

Published by Cambridge University Press Series

Power and the Self

The Psychology of Cultural Experience

Cultures Under Siege: Collective Violence and Trauma

Biocultural Approaches to the Emotions

guidelines for authors

Guidelines for Prospective Authors

We seek manuscripts of the highest quality that illuminate how the human mind, in all of its psychological and biological complexity, is related to the social, cultural, political, economic, and linguistic contexts where people think, feel, speak, desire, and act in ordinary life. Manuscripts should address the theoretical and comparative importance of the phenomenon in question by placing their topic in cross-cultural perspective or by addressing its significance for social and psychological theory generally. At the same time, works appropriate for this series will be based on ethnographic research that grounds discussion in worlds of social and cultural experience. Edited volumes should address a coherent topic or issue, and it is the editor’s responsibility to eliminate redundancy and to ensure that the issue or topic at hand is well covered and analyzed (e.g., by commissioning authors to fill gaps in the conceptual or ethnographic coverage of the volume, or by soliciting forewords or afterwords from scholars who are particularly knowledgeable about the issue or topic in question). Editors also should indicate how their volumes are related (or not) to previously published work in psychological anthropology and related fields.

Submission Process

It is the editorial policy of this series to solicit at least two reviews for each submission, one of which, under normal circumstances, will come from a member of the editorial board of the book series. If these reviews are favorable, the Editor will submit a report to Palgrave/St. Martin’s Press recommending publication. The Editor will make every effort to ensure timely reviews and swift publication.

Preferred Word Limit: 70,000-90,000 words

Prose Style: clearly written manuscripts that foreground the significance of the work and are written so that they could be read by students, faculty, and an educated lay audience.

Style Guidelines: Final versions of manuscripts should follow the Chicago Manual of Style.

Book Inquiries: Please send a brief proposal (2-4 pages) that describes the content, significance, relevance to the “Culture, Mind, and Society” theme, word count, prose style, audience for your manuscript.

Please send your proposal to:

Peter Stromberg
Professor of Anthropology
University of Tulsa
Tulsa OK 74104
Office: (918) 631 2801
peter-stromberg@utulsa.edu