Cultural studies: customs and traditions Books

Book SynopsisFirst published in 1972 this volume describes how the round of the year, with its cycle of festivals and seasonal work, was observed in the Ireland of yesterday. We follow the rhythm of the year from New Year to Easter, May Day to Harvest and Christmas along the chain of high days and feast days, St Brighid's Day, The Borrowed Days, Midsummer, St Swithin's Day, Lúnasa, The Pattern Day, Samhain, Martinmas and Christmas, fishing boat - belief and usage - feasting and merrymaking. Picturesque customs are revealed - some forgotten, some forbidden, some still familiar, such as 'the making of St Brighid's cross - marriage divinations - watching the dancing of the sun on a hilltop on Easter morning - going to the Skelligs - cock-throwing - bullbaiting - herring processions - the swimming of the horses on Lunasa - and many others. A multi-coloured tapestry. Kevin Danaher has drawn on a wide variety of sources and on more than thirty years research into Irish folk tradition. He is the author of In Ireland Long Ago, Gentle Places and Simple Things, Irish Country People, Folktales of the Irish Countryside and The Pleasant Land of Ireland.Trade Review'This is a book written in 1972 on the Irish Calendar customs. It describes how the year, with its cycle of festivals and seasonal work, was observed in Ireland in the 19-20th centuries. The author draws on a wide variety of sources and on more than thirty years of research into Irish Folk traditions. The book gives the reader an idea of how the year was for many of the inhabitants of Ireland that still followed the old traditions. You get the sense of what each strata of the community was up too at which time of the year. The book starts on Saint Brighid’s day and goes all the way to Christmas. It encompasses both Pagan and Christian days and gives the activities associated with the said day. It is a book that you can read in one go at first and then go back too at the appropriate time of year for inspiration. I really enjoyed reading the book because it gave me ideas on things that I could do on my own rituals and celebrations. It gives the sense of the ebb and flow of the year and how the seasons were related to each other and how one activity during a certain time can be related to another in another time. I think it is a must read book for anyone who is interested in following an Irish path of spirituality be it Christian or Pagan.' - The Celtic ScholarTable of ContentsIntroduction SAINT BRIGHID’S DAY -Saint Brighid’s Crosses - Making the Crosses - The Brideóg - Brat Bride - Crios Bríde - Cattle and Crops - Other Beliefs and Customs CANDLEMAS SHROVE TUESDAY - Shrovetide Weddings CHALK SUNDAY - ‘Going to the Skelligs’ - ‘The Ash Bag’ - Sprinkling of Salt - Domhnach na Smuit; ‘Puss Sunday’ - Some other customs ASH WEDNESDAY LENT SAINT PATRICK’S DAY LADY DAY PALM SUNDAY EASTER - Good Friday - Easter Saturday - Herring Processions - The Dance of the Sun - Easter Eggs - Feasting - The Cake Dance - Other Easter Beliefs and Customs - Easter Monday APRIL FOOLS’ DAY THE BORROWED DAYS MAY DAY- Welcoming the Summer - May Balls - May Dew - Charms and Counter-charms - Health - The Fairies at Maytime - Other May Day Beliefs and Customs ASCENSION THURSDAY WHITSUNTIDE CORPUS CHRISTI MIDSUMMER The Midsummer Fire - Jumping over the Fire - The Family Fire - The Growing Crops - The Cattle at Midsummer - The Dwellinghouse at Midsummer - HerbGathering - Other Midsummer Beliefs and Customs SS PETER AND PAUL THE TWELFTH OF JULY SAINT SWITHIN’S DAY ‘HUNGRY JULY’ THE FIRST OF THE HARVEST - Outdoor Gatherings - Gatherings on Hills - Gatherings at Lakes and Rivers - Other Lunasa Customs and Beliefs - Cork Harbour Ceremony THE ASSUMPTION SAINT BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY THE PATTERN DAY MICHAELMAS THE END OF THE HARVEST - The Clousur - Gleaning - The Harvest Home - Harvest Knots - The Disposal of the Last Sheaf SAMHAIN - Feasting and Merrymaking - Samhain Beliefs and Customs - Hallowe’en Guisers - Games, Dares and Pranks - Weather Divination - Divination Games - Marriage Divination ALL SOULS DAY MARTINMAS CHRISTMAS - Preparing for Christmas - Christmas Eve - Christmas Day - Waits - Saint Stephen’s Day - The Mummers - Holy Innocents - New Year - Handsel Monday - Epiphany APPENDIX - Church Feasts and Fasts BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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Book SynopsisThe simple fabric face mask is a key agent in the fight against the global spread of COVID-19. However, beyond its role as a protective covering against coronavirus infection, the face mask is the bearer of powerful symbolic and political power and arouses intense emotions. Adopting an international perspective informed by social theory, The Face Mask in COVID Times: A Sociomaterial Analysis offers an intriguing and original investigation of the social, cultural and historical dimensions of face-masking as a practice in the age of COVID. Rather than Beck’s ‘risk society’, we are now living in a ‘COVID society’, the long-term effects of which have yet to be experienced or imagined. Everything has changed. The COVID crisis has generated novel forms of sociality and new ways of living and moving through space and time. In this new world, the face mask has become a significant object, positioned as one of the key ways people can protect themselves and others from infection with the coronavirus. The face mask is rich with symbolic meaning as well as practical value. In the words of theorist Jane Bennett, the face mask has acquired a new ‘thing-power’ as it is coming together with human bodies in these times of uncertainty, illness and death. The role of the face mask in COVID times has been the subject of debate and dissension, arousing strong feelings. The historical and cultural contexts in which face masks against COVID contagion are worn (or not worn) are important to consider. In some countries, such as Japan and other East Asian nations, face mask wearing has a long tradition. Full or partial facial coverings, such as veiling, is common practice in regions such as the Middle East. In many other countries, including most countries in the Global North, most people, beyond health care workers, have little or no experience of face masks. They have had to learn how to make sense of face masking as a protective practice and how to incorporate face masks into their everyday practices and routines. Face masking practices have become highly political. The USA has witnessed protests against face mask wearing that rest on ‘sovereign individualism’, a notion which is highly specific to the contemporary political climate in that country. Face masks have also been worn to make political statements: bearing anti-racist statements, for example, but also Trump campaign support. Meanwhile, celebrities and influencers have sought to advocate for face mask wearing as part of their branding, while art makers, museums, designers and novelty fashion manufacturers have identified the opportunity to profit from this sudden new market. Face masks have become a fashion item as well as a medical device: both a way of signifying the wearer’s individuality and beliefs and their ethical stance in relation to the need to protect their own and others’ health. The Face Mask in COVID Times: A Sociomaterial Analysis provides a short and accessible analysis of the sociomaterial dimensions of the face mask in the age of COVID-19. The book presents seven short chapters and an epilogue. We bring together sociomaterial theoretical perspectives with compelling examples from public health advice and campaigns, anti-mask activism as well as popular culture (news reports, blog posts, videos, online shopping sites, art works) to illustrate our theoretical points, and use Images to support our analysis. Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction: The Face Mask as Sociomaterial Artefact This chapter will introduce the rationale for the book, addressing the question of why sociomaterial theories are so important to make sense of the meanings and practices related to the face mask in the age of COVID. It will provide the context for understanding the face mask as a sociocultural artefact, discussing the history of the face mask (and other facial coverings, such as veiling practices) internationally. This chapter also provides an overview of the theoretical perspectives we are using in our analysis. We draw particularly on the vital materialism offered in the work of feminist new materialist scholars and Indigenous and First Nations philosophies as well as domestication theory. These perspectives position material objects such as face masks as contributing to assemblages of people with nonhuman things. It is with and through these combinations of humans and nonhumans that agencies and forces are generated. We ‘think with’ vital materialism in the following chapters to consider how the face mask has taken on the extraordinary meanings, values and affective intensities. This chapter, therefore, provides the basis for elucidating the divergent cultural responses to face masks in contemporary political and geographical contexts that follows in the book. Chapter 2: The Micro and Macro Politics of Masks This chapter will trace the anti-mask and #masks4all movements during the COVID crisis, examining the meanings both groups attached to the mask. We interrogate the process by which masks came to be regarded as a necessity in many countries that had previously been apathetic to mask-wearing as a public health strategy, and how this played out at the level of everyday practices. We interrogate how masks came to be a key site of contestation during the pandemic and a significant symbol of the event. Focusing on several high-profile case studies involving public conflicts around masks, this chapter employs Karen Barad’s concept of intra-action to examine the discourses, objects, bodies, habits, relations of power and affects that intra-act to constitute the divergent meanings of masks that came about during the early months of the pandemic. This chapter draws connections between the micro-level everyday anxieties surrounding mask-wearing in shops to public health messaging at the national level to international tensions surrounding their manufacture and purchase. Chapter 3: Ordinary Objects, Extraordinary Times This chapter explores the way face masks and their (contested) emergence during the pandemic offer us an opportunity to think about our intimacy with ordinary objects. Though intimacy is often conceptualised as emerging in inter-personal relationships, taking up a vital materialist perspective we consider the way it emerges in the relations between humans and nonhuman objects, such as the face mask. Drawing on scholarship from science and technology studies, we contextualise face masks within a history of intimate objects that have become ‘domesticated’, such as glasses and clothing, and, more recently, smartphones and smart watches. In tracing this domestication, this chapter examines establishing of everyday routines and habits, as well as attempts to normalise masks through public health messaging. This chapter will explore the way this intimacy is connected to some initial discomfort with widespread mask wearing during the pandemic. Chapter 4: Bodies, Breath, Boundaries This chapter examines the embodied and affective aspects of wearing a mask and considers how these experiences shift in relation to the sociomaterial contexts and conditions in which they are worn. By attending to the entangled materialities of objects, breath and bodies, this chapter will explore the indeterminacy of bodily boundaries in order to illuminate the often-overlooked leakiness of social life and underline its collective dimensions. Drawing on Karen Barad’s concepts of entanglement and intra-action and Stacy Alaimo’s transcorporeality, we extend understandings of bodies as bounded entities and trace their interconnectedness. We then consider how this interconnectedness matters specifically in pandemic times. Paying attention to the specificities of face masks and the embodied practice of mask wearing, we trace the affective and material flows that move across bodies and environments. Chapter 5: DIY Cultures and the Making of Masks Face masks have quickly emerged as a fashion accessory and key selling point for many retailers, from luxury companies including Louis Vuitton to boutique crafters via platforms such as Etsy. However, due to production delays, issue of cost and accessibility, and limited supplies of available Personal Protective Equipment being necessarily directed to frontline service workers, a notable do-it-yourself (DIY) culture of mask making has emerged. This chapter explores the relational politics and distributed agencies of DIY face masks. With several case studies on the creative exchange of accessible tools and techniques and grassroots social justice supply campaigns, it considers the significance of how face masks are made to matter in the COVID context. This chapter positions these making practices within the broader landscape of contemporary DIY cultures, focusing on the ways in which the profit-resistant, creativity- and community-oriented aesthetic and political ethos of DIY shapes the meaning, materiality and multiplicity of the mask. Chapter 6: Face Masking as An Act of Care As masks and the practices associated with them (wearing, refusing, creating) were positioned at the centre of the COVID crisis in many countries, we consider the ways that mask-wearers and makers emphasise the act of wearing the mask as an act care for others, as well as self-protection. At the same time, those who refuse masks are positioned in opposition, as careless – or potentially hostile to others. We engage the work of Maria Puig de la Bellacasa to think how masks and mask wearing and creation become implicated in the ethical, political and material dimensions of care. Locating ourselves in the rapidly shifting and emerging conditions of the COVID pandemic, masks become central to our ethical and careful responses. Here we consider the way that care and being careful extends towards the minute level of one’s breath. Epilogue Here we offer some concluding comments, reflecting on the themes that thread together the chapters in the book.

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Book SynopsisA collection of thrilling samurai tales tracing the history of seppuku from ancient times to the twentieth century. The history of seppuku -- Japanese ritual suicide by cutting the stomach, sometimes referred to as hara-kiri -- spans a millennium, and came to be favoured by samurai as an honourable form of death. Here, for the first time in English, is a book that charts the history of seppuku from ancient times to the twentieth century through a collection of swashbuckling tales from history and literature.Trade Review"A fascinating book -- well researched and extensively cited without being overly dry -- it's an excellent read for anyone intrigued by the subject or by Japanese history in general." -- Library Journal

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Book SynopsisSince 1957, Chase's Calendar of Events lists everything worth knowing and celebrating for each day of the year: 12,500 holidays, national days, historical milestones, famous birthdays, festivals, sporting events and more. "One of the most impressive reference volumes in the world." -- Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsContentsIntroductionSpotlight on 2024 Anniversaries and EventsSpotlight on the Past: 1924, 1949, 1974, 1999Spotlight on World and American AnniversariesSpotlight on PeopleSpotlight on 2024 EventsCalendar of Events: Jan 1-Dec 31, 2024JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberCalendar Information for the Years 2024-2026Perpetual CalendarNational Days of the World for 2024Selected Special Years: 2000-2024Chinese CalendarWorld Map of Time ZonesUniversal, Standard and Daylight TimesLeap SecondsAstronomical Phenomena for the Years 2024-2026The Naming of HurricanesSome Facts about the US PresidentsSome Facts about the United StatesState Governors/US Senators/US Supreme CourtSome Facts about CanadaSome Facts about MexicoPresidential Proclamations2024 Special MonthsLooking ForwardMajor Awards Presented in 2022-2023IndexAccessing the Companion Website

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Book SynopsisProverbs, once described as ‘the wisdom of many and the wit of one’, offer unique insights the way of life and the social mores of past generations. This book features an introduction which explores the role of proverbs in Scottish culture and over 1,000 proverbs arranged in easily accessible A–Z format. Many have been commonly used for hundreds of years, but modern sayings are also included. The addition of a comprehensive glossary will help you fully appreciate these colourful and often humorous nuggets of wisdom and advice. Jock’s a mislear’d imp, but ye’re a rum deil Jock may be mischievous, but he’s well behaved by your standards The fish that sooms in a dub will aye taste o’ mud You can never change your upbringing When ye can suit yer shanks to my shoon, ye may speak Don’t speak about me until you’ve been in a similar situation yourself

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Book Synopsis"Like all the best meetings of Jewish minds, this book will make you think, argue and see the world anew." Hadley Freeman, author of House of GlassConspiracy theories about Jews are back in the mainstream. The Pittsburgh gunman who murdered 11 people in a synagogue claimed that 'filthy evil' Jews were bringing 'filthy evil' Muslims into America. The billionaire philanthropist George Soros has been accused of supporting 'white genocide'. Labour Party members have claimed that Israel is behind ISIS. The belief that Jews are plotting against society never dies, it just adapts to suit the times: from medieval accusations that Jews murder Christians for their blood to claims that Zionists are seeking to control the world. In eight short essays, edited by Jo Glanville, this book goes back to the source of the conspiracy theories and traces their journey into the 21st century in a bid to make sense of their survival. With contributions from some of the great Jewish writers and thinkers of our time, including Tom Segev, Jill Jacobs and Mikhail Grynberg, this is a fresh take on the roots of antisemitism that explores how an irrational belief can still flourish in a supposedly rational age.

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Book SynopsisMost of us know a bit about what passes for good manners - holding doors open, sending thank-you notes, no elbows on the table. We certainly know bad manners when we see them. But where has this patchwork of beliefs and behaviours come from? How did manners develop? How do they change? And why do they matter so much to us? In examining our manners, Henry Hitchings delves into the English character and investigates our notions of Englishness.Sorry! presents an amusing, illuminating and quirky audit of English manners. From basic table manners to appropriate sexual conduct, via hospitality, chivalry, faux pas and online etiquette, Hitchings traces the history of our country's customs and courtesies. Putting under the microscope some of our most astute observers of humanity, including Jane Austen and Samuel Pepys, he uses their lives and writings to pry open the often downright peculiar secrets of the English character. Hitchings' blend of history, anthropology and personal journey helps us understand our bizarre and contested cultural baggage - and ourselves.Trade Review'A writer of apparently limitless learning and intelligence, who writes works of scholarship masquerading as popular narrative non-fiction . . . the man is something else' * Guardian *'An excellent history, just don't read it at the dinner table . . . this insightful book will give you pause the next time you wipe your nose on the duvet or - social death! - top up your host's glass at a New Year's Eve party' * The Times *'Amusing and enlightening . . . he is particularly insightful in depicting the evolutionary shift manners have taken since they were first codified on paper in the Middle Ages' * Financial Times *'[Hitchings] is a lovely writer, full of interesting ideas and neat turns of phrase' * Daily Mail *'Hitchings has made a bold, entertaining and often imaginative, assault on a fundamentally impossible subject' * Observer *'Manners is a fascinating subject, and Hitchings handles it with all his customary wit, knowledge and elegance' * Mail on Sunday *'Highly entertaining and absorbing book' * Daily Telegraph *'Understated elegance . . . it is itself an impeccably well-mannered and deeply English product' * The Spectator *'Witty and sharp . . . full of diverting nuggets and anecdotes . . . elegantly written' * Sunday Times *'A scholarly study of English manners' * Country Life *'Illuminating and entertaining' * Sunday Telegraph *'Hitching's shares provocative opinions . . . he exhibits an appetite for confounding myths about social mores' * Metro *'Endlessly entertaining' * Literary Review *'Diverting new book' * Lady *An elegant and erudite book . . . Hitchings has an encyclopaedic mind, but like the well-mannered Englishman he is, wears his learning lightly * Independent *Full of diverting nuggets and anecdotes * Sunday Times *Very well-mannered and authoritative survey of British behaviour * Sunday Telegraph *What better book for a foreign beach than an exploration of our enduring stereotypes. This history of faux pas and foibles is ideal for broadcasting entertaining 'Did-you-knows?' * Mail on Sunday *He's terrific. He's struck the perfect balance between hard academic insight and sheer readability - and achieves both * Evening Standard *Scholarly without being heavy, and rich with acute anecdotes and diversions into social history . . . Pacy and enthusiastic, Hitchings's book entertains and enlightens * Daily Telegraph *The erudite and witty Henry Hitchings is the perfect guide through the minefield of social conventions we call manners * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisIt’s the thought that counts. So, while society has changed, the need for thoughtfulness, courtesy and good manners has not. What is the etiquette for internet use, emails and mobile phone calls? How does one handle the delicate politics of flat-sharing? What are the rules for meeting through a dating agency? Mind Your Manners provides effective answers to these and many more dilemmas of modern decorum. Covering all situations – weddings, work, throwing a party, visits to a restaurant or theatre, driving – Robert O’Byrne gives witty and urbane advice on how best to behave with style in the twenty-first century. Here are practical tips for getting though Christmas with a smile on your face; being a good host ( how do you introduce Susan self-Effacing to Aileen Assured?); and dealing with a funeral (not a good time to network). Combing humorous but indispensable advice with hilarious cartoons from Merrily Harper, knowing correct conduct has never been easier

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Book SynopsisINVITE MORE LUCK INTO YOUR LIFE, attract greater fortune and positive energy 60 GOOD LUCK CARDS featuring lucky symbols from all around the worldGIFT A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK for weddings, exams, birthdays, interviews, first dates, moving home and many other occasionsBEAUTIFULLY PACKAGED GIFT BOX WITH FOIL DETAIL and original illustrationsCOMPLETE WITH BOOKLET AND LUCKY FORTUNESWorried about an interview? Want to ace a presentation? Or perhaps you've got the jitters about a first date? Let The Box of Luck help you attract greater fortune and positive energy into your life with 60 good luck symbols from all around the world. Invite more luck into your life or gift good fortune to a friend with this beautifully packaged boxed set of cards, complete with booklet and lucky fortunes.

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Book SynopsisFür die Menschen der vorindustriellen Zeit war die Natur trotz weitreichender Handelsbeziehungen ein wilder und manchmal auch gefährlicher Ort. Wälder, Sümpfe und Gebirge hielt man für die Heimstätte magischer Kreaturen und fabelhafter Tiere. Wesen, deren Faszination noch heute ungebrochen ist. Lindwürmer und Einhörner, Hausdrachen und Wolpertinger lebten weiter in Sagen und Erzählungen, die im 19. Jahrhundert durch die Brüder Grimm und viele andere zusammengetragen und schriftlich fixiert wurden.Das Buch unternimmt eine Reise in die Welt der Fabeltiere des deutschsprachigen Raumes. Die Autor:innen haben das umfangreiche, vielfältige in der Literatur überlieferte Material gesichtet, sortiert und aufbereitet. Florian Schäfer schuf auf dieser Basis zahlreiche lebensnahe Nachbildungen von Fabeltieren basierend auf historischen Beschreibungen und macht damit diese mythologischen Wesen auf einzigartige und faszinierende Weise zugänglich.

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Book SynopsisThis book convenes leading scholars to explore the roles of attire and adornment in the creation and communication of religious meaning, identity, and community. Contributors investigate aspects of religious dress in North America in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.Trade ReviewThis book is a glorious romp through the wardrobe of American religions, unraveling the ways in which the clothing and adornment are not mere sidenotes to the study of religious beliefs and practices but integral to understanding the diverse religious communities of North America. -- Rachel B. Gross, John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies, San Francisco State UniversityIn lucid prose, the editors of this handsome volume usher readers into the worlds of religion, attire, and adornment. Beautifully curated, the collection shows us how bodily presentation matters. Contributors explain what the language of sacred garb tells us about how religion is worn; what these vestments mean for those who wear, touch, view, or simply imagine them. This is a book that speaks to glamour and plainness, sartorial splendor and fashionable modesty in so many of its North American guises. This is a book you will want to teach! -- Laura Levitt, author of The Objects that RemainReligion, Attire, and Adornment in North America addresses the relationship between religion and dress in America and the ways that religious practitioners make meaning through their sartorial choices. Its chapters are accessibly written and their breadth is impressive; scholars of American religions, new religious movements, gender studies, and material culture will appreciate this volume. -- Nora L. Rubel, author of Doubting the Devout: The Ultra-Orthodox in the Jewish American ImaginationTable of ContentsIntroduction: Religion, Attire, and Adornment in North America, by Benjamin E. Zeller and Marie W. DallamPart I. Theological Adornment1. Seventh-day Adventist Dress: “An Index to the Heart,” by Emily J. Bailey2. Clothing Spiritual Reality: The Sartorial Styles of Mary Baker Eddy, byJeremy Rapport3. Faith, Fashion, and Film in the Jazz Age: Catholic Vestments Encounter the Roaring 1920s, Adrienne Nock Ambrose4. Power Before Thrones of God and Man: Women, Adornment, and Public Life in White American Pentecostalism, by Andrea Shan Johnson and Leah PaynePart II. Identity Adornment5. Holy Dashikis! Black Sartorial Nationalism and Black Israelite Religion, by André E. Brooks-Key6. Refined Bodies: Clothing as a Visual Signifier of Piety for Mormon Women in America, by Kate Davis7. The Christian Tattoo: Much More than Skin-Deep, by Jerome R. Koch and Kevin D. Dougherty8. “Queens of the Earth”: The MGT Uniform as a Form of Identity Creation and Nation Building, by Kayla Renée WheelerPart III. Negotiated Adornment9. “Ye Shall Be Naked in Your Rites”: Ritual Attire and Ritual Nudity (Skyclad) in North American Wicca, by Michelle Mueller10. Amish Vogue: Performing Fashion in the Plain World, by Nao Nomura11. “Your Religion Is Showing”: Negotiation and Personal Experience in Mormon Garments, by Jessica Finnigan and Nancy RossPart IV. Activist Adornment12. Dressed for Glory: White Uniforms in African American Church Traditions as Visual Political Theology, by Elaina Smith13. “The Hare Krishna Look”: ISKCON Adornment as Religious Activism, by Benjamin E. Zeller14. Religious Dress, the Church of Body Modification, and the First Amendment, by Marie W. DallamDiscussion QuestionsSuggested Reading ListList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book convenes leading scholars to explore the roles of attire and adornment in the creation and communication of religious meaning, identity, and community. Contributors investigate aspects of religious dress in North America in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.Trade ReviewThis book is a glorious romp through the wardrobe of American religions, unraveling the ways in which the clothing and adornment are not mere sidenotes to the study of religious beliefs and practices but integral to understanding the diverse religious communities of North America. -- Rachel B. Gross, John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies, San Francisco State UniversityIn lucid prose, the editors of this handsome volume usher readers into the worlds of religion, attire, and adornment. Beautifully curated, the collection shows us how bodily presentation matters. Contributors explain what the language of sacred garb tells us about how religion is worn; what these vestments mean for those who wear, touch, view, or simply imagine them. This is a book that speaks to glamour and plainness, sartorial splendor and fashionable modesty in so many of its North American guises. This is a book you will want to teach! -- Laura Levitt, author of The Objects that RemainReligion, Attire, and Adornment in North America addresses the relationship between religion and dress in America and the ways that religious practitioners make meaning through their sartorial choices. Its chapters are accessibly written and their breadth is impressive; scholars of American religions, new religious movements, gender studies, and material culture will appreciate this volume. -- Nora L. Rubel, author of Doubting the Devout: The Ultra-Orthodox in the Jewish American ImaginationTable of ContentsIntroduction: Religion, Attire, and Adornment in North America, by Benjamin E. Zeller and Marie W. DallamPart I. Theological Adornment1. Seventh-day Adventist Dress: “An Index to the Heart,” by Emily J. Bailey2. Clothing Spiritual Reality: The Sartorial Styles of Mary Baker Eddy, byJeremy Rapport3. Faith, Fashion, and Film in the Jazz Age: Catholic Vestments Encounter the Roaring 1920s, Adrienne Nock Ambrose4. Power Before Thrones of God and Man: Women, Adornment, and Public Life in White American Pentecostalism, by Andrea Shan Johnson and Leah PaynePart II. Identity Adornment5. Holy Dashikis! Black Sartorial Nationalism and Black Israelite Religion, by André E. Brooks-Key6. Refined Bodies: Clothing as a Visual Signifier of Piety for Mormon Women in America, by Kate Davis7. The Christian Tattoo: Much More than Skin-Deep, by Jerome R. Koch and Kevin D. Dougherty8. “Queens of the Earth”: The MGT Uniform as a Form of Identity Creation and Nation Building, by Kayla Renée WheelerPart III. Negotiated Adornment9. “Ye Shall Be Naked in Your Rites”: Ritual Attire and Ritual Nudity (Skyclad) in North American Wicca, by Michelle Mueller10. Amish Vogue: Performing Fashion in the Plain World, by Nao Nomura11. “Your Religion Is Showing”: Negotiation and Personal Experience in Mormon Garments, by Jessica Finnigan and Nancy RossPart IV. Activist Adornment12. Dressed for Glory: White Uniforms in African American Church Traditions as Visual Political Theology, by Elaina Smith13. “The Hare Krishna Look”: ISKCON Adornment as Religious Activism, by Benjamin E. Zeller14. Religious Dress, the Church of Body Modification, and the First Amendment, by Marie W. DallamDiscussion QuestionsSuggested Reading ListList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This marvelous study of táncház dance is at once a social history of socialist and post-socialist Hungary, an ethnography of Hungarian folk culture, and a meditation on how culture can be galvanized as both a form of collective action and ethnonationalism. A lively and thought-provoking work."—Sujatha Fernandes, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life"Combining ethnographic and historical detail with theoretical rigour, Mary Taylor uses her exploration of the Hungarian táncház movement, stretching from the socialist to the postsocialist period, to uncover complex relations between cultural form and practice, collective memory, citizenship, and state formation. By offering a refreshing critique of the global 'heritage regime,' her analysis also reveals how 'local' cultural practices and traditions are shaped by global economic and political forces."—Emilia Barna, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream"Hungary is now an avant-garde case of 21st century neo-nationalist politics. Folk dance became one of its historical and contradictory venues, Mary Taylor explains, as she digs into the complex lived and danced history of the idea of the Magyar 'folk.'"—Don Kalb, University of Bergen, Norway, University of Bergen, Norway"Hungary's táncház movement, or folk dance revival, is an expression of nostalgia for the virtues of the agrarian past, a hotbed of ethnonationalism, a system for transmission of 'intangible cultural heritage' recognized by international organizations, and a social dance scene that can be an awful lot of fun. Taylor's meticulously researched book fleshes out the complex cultural and intellectual history for this movement, demonstrating through her fieldwork and documentary research how 21st-century folk dancing emerges from discourses and institutions that can be traced over 100 years, and how it participates in the maintenance and development of ideas of citizenship promoted by Hungary's populist politicians."—Lynn M. Hooker, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University"This empirically grounded and historically informed analysis of a revived folk dance practice introduces an innovative approach to studying the perplexing relation between nationalism, culture, neoliberalism and heritage politics in the socialist and post-socialist Hungary and the present-day European context."—Ioannis Manos, University of MacedoniaTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Aesthetic Nation1. Making the Nation-State in 19th and 20th Century Hungary2. What Kind of Nation? Folk National Cultivation in the Interwar Period3. Socialist Cultural Management, Civic Cultivation, and Associational Life in Late Socialism4. The Táncház Revolution: Reviving Folk Dance As Social Dance5. Folk Dance as Mother Tongue: National Conduct and The Production of Collective Memory6. Socialist State Formation, Táncház Frameworks of Sense, and the Origins of the Postsocialist Cultural Turn7. The Place of Heritagization: Culture Talk amid Shifting Property and Citizenship RegimesConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This marvelous study of táncház dance is at once a social history of socialist and post-socialist Hungary, an ethnography of Hungarian folk culture, and a meditation on how culture can be galvanized as both a form of collective action and ethnonationalism. A lively and thought-provoking work."—Sujatha Fernandes, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life"Combining ethnographic and historical detail with theoretical rigour, Mary Taylor uses her exploration of the Hungarian táncház movement, stretching from the socialist to the postsocialist period, to uncover complex relations between cultural form and practice, collective memory, citizenship, and state formation. By offering a refreshing critique of the global 'heritage regime,' her analysis also reveals how 'local' cultural practices and traditions are shaped by global economic and political forces."—Emilia Barna, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream"Hungary is now an avant-garde case of 21st century neo-nationalist politics. Folk dance became one of its historical and contradictory venues, Mary Taylor explains, as she digs into the complex lived and danced history of the idea of the Magyar 'folk.'"—Don Kalb, University of Bergen, Norway, University of Bergen, Norway"Hungary's táncház movement, or folk dance revival, is an expression of nostalgia for the virtues of the agrarian past, a hotbed of ethnonationalism, a system for transmission of 'intangible cultural heritage' recognized by international organizations, and a social dance scene that can be an awful lot of fun. Taylor's meticulously researched book fleshes out the complex cultural and intellectual history for this movement, demonstrating through her fieldwork and documentary research how 21st-century folk dancing emerges from discourses and institutions that can be traced over 100 years, and how it participates in the maintenance and development of ideas of citizenship promoted by Hungary's populist politicians."—Lynn M. Hooker, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University"This empirically grounded and historically informed analysis of a revived folk dance practice introduces an innovative approach to studying the perplexing relation between nationalism, culture, neoliberalism and heritage politics in the socialist and post-socialist Hungary and the present-day European context."—Ioannis Manos, University of MacedoniaTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Aesthetic Nation1. Making the Nation-State in 19th and 20th Century Hungary2. What Kind of Nation? Folk National Cultivation in the Interwar Period3. Socialist Cultural Management, Civic Cultivation, and Associational Life in Late Socialism4. The Táncház Revolution: Reviving Folk Dance As Social Dance5. Folk Dance as Mother Tongue: National Conduct and The Production of Collective Memory6. Socialist State Formation, Táncház Frameworks of Sense, and the Origins of the Postsocialist Cultural Turn7. The Place of Heritagization: Culture Talk amid Shifting Property and Citizenship RegimesConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisIn this enthralling history of the debutante ritual, Kristen Richardson sheds new light on contemporary ideas about women and marriage.Trade Review"... fascinating social history..." -- The best of 2020 so far - Tatler"... entertaining and illuminating new book..." -- The Lady"Step into colonial Philadelphia and Jane Austen’s England, America’s Antebellum South and Mrs Astor’s parties, and learn how some of the young women felt about being put on display." -- On the Bookshelf - Choice"... Kristen Richardson’s sharp account of how the season evolved from its early days after the Protestant Reformation in England, through its conquest of a newly independent America, to its leap into Russia and China, is a more absorbing story than any period drama." -- Financial Times"Richardson has made a valiant effort to unearth some worthwhile social commentary. To this end, she presents a detailed examination of modern debutante societies... [Her] engaging study deserves credit for its persistently humane treatment of her subjects..." -- The Telegraph

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Book SynopsisOffers a comprehensive philosophical analysis of conventions and the roles they play in social life and practical reason. This work gives a general account of the nature of conventions, explaining the differences between coordinative and constitutive conventions and between deep and surface conventions.Trade Review"This is certainly an important addition to this rather narrow body of academic scholarship."--Choice "Social Conventions is an important contribution to scholars from at least two disciplines--philosophy and law... [T]his book should interest anyone wanting to gain a better and deeper understanding of human linguistic and moral behavior."--Dana Riesenfeld, Pragmatics Cognition "This timely monograph should stimulate further philosophical studies of conventions in general and of their various manifestations in human affairs."--Kevin Toh, EthicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Preface ix Chapter One: A First Look at the Nature of Conventions 1 Chapter Two: Constitutive Conventions 31 Chapter Three: Deep Conventions 58 Chapter Four: Conventions of Language: Semantics 79 Chapter Five: Conventions of Language: Pragmatics 106 Chapter Six: The Morality of Conventions 131 Chapter Seven: The Conventional Foundations of Law 155 Bibliography 177 Index 183

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Book SynopsisSocial conventions are those arbitrary rules and norms governing the countless behaviors all of us engage in every day without necessarily thinking about them, from shaking hands when greeting someone to driving on the right side of the road. In this book, Andrei Marmor offers a pathbreaking and comprehensive philosophical analysis of conventions aTrade Review"This is certainly an important addition to this rather narrow body of academic scholarship." * Choice *"Social Conventions is an important contribution to scholars from at least two disciplines--philosophy and law. . . . [T]his book should interest anyone wanting to gain a better and deeper understanding of human linguistic and moral behavior."---Dana Riesenfeld, Pragmatics Cognition"This timely monograph should stimulate further philosophical studies of conventions in general and of their various manifestations in human affairs."---Kevin Toh, Ethics

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A revealing picture."---Thomas E. Bergler, Christianity Today"[Religious Parenting] is a solid contribution to the literature about religious socialization and offers a fruitful way to advance theory in close dialogue with empirically grounded research" * American Journal of Sociology *

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Book Synopsis"Ramón Medina Silva, a Huichol Indian shaman priest or mara'akame, instructed me in many of his culture's myths, rituals, and symbols, particularly those pertaining to the sacred untiy of deer, maize, and peyote. The significance of this constellation...Trade Review"This study is based on observation, verbatim texts of myths, ethnographic data, participation in the rituals, and other publications of Huichol ethnology. The peyote complex is expertly set in the wider context of Huichol religion, society, and history. The study concludes with a review of . . . theories of Turner, Geertz, and Lévi-Strauss, which, in turn, are synthesized to provide the basis for sophisticated analysis of meaning and function of the deer-maize-peyote symbol-ritual complex. . . . Should be useful to all seriously interested in understanding alien world views."—Choice"This is a beautiful book, recording with loving care how one thoughtful Huichol Indian wanted to see the world."—Review of Books and Religion"Barbara G. Myerhoff's splendid study . . . is a sensible participant-observer account . . . of a shamanic priest and his small party of pilgrims as they journey to their original homeland, now a distant sacred center, in search of peyote."—Benjamin Ray, History of Religions"Myerhoff's book will be a classic in the anthropology of religion."—Christian Scholar's ReviewTable of Contents1. Ramón and Lupe2. Ethnographic and Historical Background3. Huichol Religion4. The Peyote Hunt as an Event5. The Deer-Maize-Peyote Complex6. The Purpose and Meaning of the Peyote HuntBibliography Index

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