David Hammond-Tooke was  the Chair of social anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand (1970-91). He was a classical, scholarly ethnographer and social anthropologist.

The contributors to this collection, inspired by Hammond-Tooke’s work, explore the interrelationship of culture and practice in social life which forms its theme, representing a trend in anthropology that has been developing in post-apartheid South Africa.

Patrick McAllister is Associate Professor in Anthropology, University of Canterbury, New Zealand