Clifford Geertz

American cultural anthropologist who developed interpretive anthropology — arguing that culture should be read as a text and that the goal of anthropology is thick description: rich contextual interpretation.

Thick description: anthropological description must capture not just behavior but the layered meanings that behavior has within its cultural context — borrowing the term from Ryle. The Interpretation of Cultures: a collection of essays developing interpretive anthropology. Culture as text: cultures are webs of significance that must be read, not measured. Deep play: his essay on the Balinese cockfight as a reading of Balinese culture. The religion essay: religion as a cultural system.