Social Anthropology is the sixth volume in the Handbook of Middle American Indians, published in cooperation with the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University under the general editorship of Robert Wauchope (1909–1979). The volume editor is Manning Nash (1924–2001), Professor of Anthropology at the Center for Study of Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago.

This volume provides a synthetic and comparative summary of native ethnography and ethnology of Mexico and Central America, written by authorities in a number of broad fields: the native population and its identification, agricultural systems and food patterns, economies, crafts, fine arts, kinship and family, compadrinazgo, local and territorial units, political and religious organizations, levels of communal relations, annual and fiesta cycles, sickness, folklore, religion, mythology, psychological orientations, ethnic relationships, and topics of especial modern significance such as acculturation, nationalization, directed change, urbanization and industrialization.

The articles rely on the accumulated ethnography of the region, but instead of being essentially historical in treatment, they aim toward generalizations about the uniformities and varieties of culture, society, and personality found in Middle America. The collection is an invaluable reference work on Middle America and a provocative guide to scholars engaged in furthering understanding of humans and society.

The Handbook of Middle American Indians was assembled and edited at the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University with the assistance of grants from the National Science Foundation and under the sponsorship of the National Research Council Committee on Latin American Anthropology.