At the center of anthropology is the fascinating diversity of human cultures and societies. A crucial aim of anthropological inquiry is to understand the ecological, economical, political, legal, and social dimensions of human life in its cultural and historical variability. Its primary interest is to contextualize the local in regional, national, and global contexts. Anthropologists investigate a broad range of social phenomena: villages and urban spaces in the North and the South, social and religious movements, legal practices and violent conflicts as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations and their distinctive practices.