China, Japan, Europe and the Anglo-sphere

We live in a confused and confusing world. This is partly caused by the massive growth of inter-civilisational contacts driven by economic, cultural and communication changes. It is urgent that we understand each other if we are to survive and thrive, yet most of us know very little about the world outside our own civilisation. This book describes the central features of four great civilisations, their history and culture: China, Japan, Europe and the Anglosphere. Through a comparison of their deeper cultural logic and through investigating their dreams and nightmares, their religious, economic, political and social similarities and differences, we may come to a deeper appreciation of their worlds and our own. Drawing on fifty years of travel through these different civilisations and teaching about them at the University of Cambridge, Alan Macfarlane explores how we can remain different and yet live in some sort of harmony through mutual appreciation and understanding.

A four workshop series on ‘The Harmony of Civilisations’ given by Alan at Sichuan University can be found here.

Understanding the English, a personal A-Z

This is a book written for those who come to England from abroad, whether as short-term visitors, to be educated or engage in work, whether they come from the Continent or from other civilisations, especially the Far East. It provides over a hundred short descriptions of prominent English features and then tries to explain their origin and function. Under the first two letters, for example, we have: Absurdity, Amateurs, Antiquities, Aplomb, Barter, Beef, Beer, Brexit, Bribery and Bureaucracy. It is based on the experience of coming from India as a child and learning to be English, and then looking back as a historian of England, and an anthropologist exploring Nepal, Japan and China. It is a summation of over a dozen books about the English, from The Origins of English Individualism (1978) to The Invention of the Modern World (2014).

The peculiarity of the English, a personal view

Alan Macfarlane writes as both an insider (British parents, brought up and educated and living in England, working on English history), and as an outsider (five-eighths Scots, working as an anthropologist in Nepal, Japan and China).
The book explains very simply some of the key features that those who wish to understand the English might like to know about, and what has caused some of the special of the English. These include politics (democracy), economy (capitalism), family (individualism), religion (puritanism, class (fluidity), education (for life), games (football), humour (irony), arts (literature), empire (identity).

A related lecture given by Alan at an Anglo-Polish Conference in Warsaw can be found here.

Understanding the Chinese: A Personal A-Z

Very few people in the West know much about China. What they think they know is largely based on outdated stereotypes from the mind-twentieth century or earlier. Yet, as China emerges once again as a world super-power and influences lives around the globe, it is important to understand this most ancient and largest of all civilisations. This book is based on seventeen visits to China since 1997 by Alan Macfarlane and his wife Sarah Harrison, travelling and filming through many remote regions and the great emerging cities. It is also informed by teaching in numerous Chinese universities and many friendships with Chinese students and colleagues.