Anthropology Books

Book SynopsisIs the future about to close in, or is it open to new horizons? For anthropologist Tim Ingold, the root of our difficulty in facing up to the future lies in the way we think about generations. We imagine them as layers, succeeding one another like sheets in a stack. This view figures as a largely unquestioned backdrop to discussions of evolution, life and death, longevity, extinction, sustainability, education, climate change and other matters of contemporary concern. What if we were to think of generations, instead, as wrapping around one another along their length, more like fibres in a rope than stacked sheets? In this compelling new book, Ingold argues that a return to the idea that life is forged in the collaboration of overlapping generations might not only assuage some of our anxieties, but also offer a lasting foundation for future coexistence. But it would mean having to abandon our faith both in the inevitability of progress, and in the ability of science and technology to cushion humanity from environmental impacts. A perfect world is not around the corner, nor will our troubles ever end. Nevertheless, for as long as life continues, there is hope for generations to come.Trade Review‘Ingold asserts the urgent need to reimagine and re-enact the relationship between past, present and future, arguing for the importance of collaboration and reciprocal learning across generations. He advances a proposal for a form of education that would unite the wisdom of elders with the curiosity of the young.’Stuart McLean, University of Minnesota‘Inspiring and beautifully written, Tim Ingold’s new book contemplates life and the relations that sustain it. Turning attention to the idea of generation, and with hope for the possibilities of collaboration, Ingold opens out and responds to crucial questions about time, growth, remembering, loss and continuity.’Elizabeth Hallam, University of OxfordTable of ContentsPreface List of Figures Chapter 1: Generations and the Regeneration of Life Chapter 2: Modelling the Human Life Course Chapter 3: Remembering the Way Chapter 4: Uncertainty and Possibility Chapter 5: Loss and Extinction Chapter 6: Recentring Anthropos Chapter 7: The Way of Education Chapter 8: After Science and Technology Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe works of F. G. Bailey (1924–2020) provide a seminal template for good ethnography. Central to this is Bailey’s ability to conceptually connect the well-described micro-contexts of individual interactions to the macro-context of culture. Bailey’s core concerns – the tension between individual and collective interests, the will to power, and the dialectics of social forces which foster both collective solidarity as well as divisiveness and discontent – are themes of universal interest; the beauty of his work lies in his analyses of how these play out in local arenas between real people. His models provide nuanced, yet explicit road maps to analysing the different leadership styles of everyday people and contemporary leaders. This volume seeks to inspire new generations of anthropologists to revisit Bailey’s seminal texts, to help them navigate their way through the ethnographic thicket of their own research.Table of ContentsPreface – Edward SimpsonIntroduction, or: ‘Yes that’s it!’ – Victor de Munck and Elisa J SoboPart I: Contributions to the discipline1 F. G. Bailey’s political anthropology and its malcontents – Felix Girke2 Morality, truth and power in F. G. Bailey’s ethnography of politics – Gitika De3 Politics as theatrical performance and backstage pragmatism: work and legacy of F. G. Bailey – Stanley R. BarrettPart II: Professional mentoring4 Leadership influence: an aperture on ‘character’ – Christopher Griffin5 A personal memory of F. G. Bailey – Gavin Smith6 Mancunian realism and Melanesian anthropology – David LipsetPart III: Individuals in situations7 Negotiating the gap between the ‘ought’ and the ‘is’: older Americans’ strategies – Yohko Tsuji8 Conundrums of caste, history, and truth: Hindu Nadar identities in urban South India – Sara Dickey9 The moral guises of injustice: from Bisipara to Aotearoa – Erica PrussingPart IV: Rules and roles of conflict10 The social construction of the Washington Consensus on international trade policy – Robert H. Wade11 ‘Rules are Weapons’: Can F. G. Bailey’s toolbox aid our understanding of irrigation bureaucracies? – Namika Raby12 Politics and administration in the narrow neck of the hourglass: an account of normative and pragmatic rules in Norwegian local politics – Christian Lo13 ‘Tertius Gaudens aut Tertium Numen? Third-party Roles in Conflict and Conflict Resolution’ – Kevin AvruchPart V: Social change14 Tribe and nation in the Balkans: Bailey’s Concepts of agency, expediency, morality and change in the former Yugoslavia – Mary Kay Gilliland15 Old boys or a new middle class?: Defining leadership through bridge-actions in a Fijian Pentecostal church – Karen J. Brison16 ‘The Need for Enemies’: modernity and malevolence in Tribal India – Andrew Willford

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Book Synopsis Cultural Studies have been preoccupied with questions of national identity and cultural representations. At the same time, feminist studies have insisted upon the entanglement of gender with issues of nation, class, and ethnicity. Developments in the wake of German unification demand a reassessment of the nexus of gender, Germanness and nationhood. The contributors to this volume pursue these strands of the cultural debate in German history, literature, visual arts, and language over a period of three hundred years in sections devoted to History and the Canon, Visual Culture, Germany and Her "Others," and Language and Power. Contributors: L. Adelson, A. Taylor Allen, K. Bauer, R. Berman, B. Byg, M. Denman, E. Frederiksen, S. Friedrichsmeyer, E. Kaufmann, L. Koepnick, B. Kosta, S. Lefko, A. M.O'Sickey, B. Mennel, H. M. Müller, B. Peterson, L. Pusch, D. Sweet, H. Watt, S. Zantop.Trade Review "This fascinating and informative collection of twenty-two mostly original essays showcases feminist German Studies at its finest ... Decentering Germany in our own scholarly work will help us to further challenge the settled definitions of gender and Germanness which this volume so splendidly details." · Women in German Table of Contents Introduction: Looking for Germania PART I: EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURY Chapter 1. The Beautiful, the Ugly, and the German: Race, Gender and Nationality in Eighteenth-Century Anthropological Discourse Susanne Zantop Chapter 2. Sophie La Roche as a German Patriot Helga S. Watt Chapter 3. Romantic Nationalism: Achim von Arnim’s Gypsy Princess Isabella Sara Friedrichsmeyer Chapter 4. How to Think about Germany: Nationality, Gender, and Obsession in Heine’s “Night Thoughts” Russell A. Berman Chapter 5. The Fatherland’s Kiss of Death: Gender and Germany in Nineteenth-Century Historical Fiction Brent O. Peterson PART II: RETHINKING HISTORY AND CANONS Chapter 6. The Challenge of “Missing Contents” for Canon Formation in German Studies Elke Frederiksen Chapter 7. Feminism and Motherhood in Germany and in International Perspective 1800-1914 Ann Taylor Allen Chapter 8. “Truly Womanly” and “Truly German”: Women’s Rights and National Identity in Die Frau Stefana Lefko Chapter 9. The Ladies’ Auxiliary of German Literature: Nineteenth-Century Women Writers and the Quest for a National Literary History Patricia Herminghouse PART III: VISUAL CULTURE Chapter 10. En-Gendering Mass Culture: The Case of Zarah Leander Lutz P. Koepnick Chapter 11. Nazism as Femme Fatale: Recuperations of Cinematic Masculinity in Postwar Berlin Barton Byg Chapter 12. Visualizing the Nation: Madonnas and Mourning Mothers in Postwar Germany Mariatte C. Denman Chapter 13. Framing the Unheimlich: Heimatfilm and Bambi Ingeborg Majer O’Sickey Chapter 14. Rape, Nation, and Remembering History: Helke Sander’s Liberators Take Liberties Barbara Kosta PART IV: GERMANY AND HER “OTHERS” Chapter 15. “Germany is Full of Germans Now”: Germanness in Ama Ata Aidoo’s Our Sister Killjoy and Chantal Ackerman’s Meetings with Anna Barbara Mennel Chapter 16. Bodies for Germany, Bodies for Socialism: The German Democratic Republic Devises a Gay (Male) Body Denis Sweet Chapter 17. Patterns of Consciousness and Cycles of Self-Destruction: Nation, Ethnicity, and Gender in Herta Müller’s Prose Karin Bauer Chapter 18. Germania Displaced? Reflections on the Discourses of Female Asylum Seekers and Ethnic Germans Magda Mueller Chapter 19. GERMANIA – Just a Male Construction? Gender, Germanness, and Feminism in East German Women Writers Eva Kaufmann Chapter 20. The Price of Feminism: Of Women and Turks Leslie Adelson PART V: FATHERLAND AND MOTHER TONGUE Chapter 21. Language is Publicity for Men – but enough is enough! Luise Pusch Chapter 22. The New Duden: Out of Date Already? Luise Pusch Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisWritings that sparkle with the psychedelic revolution. The Politics of Ecstasy is Timothy Leary's most provocative and influential exploration of human consciousness, written during the period from his Harvard days to the Summer of Love. Includes his early pronouncements on the psychedelic movement and his views on social and political ramifications of psychedelic and mystical experience. Here is the outspoken Playboy interview revealing the sexual power of LSD-a statement that many believe played a key role in provoking Leary's incarceration by the authorities; an early outline of the neurological theory that became Leary's classic eight-circuit model of the human nervous system; an insightful exploration of the life and work of novelist Hermann Hesse; an effervescent dialogue with humorist Paul Krassner; and an impassioned defense of what Leary called "The Fifth Freedom"-the right to get high.

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Book SynopsisStéphen Rostain’s book is a culmination of 25 years of research on the extensive human modification of the wetlands environment of Guiana and how it reshapes our thinking of ancient settlement in lowland South America and other tropical zones. Rostain demonstrates that populations were capable of developing intensive raised-field agriculture, which supported significant human density, and construct causeways, habitation mounds, canals, and reservoirs to meet their needs. The work is comparative in every sense, drawing on ethnology, ethnohistory, ecology, and geography; contrasting island Guiana with other wetland regions around the world; and examining millennia of pre-Columbian settlement and colonial occupation alike. Rostain’s work demands a radical rethinking of conventional wisdom about settlement in tropical lowlands and landscape management by its inhabitants over the course of millennia.Trade Review"This book is part of a new phase in Amazonian cultural geography and anthropology, and shows that the field is branching and spreading...As landscape archaeology and geography of the Amazon develops, this book can serve as a key text on raised field agriculture in a particular geographic context, and as an introduction to pre-Columbian agricultural systems more generally."- John Walker, University of Central Florida, AAG Review of BooksTable of ContentsForeword by Philippe Descola, Acknowledgements, Introduction: So Much Water! Chapter 1: Indigenous Agricultural savoir-faire Chapter 2: Humans and Environment Chapter 3: Terra Cognita: 10,000 Years of Human Impact Chapter 4: A Natural Garden or a Domesticated Forest? Chapter 5: 500 Years of Solitude, Conclusion: East of Eden References Index

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Book SynopsisA new generation of indigenous researchers is taking its place in the world of social research in increasing numbers. These scholars provide new insights into communities under the research gaze and offer new ways of knowing to traditional scholarly models. They also move the research community toward more sensitive and collaborative practices. But it comes at a cost. Many in this generation have met with resistance or indifference in their journeys through the academic system and in the halls of power. They also often face ethical quandaries or even strong opposition from their own communities. The life stories in this book present the journeys of over 30 indigenous researchers from six continents and many different disciplines. They show, in their own words, the challenges, paradoxes, and oppression they have faced, their strategies for overcoming them, and how their work has produced more meaningful research and a more just society.Table of Contents1: The Journey Begins; 2: The Process that Led Me to Become an Indigenous Researcher; 3: I Never Really Had Any Role Models; 4: Indigenism, Public Intellectuals, and the Forever Opposed—Or, the Makings of a “Hori Academic”; 5: Becoming a Kaupapa M?ori Researcher; 6: An African Narrative: The Journey of an Indigenous Social Researcher in South Africa; 7: Drawn from the Traditions of Cameroon: Lessons from Twenty-One Years of Practice; 8: Indigenous Research with a Cultural Context; 9: Being and Becoming an Indigenous Social Researcher; 10: Indigenous Researcher's Thoughts: An Experience from Research with Communities in Burkina Faso Using Participatory Methods; 11: Becoming an Indigenous Researcher in Interior Alaska: Sharing the Transformative Journey; 12: An Aboriginal Health Worker's Research Story; 13: Nurturing the Gift of Understanding Different Realities; 14: Inuujunga: The Intricacy of Indigenous and Western Epistemologies in the Arctic; 15: The Context within: My Journey into Research; 16: Prospects and Challenges of Becoming an Indigenous Researcher; 17: Hinerauwh?riki 1 : Tapestries of Life for Four M?ori Women in Evaluation; 18: Research in Relationship with Humans, the Spirit World, and the Natural World; 19: Lens from the “Bottom of the Well”; 20: Neyo way in ik issi: A Family Practice of Indigenist Research Informed by Land; 21: A Native Papua New Guinea Researcher; 22: From Refusal to Getting Involved in Romani Research; 23: Interpreting the Journey: Where Words, Stories Formed; 24: The Onward Journey

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Book SynopsisEthnography is an increasingly important research method in the private sector, yet ethnographic literature continues to focus on an academic audience. Sam Ladner fills the gap by advancing rigorous ethnographic practice that is tailored to corporate settings where colleagues are not steeped in social theory, research time lines may be days rather than months or years, and research sponsors expect actionable outcomes and recommendations. Ladner provides step-by-step guidance at every turn--covering core methods, research design, using the latest mobile and digital technologies, project and client management, ethics, reporting, and translating your findings into business strategies. This book is the perfect resource for private-sector researchers, designers, and managers seeking robust ethnographic tools or academic researchers hoping to conduct research in corporate settings. More information on the book is available at http://www.practicalethnography.com/.Table of ContentsChapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Using Theory in EthnographyChapter 3 Managing a Private-Sector Ethnography ProjectChapter 4 Ethnographic ToolsChapter 5 Managing ClientsChapter 6 Ethical EthnographyChapter 7 SamplingChapter 8 FieldworkChapter 9 AnalysisChapter 10 ReportingChapter 11 Beyond Ethnography

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Book SynopsisThis book synthesizes the flourishing field of anthropology of infectious disease in a critical, biocultural framework. Leading medical anthropologist Merrill Singer holistically unites the behaviors of microorganisms and the activities of complex social systems, showing how we exist with pathogenic agents of disease in a complex process of co-evolution. He also connects human diseases to larger ecosystems and various other species that are future sources of new human infections. Anthropology of Infectious Disease integrates and advances research in this growing, multifaceted area and offers an ideal supplement to courses in anthropology, public health, development studies, and related fields.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1: Defining the Anthropology of Infectious Disease; 2: Denizens of the Microbial World; 3: More Than Human; 4: Environmental Disruption, Pluralea Interactions, and Infectious Diseases; 5: Emergent, Reemergent, and Drug-Resistant Infectious Agents; 6: Infectious Disease Syndemics; 7: Inequality, Political Ecology, and the Future of Infectious Diseases

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Book SynopsisDid the ancient Greeks and Romans have conspiracy theories? How did they prove their identity? And how much of the modern gold supply comes from the Romans?In a series of short and humorous essays, Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines features more answers to questions that ancient historian Garrett Ryan is frequently asked in the classroom, in online forums, and on his popular YouTube channel Told in Stone. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life. Learn the answers to:Did a tsunami inspire the Story of Atlantis?How did they send long-distance messages?What if Caesar had survived the Ides of March?How did the Romans build the aqueducts?Did they practice Buddhism?How deadly was the eruption that destroyed Pompeii?What if the Roman Empire hadn’t been ravaged by the Antonine Plague?Did they attend concerts?How did they pay taxes?Was Caligula actually insane?Did they have tattoos?

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Book SynopsisRecollections of birth and death, joy and tragedy that reveal the reality of maternity care in a remote setting. In 2016, English midwife Indie joined the staff at Attat Hospital in south-western Ethiopia, where Atsede led the midwifery services. It was a meeting that would change their lives. Their close professional relationship, and deep personal friendship, led to them opening a birth centre serving the Gurage women and families of Cheha Woreda, bringing compassionate midwifery care into the heart of traditional communities. Through the two midwives’ eyes, as they recount stories from the women they have cared for over the years, we experience the lives of the Gurage people in rich detail. From one night shift which saw Atsede attend 16 births, and 17 babies born, to the day there was a donkey mysteriously tied up inside the hospital. By way of undiagnosed birth defects, the ramifications of female circumcision, obstetric emergencies, and long hours of ordinary, extraordinary births, what shines through is a deep and abiding love for the women in their care, and respect for each other and the colleagues they work alongside. A must-read for anyone with an interest in birth or maternal health, With Two Souls, the translation of the Chehaguraginya word hwetarwa, meaning pregnant, is a fascinating and moving insight into what birth can tell us about people and places, and how, when our eyes and hearts are open, we can embrace our differences and work together to benefit our communities.Trade Review"An insightful exploration of the experiences, thoughts, and beliefs of two very different women who have found deep friendship and professional camaraderie in their roles as midwives. Indie and Atsede's voices combine delightfully to conjure the atmosphere of rural Ethiopia, and the community created around their clinic, resulting in a book that is at once thought-provoking, uplifting, empowering, and important." Professor Helen Pankhurst CBE

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Book SynopsisOur history is littered with heads. Over the centuries, they have decorated our churches, festooned our city walls and filled our museums; they have been props for artists and specimens for laboratory scientists, trophies for soldiers and items of barter. Today, as videos of decapitations circulate online and cryonicists promise that our heads may one day live on without our bodies, the severed head is as contentious and compelling as ever. From shrunken heads to trophies of war; from memento mori to Damien Hirst's With Dead Head; from grave-robbing phrenologists to enterprising scientists, Larson explores the bizarre, often gruesome and confounding history of the severed head. Its story is our story.

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Book SynopsisMirrors of Salt publishes the proceedings of the First International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt, which took place at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi (Romania). The impact of salt on the development of human communities, from the Neolithic to the present, has generated a huge number of specialized studies. However, scientific research has become so atomized that the primordial importance of the mineral has been lost, creating a need for a holistic, comprehensive vision of the dimensions generated by salt. This can only be achieved through anthropology. The anthropology of salt encompasses the entirety of human behavior, i.e. cognitive, spiritual, pragmatic, and social reactions to salt, and provides a holistic view of its role in the evolution of human communities. The anthropology of salt thus brings salt studies from an ancillary position to an autonomous discipline. The papers in this volume are organized into six sections: theory, archaeology, history, ethnography/ ethnoarchaeology/ethnohistory, linguistics, and literature. Topics include salt in Greek and Roman antiquity, as well as from Cameroon, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, the USA and Venezuela. The congress was organized within the project The Ethnoarchaeology of the Salt Springs and Salt Mountains from the Extra-Carpathian Areas of Romania, financed by the Government of Romania (CNCS UEFISCDI) (2011-2016). Its theoretical novelty and geographical range render Mirrors of Salt a unique study of the world's most-used non-metallic mineral.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores how fishers make the sea productive through their labour, using technologies ranging from wooden boats to digital GPS plotters to create familiar places in a seemingly hostile environment. It shows how their lives are affected by capitalist forces in the markets they sell to, forces that shape even the relations between fishers on the same boat. Fishers frequently have to make impossible choices between safe seamanship and staying afloat economically, and the book describes the human impact of the high rate of deaths in the fishing industry. The book makes a unique contribution to understanding human-environment relations, examining the places fishers create and name at sea, as well as technologies and navigation practices. It combines phenomenology and political economy to offer new approaches for analyses of human-environment relations and technologies.This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life below waterTrade Review'Brilliant...boldly bridging the conceptual gap between studies of work and the environment, McCall Howard's ethnography charts an innovative and ambitious course for research on the Anthropocene...tremendously compelling.'Brandon Hunter-Pazzara, Current Anthropology‘As Howard makes clear capital and its drive to profit must be challenged—this book is a weapon in that fight.’Sarah Ensor, International Socialism, A quarterly review of socialist theoryHow do the fishers relate to each other, their boats, their technologies, the sea, their catches? In this deeply researched book, written with an intimate feel for fishing and the sea, Penny McCall Howard answers these questions. Based on the Scottish industry, this important book shows how class relations continue to shape labour, working relationships, environments and at times life and death. Few researchers hold both a 100-ton captain’s licence from the US Merchant Marine and a doctoral degree; few are as at home on a fishing boat’s deck as they are in a library. Penny McCall Howard brings a unique blend of abilities to this compelling account of work and has produced an argument for rethinking how we understand the nature of labour in any industry and in all places. Professor Bradon Ellem, University of Sydney Business School‘It is rare to find a work that so compellingly integrates a phenomenological analysis of the experience of work, based on participant observation, with an account of the pressures of political economy and dynamic patterns of class relations in a specific industry. Inspired by Robert Desjarlais, Howard achieves a ‘critical phenomenology’, giving greater depth to phenomenological description by linking sensation, perception and subjectivity to pervasive systems of power and inequality. These in turn are connected to the mutually constitutive connections between workers and the environment that create productive fishing grounds.’Professor Linda Connor, The Australian Journal of Anthropology‘The description of the lived experiences of the author and fishers are used to create an absorbing and, at times, moving narrative….It is the ability to connect the daily lives of fishers to seemingly distant market forces that makes Environment, labour and capitalism at sea an exceptional book…There is an incredible amount to this text that will be of relevance to those interested in global supply chains, environment labour relations, social relations of work, neo-liberalism and regulation….McCall Howard’s deeply rich and confronting account of the social relations that face and at times overwhelm the fishers of the west coast of Scotland needs be read by people interested in work and our collective environmental future.’Dr. Caleb Goods, Journal of Industrial Relations ‘This story of how livelihoods are wrestled from the sea is an anthropological first. Never before has the work of commercial fishermen been brought to life with such vividness, depth and attention to detail, or subjected to such rigorous and hard-headed analysis.’ Professor Tim Ingold, Chair in Social Anthropology, University of Aberdeen, UK‘Environment, Labour and Capitalism at Sea unpacks the broader social forces that mediate interactions between human beings and their marine environment while simultaneously drawing out the individual stories and life histories of Scottish fishers….It is well written and emotive. The honest portrayal of the suffering of conflicted fishers who struggle against forces beyond their control aids in our understanding of the root causes of environmental change and the metabolic relationship between humankind and nature. Readers who study environmental sociology, food, and agricultural systems would do well to read Howard’s work.’Timothy P. Clark, Human Ecology Review‘This well-written and memorable account provides thought-provoking reading on an industry that is poorly understood. As such it will merit a space on the shelves of those who are interested in fishing, in ethnography, and in the human costs of capitalism.’Helen Sampson Cardiff University, Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute, 24:4'Penny McCall Howard provides us with a thoroughly engaging and sensitively written account of the multiple forces that shape fishers’ lives at sea. Based on extended participant observation both on boats and on land on the west coast of Scotland, the richness of the material presented for analysis reveals the quality of her fieldwork practices and the strength of the relationships she forged with fishers during that time….Howard’s work represents a refreshing contribution to ethnographies of northern Scotland because it firmly dispels the tired tropes of rural idylls and bucolic landscapes that have long been associated with this part of the world.'Louise Rebecca Senior, Social Anthropology‘Environment, Labour and Capitalism at Sea is a remarkable work. It’s a first rate piece of Marxist anthropology that puts human labor at the center of a discussion about ecology. It shows how the biodiversity crisis in the oceans is related to wider social relations, and emphasizes again how the fight to prevent environmental destruction requires challenging the priorities of the system — not just changes to our diet. For radical environmentalists and Marxist ecologists this should be a required read.’Martin Empson, climate and Capitalism, June 2019'It has been a pleasure to read this book, and I highly recommend it to everyone.' Charles Menzies, Journal of Agrarian Change'Howard has written a rare book that presents complex and well-formulated arguments while also being immersive, exciting, and hugely enjoyable to read. Drawing together phenomenology and political economy, Howard analyzes labor through its perceptual engagement with the environment, insisting that the environment is not just land and sea, but also markets, competition, and traumatic experiences of loss.'Rebecca Prentice, Focaal-Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology -- .Table of ContentsIntroductionPart I: A metabolism of labour and environment1 'Working the ground'2 From Wullie's Peak to the Burma: naming places at seaPart II: Techniques and technologies3 Techniques to extend the body and its senses4 From 'where am I?' to 'where is that?' Rethinking navigationPart III: Capitalism and class5 'You just can't get a price': the difference political economy makes6 Structural violence in ecological systemsConclusion: labour, class, environments and anthropologyIndex

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Book SynopsisThe Earliest Europeans explores a fundamental question: how did Europe’s first hominin occupants cope with the year-round practical challenges of life. To do so, the book adopts a ‘year in the life’ perspective that draws on the increasingly rich and robust archaeological and Quaternary Science records for the European Lower Palaeolithic, combined with insights from modern ethnography and zoological studies. By exploring potential survival strategies and behaviours, Hosfield offers new insights into the character of Europe’s earliest occupations across more than 1 million years, and ultimately asks: what sorts of ‘humans’ were these hominins?The innovative season-by-season structure of the book explores cyclical fluctuations in resources and weather conditions. From the depths of cold winters to the bountiful foods of late summer, it considers the implications of these variations for hominin behaviours. Hosfield draws on a range of supporting examples and evidence from Lower Palaeolithic sites across Europe, spanning technology, palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, hominin life history, and plant and animal food resources. In doing so, The Earliest Europeans highlights both the current and future potential of Europe’s earliest archaeological record.Trade ReviewThis book will be of interest to students of Palaeolithic archaeology and human origins, and Quaternary scientists with an interest in the hominin part of the faunal community. It would make a comprehensive, up-to-date textbook for final year undergraduate or postgraduate teaching. * The Holocene *...this is an excellent book that represents a long-overdue approach to understanding the Lower Palaeolithic archaeological record. * Antiquity *

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary sixty-thousand-year history of how the Pacific islands were settled. 'Takes readers on a narrative odyssey' Wall Street Journal, Books of the Year 'Highlights a dizzying burst of new research' The Economist 'A refreshing addition to the canon of literature that contemplates Oceanic navigation' Noelle Kahanu 'I would not be surprised if, after reading this masterpiece, many readers are compelled to take up voyaging themselves' Science Magazine Thousands of islands, inhabited by a multitude of different peoples, are scattered across the vastness of the Pacific. The first European explorers to visit Oceania, from the sixteenth century on, were astounded and perplexed to find populations thriving so many miles from the nearest continents. Who were these people and where did they come from? In Voyagers, the distinguished anthropologist Nicholas Thomas charts the course of the seaborne migrations that populated the islands between Asia and the Americas. Drawing on the latest research, including insights gained from linguistics, archaeology, and the re-enactment of voyages, Thomas provides a dazzling account of these long-distance migrations, the sea-going technologies that enabled them, and the societies that they left in their wake.Trade ReviewWeaving together material culture and personal accounts of the author's own time in some of these islands, the book is an elucidating, accessible, and well-illustrated guide to the long history of Oceanic settlement and connections * Minerva Magazine *How and why did these explorers cross vast ocean distances to unseen landfalls?... Nicholas Thomas takes readers on a narrative odyssey to match their intrepid journeys' * Wall Street Journal, Books of the Year *Highlights a dizzying burst of new research that draws on advanced genetics, linguistics and, not least, a revival of voyaging itself by indigenous navigators * Economist *Thomas should be commended for his engaging writing style, which regularly had me looking forward to turning the page. I would not be surprised if, after reading this masterpiece, many readers are compelled to take up voyaging themselves * Science Magazine *Blending ethnohistory, archaeology, and linguistics, Thomas asks the big questions about a civilization that has seldom been recognized as such... Brings a welcome world-systems approach to Oceania, an understudied region' * Kirkus Reviews *With lucid explanations of modern advances in historical anthropology and evocative reflections on the author's own fascination with Oceania, this is an accessible introduction to an astounding chapter in human history * Publishers Weekly *Thomas successfully draws readers into this fascinating, often-overlooked history and offers plenty of resources for those looking to read more * Library Journal *Written in an engaging style, Thomas points to indigenous technologies and the reactivation of navigational knowledge which perfectly captures the vital and energetic relationship Pacific peoples enjoy today with the ocean that defines their lives -- Maia Nuku, Curator for Oceanic Art, Metropolitan Museum of ArtVoyagers will deeply engage and delight new readers of Pacific histories, while scholars will marvel at the author's elegant, concise chronicle -- Matt Matsuda, Rutgers UniversityThe peopling of the Pacific is one of humanity's greatest feats of imagination, ingenuity, and courage. Voyagers authoritatively recounts that achievement with both sympathy and wonder -- David Armitage, Harvard UniversityVoyagers is a refreshing addition to the canon of literature that contemplates Oceanic navigation... At once global yet intimate, shaped by Thomas's own Pacific journeys, and filled with wonderful images, historical and contemporary, that pay homage to Oceania's profound relationship with the sea -- Noelle Kahanu, University of Hawai'i

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Book SynopsisWomen with fish tails are among the oldest and still most popular of mythological creatures, possessing a powerful allure and compelling ambiguity. They dwell right in the uncanniest valley of the sea: so similar to humans, yet profoundly other. Mermaids: Art, Symbolism and Mythology presents a comprehensive, interdisciplinary and beautifully illustrated study of mermaids and their influence on Western culture. The roots of mermaid mythology and its metamorphosis through the centuries are discussed with examples from visual art, literature, music and architecture—from 600 BCE right up to the present day. Our story starts in Mesopotamia, source of the earliest preserved illustrations of half-human, half-fish creatures. The myths and legends of the Mesopotamians were incorporated and adopted by ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman cultures. Then, during the early medieval period, ancient mythological creatures such as mermaids were confused, transformed and reinterpreted by Christian tradition to begin a new strand in mermaid lore. Along the way, all manner of stunning—and sometimes bizarre or unsettling—depictions of mermaids emerged. Written in an accessible and entertaining style, this book challenges conventional views of mermaid mythology, discusses mermaids in the light of evolutionary theory and aims to inspire future studies of these most curious of imaginary creatures.Trade ReviewThe authors have written a wonderfully in-depth (pun intended) book about virtually every aspect of merpeople. There is as much information as most people could ever wish for about the subject. -- Trevor Pyne, Magonia ReviewTable of ContentsPreface Memorial note 1 Introduction: Why mermaids? 2 Mermaids conceived: hybrid goddesses and beasts in antiquity 3 Christian adaptations in the Romanesque to Baroque eras 4 Mermaid passions: obsessive fixation in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century art 5 Mermaids everywhere: postwar commercialization and trivialization 6 Mermaids rationalized: evolutionary theory confronts the fantastic References Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is incest? Is it universally prohibited? Does this prohibition concern only "biological" kinships or does it extend to various "social" kinships, such as those that are formed today in so-called blended families but which also exist in many other societies?This prohibition plays a fundamental role in the functioning of the multiple kinship systems studied throughout the world. But where does it come from? Can we think, with Claude Lévi-Strauss, that the prohibition of incest alone marks the passage from nature to culture? And how can we understand, then, the persistent tension between the proclaimed, institutionalized prohibition and the incestuous practice which, everywhere, remains?World-renowned anthropologist Maurice Godelier highlights an essential fact, the spontaneously asocial and undifferentiated character of human sexuality and the need for a social regulation of this spontaneity. It thus brings to light the main teachings of anthropology on the question of incest, a major social fact of burning relevance today.

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Book SynopsisCaithness, the most northerly county in mainland Britain, is one of the richest cultural landscapes in Europe. The relative geographical isolation of the area, traditional landholding and the survival of large estates, combined with the use of flagstone as the main building material since earliest times, has ensured the survival of a wide range of monuments in a profusion unequalled elsewhere in Scotland. In the 19th century, Caithness was at the forefront of archaeological endeavours with many sites central to our understanding of Scottish prehistory. Since then, despite intermittent activity, the archaeology of Caithness has become somewhat marginalized and there is a perception that there are only a handful of archaeological sites for visitors to enjoy and the archaeologist to uncover and interpret. However, the county is full of hidden riches and traces of the past are visible everywhere. Caithness is dominated by landscapes rich in archaeological remains of all periods; chambered cairns, stone settings, brochs, Pictish settlements, wags, castles, harbours and post-medieval settlement, amongst many others. The authors have presented a cross section of these monument types in an attempt to re-centre the county in archaeological and early historical narratives. For the last decade, the authors have been involved in a range of heritage projects in the county, thus allowing them time to discover, observe and consider its archaeology. Their peregrinations provided opportunities for deeper contemplation of the county's archaeology, the result of which is presented in some new interpretations and perspectives which convey the excitement of working on heritage in Caithness.Trade Review`...a pioneering one for the archaeology of Caithness... What is refreshing in this work is that the more recent discoveries and work by the people who actually live in the area...are celebrated. ...this entertaining and informative volume'. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland -------------------- '...this enjoyable new book. ... An engaging introduction to a fascinating region'. Current Archaeology -------------------- '...it is indeed a marvellous record. ... Amply illustrated, the authors have imbued the text with a personal touch that lifts the title well above being a dry, scholarly tome into an immensely readable, detailed and, above all, enjoyable account of the sites found in mainland Scotland's most northerly county'. The Orcadian -------------------- '...a readable account and a study of the places and the people of this fascinating part of Scotland'. The Scots Magazine -------------------- '...it is filled with well-informed lively comment and interpretation, a good deal of which is new. ...an inportant book which campaigns on behalf of the richness and importance of the archaeological sites and landscapes of Caithness... ...marks the new beginning made for the archaeology of Caithness in recent years...' Am Bratach -------------------- '...gives Caithness archaeology a deserved spotlight. ...provides an in-depth discussion of prehistory and archaeological research in this isolated part of Britain... This in-depth understanding...makes the book particularly valuable... This excellent discussion of Caithness' archaeology is supported with a wealth of illustrations... ...the book is a splendid presentation and discussion of well-selected aspects of the prehistoric and early historic archaeology of Caithness...highly recommended to anyone interested not only in Caithness, but Scottish prehistory in general... Hopefully this publication will raise awareness about the richness and significance heritage of Caithness...' The Megalithic Portal -------------------- '...this beautifully produced and fascinating book... ...their book is an excellent starting point for anyone wanting to find out more. Anyone living in the area, and especially anyone travelling north...should read this book. You will be intrigued and inspired, and more than a little wiser'. Undiscovered Scotland -------------------- 'The reader is taken on a journey through time and is provided with a discussion of the rich heritage of monuments and archaeological landscapes. ..a cleverly woven mix of historical investigation, description and explanation. ...a well-produced authoritative text on Caithness prehistory, that is well illustrated and provides an important insight...I would strongly recommend it not only to the visitor but also to the resident. For those interested in the prehistory of Caithness, this book is for you.' SAS Bulletin -------------------- '...an engaging, readable and well-produced volume that highlights the heritage of an unfairly neglected region'. British Archaeology -------------------- `...the book's richest sessions draw on the authors' work (including experimental) on the architecture of Neolithic chambered cairns and their re-excavations at a notable cluster of Iron Age brochs around Keiss. ... an engaging presentation'. Medieval Archaeology

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Book SynopsisIn this illuminating tour of humanity, Joy Hendry and Simon Underdown reveal the origins of our species, and the fabric of human society, through the discipline of anthropology. Via fascinating case studies and discoveries, they unravel our understanding of human behaviours and beliefs, including how witchcraft has been used to justify misfortune, and debunk old-fashioned ideas about “race” based upon the latest genetic research. They even share what our bathroom tells us about our concept of the body – and ourselves. From our evolutionary ancestors, through our rites of passage, to our responses to globalization, Hendry and Underdown provide the essential first step to understanding the world as an anthropologist would – in all its diversity and commonality.Trade Review-- A wonderfully accessible introduction, with a clear focus on the needs of students first coming to the field. Dr Faye Healey-Clough Anthropology lecturer, Gloucestershire College, UK

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Book Synopsis`There are many insights and nuggets of value in this collection. Maurice Lipsedge reminds us how badly psychiatry needs anthropology's insights.This book should contribute to the ongoing dialogue between the two fields.' - The Journal of the Royal Antropological Institute`The editors states in the introduction that they wish to encourage the reader `to meet halfway the other discipline'. This expresses the view which all the contributors clearly feel and which is correct, that psychology and psychiatry and anthropology have much to offer each other and indeed are similar in several respects'.- The International Journal of Social Psychiatry`As an introductory text the book is perhaps too difficult, but for students of medical anthropology and cross-cultural psychiatry it offers a useful up to date assessment of the field.'- The International Journal of Social Psychiatry'This text brings together some noted clinicians and researchers in psychiatry and mental health. The aim is to explore what we can learn from anthropology to achieve a contextual understanding of mental illness and health in contemporary society. The book contains a wide selection of ideas, and works well to bridge the gap between anthropolgy and psychiatry.This book is definitely not for the novice or anyone new to the field. It is, however, worth reading to explore ways in which mental health practitioners can make the shift from ideologies, theories and practices that are only interested in establishing the presence or absence of pathology or illness, towards theory and practice that take account of the meaning of those experiences for people in their everyday lives. One of the authors sums this up well by suggesting that "anthropologically informed methods of enquiry have potential to help establish clearer links between personal suffering and local politico-economic ideologies".`- Openmind. No110, July/Aug 2001The relevance of transcultural issues for medical practice, including psychiatry, is becoming more widely recognized and medical anthropology is now a major sub-discipline. Written for those working in the mental health services as well as for anthropologists, Anthropological Approaches to Psychological Medicine brings together psychiatry and anthropology and focuses on the implications of their interaction in theory and clinical practice. The book reaffirms the importance of anthropology for fully understanding psychiatric practice and psychological disorders in both socio-historical and individual contexts. The development and use of diagnostic categories, the nature of expressed emotion within cross-cultural contexts and the religious context of perceptions of pathological behaviour are all refracted through an anthropological perspective. The clinical applications of medical anthropology addressed include, in particular, the establishing of cultural competence and an examination of the new perspectives anthropological study can bring to psychosis and depression. The stigmatization of mental illness is also reviewed from an anthropological perspective.Encouraging practitioners to reflect on the position of medicine in a wider cultural context, this is an exciting and comprehensive text which explores the profound importance of an anthropological interpretation for key issues in psychological medicine.Table of ContentsIntroduction, Vieda Skultans and John Cox. PART ONE: THEORETICAL APPROACHES. 1. The Cultural Origins of Western Depression, Sushrat Jadhav, University College, London. 2. Psychiatric Culture, Roland Littlewood, University College, London. 3. Remembering and Forgetting: The Changing Relationship, Vieda Skultans. 4. Narrative and Method in the Anthropology of Medicine, John Campbell, University College, Swansea. 5. Two of a Kind but Where is the Other?, Els van Dongen, Department of Psychiatry, Steenbergen. PART TWO: CLINICAL APPROACHES. 6. Social Anthropology and the Practice of Public Health Medicine, Jane Jackson, Newham Health Authority. 7. The Implications of an Anthropology of Religion for Psychiatric Practice, Simon Dein, Department of Social and Community Psychiatry, Harlow. 8. Establishing Cultural Competency for Mental Health Professionals, Maureen H. Fitzgerald, University of Sydney. 9. Cambodian Concepts of Perinatal Mental Disorder: Relevance to Understanding Western Approaches to Perinatal Mental Health, Maurice Eisenbruch, National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris. 10. Social Anthropology and Stigma: The Importance for Psychiatry, Gerard Hutchinson and Dinesh Bhugra, Institute of Psychiatry. 11. Structures of Medical Thought: Professional Dispositions in Practice, Simon Sinclair, Oxford Heath Authority. 12. Lessons from Anthropology, Maurice Lipsedge, Guys Hospital.

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Book Synopsis• Translator is well known Japan expert, with over 50K sales, incl. Manga! Manga! (Kodansha, 0870117521, 30,000 cps), America and the Four Japans (1-880656-06-X, 3,500 cps), and Dreamland Japan (1-880656-23-X, 9,000+ cps) both Stone Bridge Press • Documentary comic book narrative on serious subject (cf Art Spiegelman’s Maus) • Large Asian-American population throughout US • Also shows uneasy relationship between early Japanese and Chinese immigrants • Reprint from 1931 original. This is a rediscovery. The author died in the1950’s. • Based on actual events from the early 20th century.

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Book SynopsisA lively exploration of the Indigenous traditions of shamanism in the Far North of Eurasia and North America. In this book, Charles Stépanoff draws on ethnographic literature and his fieldwork in Siberia to reveal the immense contribution to human imagination made by shamans and the cognitive techniques they developed over the centuries. Indigenous shamans are certain men and women who are able to travel in spirit in ways that appear mysterious to Westerners but which rely on the human capacity of imagination. They perceive themselves simultaneously in two types of space—one visible, the other virtual—putting them in contact and establishing links with nonhuman beings in their surroundings. Shamans share their experience of spirit travel with their patients, families, or the wider community, allowing them to experience this odyssey through the invisible together. This work will appeal to anthropologists and to anyone with an interest in learning about the power of imagination from the masters of the invisible, the shamans of the Far North.

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Book SynopsisIn early twentieth-century Berlin, the museumsdebate was set into motion with Wilhelm von Bode's sweeping proposal to reorganize a group of the city's museums. Between 1907 and 1910, two particularly striking series of articles appeared in the journal Museumskunde: Journal for the Administration and Technology of Public and Private Collections. The first was a six-part essay by Otto Lauffer on history museums and the second was a ten-part piece by Oswald Richter regarding ethnographic museums, and both initiated a century of important dialogue. Presented together here as Collecting, Displaying, and Interpreting Material Culture, these first full English translations of the two book-length articles remain unequalled presentations about the different implications of art, historical, and ethnographic museums. They show how sophisticated the discussion of museums and museum display was in the early twentieth century, and how much could be gained from revisiting these reflections today. Accompanied with short commentaries by a group of museum professionals, these translations and associated commentaries allow for an intervention and intensification of the current level of debate about museums, one that will further invigorated by the opening of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin in 2019.Trade Review“This well-curated book collects, prepares, and showcases two rare and vital samples of modern museological thought, studied and discussed by leading contemporary museum directors and historians of art and science, so as to better understand cultural history from its origins to its present decolonization.” -- Tristan Weddigen, director of the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max Planck Institute for Art History in Rome) and professor of Modern Art History at the University of Zurich“What are historical and ethnographic museums for, and what should they display? This fascinating book juxtaposes the insights and critiques of two early twentieth-century German curators with the reflections of contemporary museum professionals and historians, revealing that, at least since 1900, thinking about and with non-art objects has been a fundamental, if perennially controversial, part of world history and European self-consciousness.” -- Suzanne L. Marchand, Boyd Professor of European Intellectual History at Louisiana State University"Museums have always been good to think with and argue about. This is a book we have all been waiting for, bringing into the conversation the deep German tradition of museology, linked also to the latest discussions on indigenous perspectives and property. A wonderful cultural and intellectual achievement." -- Chris Gosden, Professor of European Archaeology at the University of OxfordTable of ContentsSeries Editor’s Preface Acknowledgements A Note on the Text Introduction: What Kind of Knowledge Is Museum Knowledge? Peter N. Miller Part I: From the pages of Museumskunde The Historical Museum: Its Character, Its Work, and How It Differs from Museums of Art and Applied Arts By Otto Lauffer On the Ideals and Practical Tasks of Ethnographic Museums By Oswald Richter Part II: Reflections on Reading Lauffer and Richter Today Youth and Arrogance Julien Chapuis (Bode Museum, Berlin) Oswald Richter and “The Purity of the Specific Local Culture” Edward Cooke, Jr. (Yale University) “Certain Secondary Tasks of Ethnographic Museums”: Richter’s Writings and the Role of Ethnographic Museums in Germany’s Colonial Period Viola König (Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin) Perfecting the Past: Period Rooms Between Disneyland and the White Box Deborah L. Krohn (Bard Graduate Center) Categories with Consequences Alisa Lagama (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Visions of Juxtaposition: Peiresc/Bataille: Monuments/Documents Peter N. Miller (Bard Graduate Center) The Future in the Past Glenn Penny (University of Iowa) Triangulating Art/Artifact: Indigenous Studies as the Third Term Ruth Phillips (Carleton University) Richter and Us Jeffrey Quilter (Peabody Museum of Anthropology, Harvard University) An Attempt at Order in a Time of Flux Matthew Rampley (Masaryk University Brno) Words and Things Anke Te Heesen (Humboldt University) Mix It Up: Five Observations on Collections and Museums Nicholas Thomas (Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University) Life and Death in the Museum Céline Trautmann-Waller (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3) Photographs, Showcases, and Multiple Agencies: Modes of Representation and Directions of Gaze Eva-Maria Troelenberg (Utrecht University) The Museum Beyond Walls Mariët Westermann (NYU Abu Dhabi) Conclusion: Max Weber in the Museum Peter N. Miller Index

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Book SynopsisDenken in Bildern? Hatte die überwältigende Fülle von Bildern, von Vergleichen und Gleichnissen aus allen Bereichen des antiken Wissens, noch bis ins 18. Jahrhundert zur Beliebtheit von Plutarchs Schriften beigetragen, so galt sie seit der Aufklärung eher als Zeichen mangelnder Seriosität und gedanklicher Stringenz. Rainer Hirsch-Luipold zeigt demgegenüber, wie Plutarch Bilder und Bildfelder als Teil einer besonderen philosophischen Darstellungsform begreift. Die umfassende Struktur des Bildhaften wird aus seiner Verwendung des griechischen Begriffs eikon deutlich. Unter diesem Begriff verbindet der Mittelplatoniker und delphische Priester Phänomene der darstellenden Kunst (Statue, Gemälde, Siegelabdruck etc.) und der Sprache (Gleichnis, Allegorie, Metapher, Rätselwort etc.) mit einer philosophischen Sicht der Welt als Abbild und Widerschein einer höheren göttlichen Realität.Neben Untersuchungen zur Rezeption von darstellender Kunst und zur Terminologie bildhafter Sprache bietet die Arbeit ausführliche literarische und philosophische Interpretationen der Bildersprache ausgewählter Schriften. Rainer Hirsch-Luipold interpretiert die Bilder als Teil der philosophischen Gedankenführung, eröffnet so den Blick auf die philosophische und religionsgeschichtliche Bedeutung Plutarchs und führt zugleich ein Instrument zur Analyse des Aufbaus und der Struktur seiner Schriften vor. Aufgrund ihrer religiösen Färbung wird die Bildersprache Plutarchs zudem als pagane Parallele zur gleichzeitig entstehenden Gleichnissprache des Neuen Testaments interessant.

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Book SynopsisNo_Code is an intersectional project conceived by the Italian luxury group Tod s that examines changes in contemporary society. It is a hybrid idea that fuses emerging technology with Italian craftsmanship. Tod s No_Code has commissioned the Iranian-American photographer Ramak Fazel to take a journey on the road in Silicon Valley. The aim of the trip is to represent real life in the Valley, going beyond common media narratives. What lies behind the official images of Big Tech? How do the inhabitants of this piece of California land below San Francisco live? Where do they live? What houses do they have? What restaurants do they eat at and what cars do they drive? How do they have fun? With his inseparable analog Rolleiflex around his neck, photographer Ramak Fazel takes us on his journey and discovers some secrets in one of the most protected enclaves. This unprecedented and surprising anthropological inquiry uses the medium of photography to reveal one of the most famous places in the world.Trade Review"Tod’s driving mocs have long been a staple in the wardrobe of international power brokers, so it’s fitting that the brand is honing in on the capital of the 21st century’s next-gen tycoons. While the larger initiative may be rooted in technology, the new book emphasizes the humanity behind all that sleek innovation. Fazel’s approach was as anthropological as it was artistic, turning his Rolleiflex camera on such idiosyncrasies as the garage where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak developed their first computer (as well as the elderly couple who still live across the street), the senior Apple employee who plays cowboy in his downtime and the suburban watering hole favored by coders and Cupertino locals alike." —ROBB REPORT"Entitled No_Code, Tod’s compiled a 190-page book to give a new point of view on the Valley, offering a tool that can investigate its true nature and lift the mystery that surrounds it, answering questions like: what kind of houses do its inhabitants live in? What cars do they drive? Where do tech moguls go to restaurants? Where do they meet to talk about business? How do they spend their free time?" —HYPEBEAST.COM"Fazel has documented the glamorous—the catamaran on Oracle's manmade lake or the ritzy new Apple headquarters—as well as the less than glamorous—passport studios for foreign nationals working at tech companies, the crush of development along freeways, and motorhomes filled with workers because of soaring home prices. Plus, there are all the "birthplace" sites where major companies had their humble start. Flipping through its pages, you really do get a sense of how simultaneously normal and abnormal life on this peninsula is." —THE DAILY BEAST"Photographer Ramak Fazel looks for lesser-known perspectives of the everyday in a new book called Silicon Valley No_Code Life, developed through the shoe company Tod’s editorial initiative No_Code and published by Rizzoli. The book, an investigation into the diverse realities of living in the San Francisco area, shows that the narrative of Silicon Valley as a high-tech vision of the future isn’t the whole picture." —FAST COMPANY"Tod's is unveiling a book, “Silicon Valley. No_Code Life," published by Rizzoli and also available on Amazon, with unexpected and surprising photos." —WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY

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Book SynopsisThis book brings together more than a hundred top experts, who share their insights on the study of human evolution and what it means for understanding our past, present, and future.Trade ReviewSergio Almécija has produced a most intriguing book that describes the hypotheses, hopes, fears, and beliefs of an extraordinary gathering of scientific scholars in the field of human evolution. Debate is lively among those who wrestle with the details of our origins, and it is certain that this fascinating, remarkable and insightful book will be welcomed by all. -- Don Johanson, discoverer of Lucy and founder of the Institute of Human OriginsHumans is an extraordinary book. It is unlike anything I have ever previously encountered and is fascinating as well as important from a scholarly perspective. -- John G. Fleagle, Distinguished Professor, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook UniversityThis wide-ranging compendium... deliver[s] intriguing insights. The result is a panoramic view of the state of evolutionary science. * Publishers Weekly *A fascinating new book edited by a leading researcher at the American Museum of Natural History. Provides an insightful analysis into the origins and the future of our species. Research scientist Sergio Almécija has compiled an eminent list of contributors. A remarkable book … designed to permit the reader to dip in and out of it, to explore a variety of topics and to gain fresh insights and perspectives. * Everything Dinosaur *I can heartily recommend this book to any fellow human. However, those of us who have long been enthralled by our species’ place within nature and our evolution as primates will be especially interested. * Trilobite Tales *[The] organization and the choice of interviewees is a refreshing one—it’s rare you can directly compare thoughts on some of the most profound questions on human nature from scientists raised in sharply differing traditions of thought. * Paleontological Society *Table of ContentsPreface: What Is This Book?Introduction: User ManualAn Illustrated Guide to Human EvolutionPart I: Prelude1. David Alba2. Peter Andrews3. David Begun4. Brenda Benefit5. Michael “Mike” Benton6. Matt Cartmill7. Yaowalak Chaimanee8. Glenn Conroy9. Simon Conway Morris10. Eric Delson11. Marc Furió12. Dan Gebo13. Jay Kelley14. Yutaka Kunimatsu15. Laura MacLatchy16. Salvador Moyà-Solà17. Masato Nakatsukasa18. Martin Pickford19. David PilbeamPart II: Beginnings20. Leslie Aiello21. Berhane Asfaw22. Anna “Kay” Behrensmeyer23. René Bobe24. Tim Bromage25. Jeremy “Jerry” DeSilva26. Steve Frost27. Yohannes Haile-Selassie28. Ashley Hammond29. Sonia Harmand30. Ralph Holloway31. Kevin D. Hunt32. William “Bill” Kimbel33. Fredrick “Kyalo” Manthi34. Mary Marzke35. Emma Mbua36. Robyn Pickering37. J. Michael “Mike” Plavcan38. Kaye Reed39. Brigitte Senut40. Richard “Rich” Smith41. David Strait42. Randall “Randy” Susman43. Peter Ungar44. Carol Ward45. Tim White46. Bernard WoodPart III: Becoming Human47. Eudald Carbonell48. Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo49. Dean Falk50. Katerina Harvati51. Yousuke Kaifu52. Richard Klein53. Carles Lalueza-Fox54. Richard Leakey55. Daniel “Dan” Lieberman56. Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro57. Briana Pobiner58. Marcia Ponce de León59. Mary Prendergast60. Lorenzo Rook61. Antonio Rosas62. Chris Ruff63. Jeffrey “Jeff” Schwartz64. John Shea65. Tanya Smith66. Ian Tattersall67. Matt Tocheri68. Milford Wolpoff69. Christoph ZollikoferPart IV: Now70. Susana Carvalho71. Frans de Waal72. Rolando González-José73. Kristen Hawkes74. Leslea Hlusko75. Sarah Hrdy76. Nina Jablonski77. Clifford “Cliff” Jolly78. Jon Kaas79. Leah Krubitzer80. Susan Larson81. Zarin Machanda82. Tomàs Marquès-Bonet83. Robert “Bob” Martin84. Priya Moorjani85. Mark Pagel86. Herman Pontzer87. Holger Preuschoft88. Joan Richtsmeier89. Robert Sapolsky90. Chet Sherwood91. Craig Stanford92. Jack Stern93. Andrea B. Taylor94. Kenneth “Ken” Weiss95. Richard WranghamPart V: Outro96. Daniel Gilbert97. Henry T. “Hank” Greely98. Kevin Kelly99. David Krakauer100. Misia Landau101. Geoffrey Miller102. Eugenie “Genie” Scott103. Anil SethAcknowledgmentsRecommended ReadingsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisArgues that gender relations have been a particular casualty of unexamined assumptions held by Western anthropologists and feminist scholars alike. This book treats the insights of Western social science, feminist politics, and ethnographic reporting, in order to rethink the representation of Melanesian social and cultural life.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION 1. Anthropological Strategies 2. A Place in the Feminist Debate PART ONE 3. Groups: Sexual Antagonism in the New Guinea Highlands 4. Domains: Male and Female Models 5. Power: Claims and Counterclaims 6. Work: Exploitation at Issue PART TWO 7. Some Definitions 8. Relations which Separate 9. Forms which Propagate 10. Cause and Effect CONCLUSION 11. Domination 12. Comparison Notes Bibliography Author Index Subject Index

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Book SynopsisHow the legalization of assisted dying is changing our lives. Over the past five years, medical aid-in-dying (also known as assisted suicide) has expanded rapidly in the United States and is now legally available to one in five Americans. This growing social and political movement heralds the possibility of a new era of choice in dying. Yet very little is publicly known about how medical aid-in-dying laws affect ordinary citizens once they are put into practice. Sociological studies of new health policies have repeatedly demonstrated that the realities often fall short of advocacy visions, raising questions about how much choice and control aid-in-dying actually affords. Scripting Death chronicles two years of ethnographic research documenting the implementation of Vermont's 2013 Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act. Author Mara Buchbinder weaves together stories collected from patients, caregivers, health care providers, activists, and legislators to illustrate how theyTrade Review"A beautifully written, thought-provoking ethnography that traces how patients, family caregivers, health care providers, activists, and legislators navigate this new world in which MAID is a legal option. . . . This book is essential reading for courses on death and dying, health care, and bioethics and will be eye-opening for those caring for terminally ill loved ones or grappling with their own life-or-death decisions. . . . Highly recommended." * CHOICE *“Buchbinder offers a compelling introduction to the complexity and inconsistency of ethical stances around life and death decision-making. In addition, she calls attention to the danger of reducing the forms of personhood and sociality produced through impending death to individual autonomy. And she shows the heart-wrenching consequences of unequal access to information and care in the United States. Scripting Death is a wonderful introduction to a pressing social issue.” * Medical Anthropology Quarterly *“​"Buchbinder’s work is the latest of several highly accessible health related ethnographies that represent a resurgence of anthropology in which real people talk rather than ‘discourse,’ questions are asked rather than ‘interrogated,’ and the term ‘reinscribe’ does not appear. A welcome development." * The Hastings Center Report *"Scripting Death provides a rich collection of Vermont stories about the challenges of organizing medical aid in dying, which serve as a microcosm of the broader problems faced by Americans in gaining access to health care." * Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Scripting Choice into Law 2. Making Death 3. Starting the Conversation 4. Reconciling Assistance with the Physician's Professional Role 5. Access and the Power to Choose 6. Choreographing Death Conclusion Coda Acknowledgments Appendix: About the Research Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is life? What is water? What is sound? In Sounding the Limits of Life, anthropologist Stefan Helmreich investigates how contemporary scientists--biologists, oceanographers, and audio engineers--are redefining these crucial concepts. Life, water, and sound are phenomena at once empirical and abstract, material and formal, scientific and social.Trade Review"Winner of the 2016 Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Prize, Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts""This collection is extremely impressive. The notes and bibliography read like a veritable state-of-the-art of the field; the author has read and imbibed everything and everyone and is in firm command of his disciplinary landscape. Helmreich has been a leader among anthropologists in applying to science a new kind of methodologically sophisticated ethnography."---Oren Harman, European LegacyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations vii Sounding Life, Water, Sound ix CHAPTER 1 What Was Life? Answers from Three Limit Biologies 1 CHAPTER 2 Life Forms: A Keyword Entry (with Sophia Roosth) 19 CHAPTER 3 An Archaeology of Artificial Life, Underwater 35 CHAPTER 4 Cetology Now: Formatting the Twenty-First-Century Whale 44 CHAPTER 5 How Like a Reef: Figuring Coral, 1839-2010 48 CHAPTER 6 Homo microbis: Species, Race, Sex, and the Human Microbiome 62 CHAPTER 7 The Signature of Life: Designing the Astrobiological Imagination 73 CHAPTER 8 Nature/Culture/Seawater: Theory Machines, Anthropology, Oceanization 94 CHAPTER 9 Time and the Tsunami: Indian Ocean, 2004 106 CHAPTER 10 From Spaceship Earth to Google Ocean: Planetary Icons, Indexes, and Infrastructures 116 CHAPTER 11 Underwater Music: Tuning Composition to the Sounds of Science 137 CHAPTER 12 Seashell Sound 155 CHAPTER 13 Sound Studies Meets Deaf Studies (with Michele Friedner) 164 CHAPTER 14 Chimeric Sensing 173 Life, Water, Sound Resounding 183 Acknowledgments 189 Notes 195 Index 283

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Book SynopsisA new look at a brilliant radical legacyTrade Review'A fundamental contribution, containing precious insights into what made David Graeber the most innovative social thinker of our time, and why the legacy of his ideas will continue to inspire projects of emancipation, for generations to come.' -- David Wengrow, Professor of Comparative Archaeology, University College London, and co-author of 'The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity''In this stimulating collection of ‘slow cooked’ essays, the editors reflect on the enduring enchantment of David Graeber’s ideas. They remind us that there is always hope in today’s troubled world and that the activist pursuit of hope can be fun as well as rewarding.' -- Chris Gregory, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Australian National University'Uncovers the critical contributions of Graeberian thought to contemporary education, politics, economy, reproduction, and power relations writ small and large. A must-read for anyone who believes in the power of academia as activism.' -- Sophie Chao, Environmental anthropologist, University of Sydney'From Game of Thrones and The Idiots to free birth and megafires in Australia, this book’s writers honour Graeber’s legacy, while revealing their own original voices. Informing, provoking and imagining alternatives, they testify to people’s lives and struggles today. [It] will find a broad readership among thinkers and activists for social and economic justice, along with urgent climate action.' -- Lorraine Mortimer, independent Anthropology scholar'A simultaneously rigorous and personal tribute to a giant in public anthropology and activism … destined to serve as an invitation to further conversation, action, and friendship.' -- Hirokazu Miyazaki, Northwestern UniversityTable of ContentsSeries Preface Preface Introduction: David Graeber in the Library Stacks - Joshua O. Reno and Holly High 1. On Morons - Joshua O. Reno, Binghamton, USA 2. Birthing Possibilities - Holly High, Deakin, Australia 3. Actually Existing Anarchist Anthropology - Holly High and Joshua O. Reno 4. Ka Mare, Ka Ora: On Truth, Lies, and Knowing the Difference - Georgina Tauri Stewart, Auckland University of Technology 5. Actualizing the Public University - Sharad Chari, UC Berkeley 6. Reading Graeber, Leach, and a Revolution in Myanmar - Michael Edwards, University of Cambridge 7. Debt and Political Possibility in Eritrea - Michael Ralph, Howard University 8. Collectivized Hoards and the Regulation of Money - Gustav Peebles, New School 9. Notes on Confronting the System - David Pedersen, UC San Diego Afterword - Bill Maurer, UC Irvine Index

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Book SynopsisThe two essays in this classic work by sociologist Erving Goffman explore the calculative, gamelike aspects of human interaction.Trade Review"The broad topic is communication directed specifically to situations like espionage and to situations like international politics. . . . Goffman deals with the topic descriptively, draws on a wide variety of sources, and uses analogy to demonstrate, clarify, and explain." * Choice *"Goffman is a great ethnologist. His tribe is mankind, his focus the face-to-face relations of everyday life, his method of observation a combination of naturalistic fieldwork and a wide reading in history, biography, manners, social science, and literature" * American Journal of Sociology *"Goffman is entranced with the subtleties of direct confrontation among people. His is the style of the essayist and of the miniaturist. In this book he selects, among others, the analogy of the game as an integrating device. . . . Goffman's games are verbal and phenomenological, dissecting the point/counterpoirt of, for instance, the doubts that people may have with respect to one another's motives under condition of actual or potential conflict." * Journal of Applied Behavioral Science *Table of ContentsPreface Expression Games: An Analysis of Doubts at Play Strategic Interaction

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Book SynopsisMedical Humanitarianism provides comparative ethnographies of the moral, practical, and policy implications of modern medical humanitarian practice. It offers twelve vivid case studies that challenge readers to reach a more critical and compassionate understanding of humanitarian assistance.Trade Review"This volume brings the intersections between humanitarian and global health interventions into relief. It offers detail, nuance, and complexity to debates that are out there, probing difficult situations and asking tough questions." * Miriam Ticktin, Professor of Anthropology, The New School for Social Research *"In light of the recent Ebola crisis, this book becomes even more prescient of the lessons that can be learnt by examining well-grounded ethnographies in comparative perspective for a more critical and compassionate understanding of humanitarian assistance." * Peter Piot, from the Foreword. *"What happens when humanitarian intentions collide with the realities of humanitarian action? The editors present twelve engaging and provocative ethnographies of humanitarian practice, that invite immersion, deep reflection, and call for constructive dialogue between scholarship and humanitarian practice" * Unni Karunakara, International President (2010-2013), Médecins Sans Frontières *Table of ContentsForeword —Peter Piot Bringing Life into Relief: Comparative Ethnographies of Humanitarian Practice —Sharon Abramowitz and Catherine Panter-Brick PART I. INTIMATE INTERVENTIONS: HEALTH WORKER EXPERIENCES IN HUMANITARIAN CONTEXTS Chapter 1. Dignity Under Extreme Duress: The Moral and Emotional Landscape of Local Humanitarian Workers in the Afghan-Pakistan Border Areas —Patricia Omidian and Catherine Panter-Brick Chapter 2. Compassion and Care at the Limits of Privilege: Haitian Doctors amid the Influx of Foreign Humanitarian Volunteers —Laura Wagner Chapter 3. Trust and Caregiving During a UNICEF-Funded Relief Operation in the Somali Region of Ethiopia —Lauren Carruth PART II. THE ARCHITECTURE OF HUMANITARIAN KNOWLEDGE, ETHICS, AND IMPERATIVES Chapter 4. Evidence and Narratives: Recounting Ongoing Violence in Darfur, Sudan —Alex de Waal Chapter 5. Life Beyond the Bubbles: Cognitive Dissonance and Humanitarian Impunity in Northern Uganda —Tim Allen Chapter 6. Staging a "Medical Coup"? Médecins Sans Frontières and the 2005 Food Crisis in Niger —Jean-Hervé Jézéquel PART III. STRONG STATES, WEAK STATES, AND CONTESTED HEALTH SOVEREIGNITIES Chapter 7. What Happens When MSF Leaves? Humanitarian Departure and Medical Sovereignty in Postconflict Liberia —Sharon Abramowitz Chapter 8. Humanitarianism and "Mobile Sovereignty" in Strong State Settings: Reflections on Medical Humanitarianism in Aceh, Indonesia —Byron J. Good, Jesse Hession Grayman, and Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good Chapter 9. The British Military Medical Services and Contested Humanitarianism —Stuart Gordon PART IV. THE AFTERLIVES OF INTERVENTION Chapter 10. Anthropology and Medical Humanitarianism in the Age of Global Health Education —Peter Locke Chapter 11. The Creation of Emergency and Afterlife of Intervention: Reflections on Guinea Worm Eradication in Ghana —Amy Moran-Thomas Chapter 12. Medical NGOs in Strong States: Working the Margins of the Israeli Medical Bureaucracy —Ilil Benjamin Conclusion. A Measured Good —Peter Redfield List of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisDrawing on sociological theories and the author's own research, this title counters the claims of outspoken, conservative American Christians who argue that a society without God would be hell on earth. It states that it is crucial for Americans to know that society without God is not only possible, but it can be quite civil and pleasant.Trade Review"The book succeeds in documenting how the conditions of a liberal social welfare state promote contentment." * Choice *"While never presuming to offer a strictly generalizable snapshot, by focusing his attention on what are probably the least religious countries in the world (2), his provocative and engagingly written book is very effective in helping readers to examine numerous assumptions concerning the place of religion in the modern world... The real strength of this book is that, by challenging widespread analytical assumptions, it presents us with more complexity and with more nuanced questions regarding the nexus of the religious and the secular in contemporary life. To quote a famous Dane on this very point, There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. If, as Horatio should have done, we are to heed these words in terms of expanding the frameworks of our accordingly, it will be due in good measure to paying attention to thoughtful and creative books like this one. In my estimation, not to do so would be, well, a tragedy." * Sociology of Religion *"Society Without God" offers a unique perspective on the active debate regarding the necessity of religion . . . By turning to one of the most secular societies in the world, Scandanavia, Phil Zuckerman offers an empirically grounded account of a successful society where people are happy and content and help their neighbors without believing in God. The book is fluently written and highly illuminating. It offers an accessible entry to important questions in the study of religion and secularism." -- Michael Pagis * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *"Society without God is both a sociological analysis of irreligion and Zuckermans apologia pro vita sua. He wants us to know that, contrary to the deeply held beliefs of some Americans, a society without god can be a good society and an irreligious person can be a moral person, too. To his credit, Zuckerman provides enough nuance and detail to allow a skeptic like me to see what Peter Berger called & signals of transcendence in the society without god he portrays. Along with the volumes engaging writing style, this makes it ideal for classroom use. I know my students will enjoy reading and discussing Society without God." -- David Yamane,author of The Catholic Church in State Politics"[Zuckerman] tells of a magical land where life expectancy is high and infant mortality low, where wealth is spread and genders live in equity, where happy, fish-fed citizens score high in every quality-of-life index: economic competitiveness, healthcare, environmental protection, lack of corruption, educational investment, technological literacy . . . well, you get the idea. Zuckerman (who has explored the sociology of religion in two previous books) has managed to show what nonbelief looks like when its & normal, regular, mainstream, common. And hes gone at least partway to proving the central thesis of his book: & Religious faithwhile admittedly widespreadis not natural or innate to the human condition. Nor is religion a necessary ingredient for a healthy, peaceful, prosperous, and . . . deeply good society." -- Louis Bayard * Salon.com *"Most Americans are convinced that faith in God is the foundation of civil society. Society Without God reveals this to be nothing more than a well-subscribed, and strangely American, delusion. Even atheists living in the United States will be astonished to discover how unencumbered by religion most Danes and Swedes currently are. This glimpse of an alternate, secular reality is at once humbling and profoundly inspiring and it comes not a moment too soon. Zuckermans research is truly indispensable." -- Sam Harris * New York Times *"Puts to rest the belief that you need God in order to be a moral person, that irreligious societies are wracked by social problems, and that godless people are unhappy and unmoored. . . . In the case of Scandinavia: God may be dead, but Swedes and Danes lead rich, full lives. Society Without God is a colorful, provocative book that makes an original contribution to debates about atheism and religiosity. Ideal for classroom use, it will get students thinking about their own lives and choices." -- Arlene Stein,author of Shameless: Sexual Dissidence in American Culture"Despite this books weighty topic, with its conversational writing style, Society Without God is amazingly readable, even fun. It presents rigorous arguments that are deceptively simple to understand, but that are, when you think about them more deeply, quite transformative." * PopMatters *"In an anecdotal and eminently readable manner, Zuckerman offers a novel idea within the study of religious sociology." * Library Journal *"His reporting of previously published material is invaluable to persons not previously familiar with such information." * Humanism Ireland *"Much that he found will surprise many people, as it did him." * The New York Times *"For those interested in the burgeoning field of secular studies or for those curious about a world much different from the devout U.S.this book will offer some compelling reading." * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1 Society without God 2 Jens, Anne, and Christian 3 Fear of Death and the Meaning of Life4 Lene, Sonny, and Gitte 5 Being Secular 6 Why? 7 Dorthe, Laura, and Johanne 8 Cultural Religion 9 Back to the USA Appendix Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisA look into the origins and practices of Rastafarianism. From the direct accounts of these early members, the author is able to reconstruct pivotal episodes in Rastafarian history to offer a look into a subgroup of Jamaican society whose beliefs took root in the social unrest of the 1930s.Trade ReviewVital for students of African American religions and Caribbean religions, but also of interest to anthropologists, sociologists, and historians. Highly recommended. Chevannes closely attends to the internal rifts and doctrinal disputes that caused denominational splits within the movement. As Rastafari moved into the larger world, some of its teachings, such as the strict observance of menstrual taboos, were attacked. Chevannes’s analysis of that growth and how it is changing present-day Rastafari is fascinating and illuminating. No fanbook for couch-bound ‘Waspafaris’ sitting around the plastic bong, this is a serious look at a living, growing religion. Rastafari is unquestionably the best guide to the historical and social connections between the Rasta movement and Jamaica’s peasant religious traditions. It is also the finest overview of the movement and worthwhile reading simply for the tales of the individuals who founded the movement. The most authoritative analysis of the Rastafarian movement to date. Chevannes combines an oral history account of the social origins of the movement in Jamaica with an ethnographic study of current processes among Rastafarians in the city of Kingston.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This book is a major contribution that has about it the excitement that comes with addressing genuinely fresh issues. Examining the ethics of everyday life as they are embodied in speech and other kinds of action, its contributors stake out an important new area of research. Certain to have a great impact on anthropology, this is book that should also be widely read by those in all fields who take ethics to be an important topic of study." -- -Joel Robbins University of California, San Diego "A forceful demonstration of what anthropology has to contribute to debates about ethics within moral philosophy." -- -Charles Hirschkind University of California, Berkeley

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Book SynopsisThe gold-standard introduction to biological anthropology.

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Book SynopsisIn Animals as Legal Beings, Maneesha Deckha critically examines how Canadian law and, by extension, other legal orders around the world, participate in the social construction of the human-animal divide and the abject rendering of animals as property. Through a rigorous but cogent analysis, Deckha calls for replacing the exploitative property classification for animals with a new transformative legal status or subjectivity called beingness. In developing a new legal subjectivity for animals, one oriented toward respecting animals for who they are rather than their proximity to idealized versions of humanness, Animals as Legal Beings seeks to bring critical animal theorizations and animal law closer together. Throughout, Deckha draws upon the feminist animal care tradition, as well as feminist theories of embodiment and relationality, postcolonial theory, and critical animal studies. Her argument is critical of the liberal legal view of animals and directed at a Table of ContentsMoving Toward a Non-Anthropocentric Legal Status for Animals 1. No Escape: Anti-Cruelty Law’s Property Foundations 2. What’s Wrong with Personhood?: The Humanizing Impact of Anthropos 3. Toward a Post-Anthropocentric Legal Ontology 4. Beingness: A New Legal Subjectivity for Animals 5. Liberal Humanism Repackaged? 6. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisContemporary feminist advocacy in human rights, international criminal law, and peace and security is gripped by the issue of sexual violence in conflict. But it hasn't always been this way. Analyzing feminist international legal and political work over the past three decades, Karen Engle argues that it was not inevitable that sexual violence in conflict would become such a prominent issue. Engle reveals that as feminists from around the world began to pay an enormous amount of attention to sexual violence in conflict, they often did so at the cost of attention to other issues, including the anti-militarism of the women's peace movement; critiques of economic maldistribution, imperialism, and cultural essentialism by feminists from the global South; and the sex-positive positions of many feminists involved in debates about sex work and pornography. The Grip of Sexual Violence in Conflict offers a detailed examination of how these feminist commitments were not merely deprioritized, but undermined, by efforts to address the issue of sexual violence in conflict. Engle's analysis reinvigorates vital debates about feminist goals and priorities, and spurs readers to question much of today's common sense about the causes, effects, and proper responses to sexual violence in conflict. Trade Review"The Grip of Sexual Violence is required reading for understanding how some powerful feminist approaches to international criminal law have produced more problems than solutions. Engle's brilliant and nuanced critique asks us to urgently reconsider the colonial, racial, and cultural assumptions and erasures of such feminism and offers a different path for feminist legal internationalism."—Inderpal Grewal, Yale University"Karen Engle provides a masterful critical account of the politics of 'common sense' that informs feminist interventions in international law. Her incisive analysis of how the discourse on sexual violence in conflict has come to be based on negative images of sex and sexuality and troubling assumptions about gender, war, and peace marks an invaluable and timely contribution to the field."—Ratna Kapur, Queen Mary University of London, School of Law"Engle's brilliant book shows how concern with sexual violence displaced and undermined feminist movements for geopolitical peace and equality, risking a regulatory vision for female bodies instead of a 'sex positive' one. Engle reopens fateful choices and closes with an inspiring vision of a different feminism and a different international law."—Samuel Moyn, author of Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World"Karen Engle has long been a perceptive critic of the ways in which feminists call on international institutions to support feminist causes. Here, she offers a remarkable case study of how ideas and concepts travel and transform, making a powerful argument for a more nuanced account of gender, sex and conflict, which takes the complexity of human experience into account."—Hilary Charlesworth, Melbourne Law School and The Australian National University"Engle critiques the pattern of focusing on wartime sexual violence in order to call for more violence through military intervention.[This] book is well researched, creative, and provocative. Recommended."—D. P. Forsythe, CHOICE"Karen Engle is one of the most remarkable scholars of human rights movements today. Her work has long questioned what are generally perceived [as] some of the greatest successes of human rights and international law, not least in relation to indigenous rights, feminist advocacy and international criminal law....For its potential to inspire new activism and fresh research, The Grip of Sexual Violence in Conflict is doubtless a pivotal contribution to critical scholarship on human rights and feminism."—Mattia Pinto, London Review of International Law"Engle's work is an inspiring and groundbreaking analysis that deserves further in-depth discussions... [The Grip of Sexual Violence in Conflict] is a provocative analysis of the most controversial issues related to feminism, gender, and war that have preoccupied feminist scholars and legal practitioners alike over the past three decades. Engle touches sensitive issues relating to the essence of the book's central argument, and provides convincing answers to many questions, while sometimes leaving the door ajar on issues that were, and still are, under discussion."—Hilmi M. Zawati, Journal of International Criminal Justice

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Book SynopsisA fascinating ethnography of microbes that opens up new spaces for anthropological inquiry The trillions of microbes in and on our bodies are determined by not only biology but also our social connections. Gut Anthro tells the fascinating story of how a sociocultural anthropologist developed a collaborative “anthropology of microbes” with a human microbial ecologist to address global health crises across disciplines. It asks: what would it mean for anthropology to act with science? Based partly at a preeminent U.S. lab studying the human microbiome, the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University, and partly at a field site in Bangladesh studying infant malnutrition, it examines how microbes travel between human guts in the “field” and in microbiome laboratories, influencing definitions of health and disease, and how the microbiome can change our views on evolution, agency, and life.As lab scientists studied the interrelationships between gut microbes and malnutrition in resource-poor countries, Amber Benezra explored ways to reconcile the scale and speed differences between the lab, the intimate biosocial practices of Bangladeshi mothers and their children, and the looming structural violence of poverty. In vital ways, Gut Anthro is about what it means to collaborate—with mothers, local field researchers in Bangladesh, massive philanthropic global health organizations, with the microbiome scientists, and, of course, with microbes. It follows microbes through various enactments in scientific research—microbes as kin, as data, and as race. Revealing how racial categories are used in microbiome research, Benezra argues that microbial differences need transdisciplinary collaboration to address racial health disparities without reifying race as a straightforward biological or social designation.Gut Anthro is a tour de force of science studies and medical anthropology as well as an intensely personal and deeply theoretical accounting of what it means to do anthropology today. Cover alt text:Black background overlaid with a pink organic path suggestive of a human digestive system. Title appears within the guts as if being processed.Trade Review"From start to finish, Gut Anthro demonstrates how relations are integral to science. With bold, page-turning prose, Amber Benezra traces microbiokinships from kitchen tables to scientific laboratories, offering a refreshingly honest analysis of how knowledge and process are one and the same. Miscarriage. Diarrhea. Career ambitions. Humanitarian hubris. Anthropological complicity. We learn from microbes—and the messy, fragile, tenacious humans that study them—how much the minute details of mundane life matter. Alternately hopeful and unsettling, this is a book that expertly does what microbes have always done: change how we see, how we collaborate, and who we are."—Emily Yates-Doerr, author of The Weight of Obesity: Hunger and Global Health in Postwar Guatemala"This is an utterly arresting ethnographic examination of a networked bioscience project that stretches from sample collection in Bangladesh to data analysis at a U.S. university. Amber Benezra offers an account—rigorous, revelatory, wrenching—of the vexed promises of acting as both participant and observer in the contact zones of today’s international biomedical research."—Stefan Helmreich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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