Anthropology Books

Book SynopsisA cross-disciplinary anthology on contemporary Kashmir by academics from Jammu and Kashmir, the first such volume to appear. The book offers a panorama of key cultural concerns of Jammu and Kashmir today, incorporating analysis of military, cultural, religious, and social aspects of the society and polity.Trade Review"In a recent tribute to her grandfather, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, the editor of this valuable collection of essays by academics from Kashmir and Jammu Universities (among others) recalls how, as a child of 10, she witnessed the visit Abdullah received on his deathbed from Indira Gandhi, who: 'tactfully expressed her concern for the stalwart leader against whom [Indira] and her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, had deployed every stratagem in the book and whose youth, idealism, passion and courage had been undermined by the unbridled power of the Indian state.' (Khan 2012, 2) This cameo portrait of Nyla Ali Khan's dying grandfather clearly haunts this book, as a remembrance intended to encourage readers 'to construct a politics that would enable the rebuilding of our pluralistic polity and society' since 'we cannot afford to lose yet another generation!' (Khan 2012, 4). This collection is an attempt to concretize the foundation for such a rebuilding by securing memories and traditions that, Ali Khan insists, set Jammu and Kashmir apart from the two nations insisting on their assimilation. The book displays the complexities of Kashmiri identity as an overlapping of the discourses of Kashmiriyat, Islam, Saivism and Su?sm: as, that is, a cultural syncretism from the very beginning that struggles today to resist any monolithic homogenization or arbitrary bifurcation that would serve simplistically and brutally as a ?nal solution. [ Khan] [ ] offers this fascinating chorus as an example of the pluralism and dynamism of Kashmiri society that years of militarization and consequent radicalization of the youth have not yet, she and her contributors argue, fully overcome." Journal of Postcolonial Writing "The collection, to its credit, attempts to bypass the simplistic and polarizing mainstream discourses that have hitherto dominated the conversation on Kashmir as an India-Pakistan problem. Instead, Ali Khan attempts to create a new conversation that is not state-centered, and is explicitly invested in theorizing and describing the regional as an autonomous, distinct and complex space that contains multiple and nuanced perspectives on life in Kashmir [. . .] For the non-specialist lay reader, this collection offers an invaluable view of the complexities of Kashmiri life, beyond the media headlines and sound-bytes of the contemporary moment. For the scholar of South Asia, it presents an opportunity to engage with local perspectives and analyses of what is often reductively described as 'the Kashmir problem.'" - South Asian Review, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2013 "In the last few years there has been a contest to appropriate and own the idea of Kashmiriyat and turn it to partisan advantage. Several of the essayists in the present volume note this, and their pieces refine our understanding of the term and its use and misuse in current discourse. [. . .] The contributions [. . .] emerge very directly from debates among people who have lived together for centuries and who are trying to find a basis to continue to do so [. . .] Strong regional traditions that transcend narrow religious boundaries are of course common across South Asia, but an understanding of the specific historical context in Kashmir helps us to understand why Kashmiriyat, in its various guises, has had such a strong hold on the popular imagination." Pakistaaniat, Fall 2013 "The Parchment of Kashmir is an impressively and suitably intricate representation of literate cultures in Kashmir. It is also the best available mosaic portrait of vibrant multilingual intellectualism and multicultural heritage in any region of Asia. It beautifully conveys the complexity of Kashmir's human composition at a crossroads of civilization and thus provides a supple foundation for subtle understandings of Kashmir's current political predicament." - David Ludden, professor of History, New York University "The Parchment of Kashmir is an important and timely book. By bringing together writers, scholars and other intellectuals in Kashmir to speak about the history, politics, culture and their lived experiences of the region, Nyla Ali Khan gives us a sense of the complexity of the 'Kashmir problem' from the perspective of those most deeply affected by it. The essays in this volume are invaluable as both analysis and testimony." - Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, Global Distinguished Professor, New York University "Conflicts are normal in politics but some of them do turn chronic and irreversible. Kashmir, once a small principality in South Asia trying to break out of the loving embrace of two large nation-states to forge a third one, has become a tragic spectre of itself. By the time its political fate gets decided, both the victorious and the defeated should emerge equally brutalised and ethically maimed. Nyla Khan has mobilised a courageous, diverse set of witnesses to tell the story as an open-ended one, without deodorising the smell of death that persists. It is a disturbing, but moving collection and a tribute not only to a culture's resilience but also to the editor's intellectual independence." - Ashis Nandy, Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies "This remarkable collection of essays about Kashmir brings to light both the resilience and plight of a beautiful and ancient region caught up in the politics of Pakistan and India. Nyla Ali Khan's astute selection of diverse authors to write for this elegant edition makes clear that stirring the pot of religious conflict between Hindus and Muslims has been a cunning strategy of divide and conquer . . . The tales in these richly informed essays are sad, but it is clear that democratic forces and resilience are still quite vital in Kashmir." - World Literature Today "Nyla Ali Khan's edited volume offers a panoramic view of Kashmir's landscape from the vantage points of Kashmiri scholars. These authors speak from multiple disciplinary voices, and address issues that span religion and culture, governance and polity, memory and identity. The volume is both a specific and necessary addition to broader studies on South Asia . . .[It] can clearly be seen to represent a few underrepresented topics within fields like South Asian history, literature, and religious studies." - Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial StudiesTable of ContentsPART I: CONSTRUCTIONS OF KASHMIRI IDENTITY WITHIN THE OVERLAPPING DISCOURSES OF KASHMIRIYAT, ISLAM, SAIVISM, SUFISM Evolution of my Identity vis-à-vis Islam and Kashmir - Mohammad Ishaq Khan Kashmiriyat: The Voice of the Past Misconstrued - Rattan Lal Hangloo PART II: CULTURAL SYNCRETISM AND DECONSTRUCTION OF A MONOLITHIC CULTURE Mystical Thought of Kashmir - M. H. Zaffar Syncretic Tradition and the Creative Life—Some Kashmiri Mystic Poets - Neerja Mattoo PART III: CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SOVEREIGNTY , DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE, AND REGIONAL STABILITY Democracy and Governance in Kashmir - Noor Ahmad Baba Political Assertion of Kashmiri Identity - Gull Mohammad Wani Kashmir in the Indian Project of Nationalism - Rekha Chowdhary PART IV: SOCIOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF CONFLICT, INSURGENCY, COUNTER INSURGENCY, MILITARIZATION, AND A MONOLITHIC NATIONALISM Sociological Dimensions and Implications of the Kashmir Problem - Bashir Ahmed Dabla PART V: REPRESENTATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION Politics of Exclusion - Hameeda Naeem

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Book SynopsisAuthenticity in our globalized world is a paradox. This collection examines how authenticity relates to cultural products, looking closely at how a particular "ethnic" food, or genre of popular music, or indigenous religious belief attains its aura of originality, when all traditional cultural products are invented in a certain time and place.Trade Review'The idea of authenticity is an important one to explore in an academic setting and The Paradox of Authenticity in a Globalized World will be a useful tool in cultural and media studies, anthropology, and food studies. What really sets this edited volume apart is the inclusion of scholars who are not in academia - this adds a nice, contextualized angle in the fields of music, law, information studies, and museums.' - Jessica Mudry, Ryerson University, CanadaTable of Contents1. Introduction: The Artifice of Authenticity in the Age of Digital Reproduction; Russell Cobb PART I: A MATTER OF TASTE: AUTHENTICITY AND INNOVATION IN FOOD CULTURE 2. Searching for Authenticity: Cajun Food and a 'Golden Age" of Cajun History; Michael S. Martin 3. Food Bureaucracy: Pizza Authentication by the European Union; Rossella Ceccarini 4. Currying Flavour: Authenticity, Cultural Capital, and the Rise of Indian Food in the United Kingdom; Stephen A. Fielding PART II: PERFORMING THE REAL: MEDIATING AUTHENTICITY IN MUSIC, TELEVISION, AND PUBLISHING 5. Performing Cultural Authenticity in CBS's Good Times ; Nicola Mann 6. Buying into the Monastic Experience: Are Chant Recordings the Real Thing?; Amanda Haste 7. The Discourse of Authenticity in Yoga Journal ; Laura Christine Graham PART III: STEROTYPES, CLICHÉS, AND THE REAL THING: AUTHENTICITY IN CULTURAL CONTACT ZONES 8. From the Chrysanthemum Throne to the Porcelain Throne: Anglo-American Tourists and the Japanese Toilet; Gavin James Campbell 9. Tourists as Primitives? Inverting the Tourist Gaze in The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier; Jeannine M. Pitas 10. The Database as a Distressed Genre; John Venecek PART IV: CUT, PASTE, AUTHENTICATE: LITERARY STUDIES AND THE QUESTION OF AUTHENTICITY 11. 'There Is No Such Thing as Originality Anyway. . . ': Authorship in the Age of Digital Reproduction; Kaja Marczewska 12. Like in the Gringo Movies: Parodic Translation in Roberto Bolaño's 2666 ; Juan Meneses 13. Norman Mailer, Hipsters, and the Authenticity of the White Negro; Katharine Bausch 14. Authenticity as Currency in the Contemporary American Memoir; Katherine Edwards PART V: REAL POLITICS: THE CULTURAL POLITICS OF AUTHENTICITY 15. Beyond the Infinite Loop? Subjectivity in the Age of the Copy; James Block 16. Real Feminists and Fake Feminists: The Charge of Inauthenticity in Responses to Judith Butler; Kathryn Telling 17. Authenticity, Existentialism, and the American Exception of Rule 23; Michael Lopez 18. That Old School Lonsdale: Authenticity and Clothes in Streetpunk and Skinhead Culture; Aimar Ventsel

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Book SynopsisEpistemology, Fieldwork, and Anthropology explores the space between epistemology and methodology, offering a systematic examination of the empirical foundations of interpretations in anthropology. Trade Review"The author's theoretical erudition and practical research experience more than 40 years ensures that no choice is taken for granted, but is subjected to reasoning. The book carves out a very important niche for itself between more abstract epistemology and a field hand book." - Christian Lund, Professor of Development Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark "Indeed, a basic tenor in the book is a determined search for guarantees that qualitative does not become synonymous with impressionistic." - Peter Geschiere, Professor of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands "Anthropology has been waiting for this book for a long time. It is not only a felicitous marriage between French rationalism and American pragmatism, but also a response to the increasingly tired ideological wars that pit objectivity against subjectivity and culture against text, especially from a North American perspective." - Bob White, Professor of Anthropology, University of Montreal, CanadaTable of Contents1. Introduction: Empirical Adequacy, Theory, Anthropology 2. The Policy of Fieldwork. Data Production in Anthropology And Qualitative Approaches 3. Emic and the Actors' Point Of View 4. From Observation To Description 5. The Methodological 'I': Implication and Explicitation in Fieldwork 6. Methodological Populism and Ideological Populism in Anthropology 7. The Violence Done To Data: On A Few Figures of Over-Interpretation 8. Common Sense and Scholarly Sense. Conclusion Postface: Researcher And Citizen: Science And Ideology

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Book SynopsisDick Smakman is a Lecturer in Sociolinguistics and Language Acquisition at Leiden University, the Netherlands.Trade ReviewCombining fascinating details and insights drawn from languages and societies around the world, this book provides a truly global introduction to sociolinguistics as a field of study. * Patrick Heinrich, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy *The strength of this book is to present the complex field of sociolinguistics in a clear way, which guides readers through the process of undertaking research. It demonstrates that rather than being an intellectual pastime sociolinguistic research can actually be useful. * Florian Coulmas, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany *Smakman's Discovering Sociolinguistics is genuinely reflective of its title, and a valuable introductory text. It offers practical insights for budding researchers of sociolinguistics, clearly introducing readers to a broad range of useful methods, as well as providing diverse and international coverage of the field. This is an original and valuable book, especially for those starting out in the discipline of sociolinguistics. * Peter Sercombe, Newcastle University, UK *Table of ContentsPART 1: INTRODUCING SOCIOLINGUISTICS 1. Early Sociolinguistics The birth of a field 2. Sociolinguistics today The modern study of language in a social space 3. The good language Language norms and ideology 4. Language variation The various shapes of language 5. The language of culture Practices and belief systems as sociolinguistic variables PART 2: UNDERSTANDING SOCIOLINGUISTICS 6. Speaker fate and choices The individual in a sociolinguistic space 7. The language of a lifetime Age and time as sociolinguistic factors 8. Being a woman or a man Gender as a sociolinguistic variable 9. The people's language Folk Linguistics & Perceptual Dialectology 10. What say you? Attitudes about language 11. Second Language Sociolinguistics Linguistic choices by learners 12. The more equal language Language and status across the globe PART 3: PROCESSING SOCIOLINGUISTICS <13. Ready, set, research Steps towards a sociolinguistic research project 14. Crunching numbers Introducing statistics 15. The sounds of language Introducing Phonetics from a Sociolinguistic point of view 16. Write it down Introducing the sociolinguistic research report PART 4: DOING SOCIOLINGUISTICS 17. Language out there Investigating naturally occurring language 18. Speak to me Investigating elicited language 19. While you were speaking Investigating ongoing communication 20. Don't get me started Investigating attitudes and perceptions

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Book SynopsisWith over 5 million copies sold worldwide of Fingerprints of the Gods, its New York Times bestselling sequel Magicians of the Gods brings new evidence supporting Hancock''s thesis that a global cataclysm wiped out a great global civilization.On the heels of the very successful hardcover edition, Hancock returns with this paperback version including three new chapters brimming with recent reporting of fresh scientific advances (ranging from DNA to astrophysics) that substantially support his case.Twenty years ago, Graham Hancock published Fingerprints of the Gods an astonishing, deeply controversial investigation of the mysteries of and the evidence for Earth''s lost prehistoric civilization. Twenty years after this massive bestseller debuted, Hancock returns with its sequel, filled with completely new scientific and archaeological evidence.Since 2007, a host of new proof has come to light supporting his theories through new archaeological

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