This essay describes the field of social and cultural anthropology. The central concern of this subfield of anthropology is the study of human variations as a defining feature of the evolution of human societies and cultures. It stands in contrast to the development of other social and behavioral science disciplines that are based on evolutionism and has a stronger affinity to the humanities than these other disciplines. The present status of theory and research in social and cultural anthropology is described and promising courses of development going forward are identified.