Social and cultural anthropology Books
OUP India How Religion Evolved
Book Synopsis
£33.24
University of Texas Press Life in Oil
Book SynopsisRevealing how the key fuel of the global era affects the communities where petroleum is extracted, this beautifully written ethnography describes how the Cofán people are surviving at the center of the Ecuadorian oil industry.Trade ReviewCepek's account of the Cofàn people's experiences, their lives literally rooted in some of Amazonia's most contentious and contaminated oil fields, is an extraordinary new testament…an essential addition to our collective library. * American Ethnologist *The book makes for a fascinating read and is refreshing in its writing style . . . it raises important questions of autonomy and self-determination of a people and speaks to critical debates raging at present within the academia. * Conservation and Society *For scholars and students interested in questions of oil, the environment, and indigeneity—or simply curious about what counts as great ethnography and how it might be done—the book is a must-read. * Environment and Society *This book will help lay audiences and introductory students learn about the hydrocarbon industry's impacts on the Ecuadorian Amazon from a heavily Cofán perspective. Scholars of Indigenous Amazonia will appreciate the ethnographic detail regarding the lives of Cofán people and communities. * Journal of Latin American Geography *Cepek's book records the experience of the Cofan People in Ecuador's Aguarico River region for over 25 years, before they knew what this black sticky stuff was, and puts hard fact to the decades long legal battle between Chevron (Texaco) and the locals. It's quite a compelling informative and an unbiased read. * Intentional Paradigms *[P]owerful, moving, and accessible…This book is highly recommended for students learning about indigenous peoples and resource extraction, the ethics of energy, and contemporary life in the Amazon, and should be at the top of everyone's list of ethnographies written for a broader, public audience. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *Profoundly nuanced and empathetic…Cepek produces one of the more realistic accounts of the effects of oil on everyday life in a community on the frontlines of oil extraction. * Anthropological Quarterly *Life in Oil is an extraordinarily insightful ethnography that stakes out new ground in understanding indigenous life in Amazonia and survival beyond all odds. * HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory *[Life in Oil] is a compelling complication of popular anthropological and environmental narratives about the Amazon. It is without doubt a direct refutation of any claim that petroleum operations in Ecuador have caused no harm to the Cofán…This book needs to be read widely, especially outside of anthropology, and outside the classroom...This book pushes open a clearing, and makes a place where outsiders can stop to consider what is happening in the Ecuadorian Amazon. * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *Based on my own research in the region, Cepek’s work is extremely credible. It is rare to have a view of local culture that is so respectful of the importance of individual agency, and so understanding of the diversity of perspectives and practices within an indigenous society. Only with this understanding is it possible to understand ongoing change as the product of adaptive choices...[Life in Oil] is a highly readable book that can be recommended for classroom use. * Bulletin of Latin American Research *Table of Contents A Note on the Photographs A Note on Corporate Actors List of Important Individuals Chapter 1. Black Water Chapter 2. Dureno Chapter 3. The Death of Yori’ye Chapter 4. The Cocama Arrive Chapter 5. Damaged World Chapter 6. Prohibition and Protest Chapter 7. The Possibility of Coexistence Chapter 8. Life in Oil Acknowledgments Notes Glossary Works Cited Index
£23.39
University of Nebraska Press Religious Feminist Activist
Book SynopsisIn Religious, Feminist, Activist, Laurel Zwissler investigates the political and religious identities of women who understand their social-justice activism as religiously motivated. Placing these women in historical context as faith-based activists for social change, this book discusses what their activities reveal about the public significance of religion in the pluralistic context of North America and in our increasingly globalized world. Zwissler’s ethnographic interviews with feminist Catholics, Pagans, and United Church Protestants reveal radically different views of religious and political expression and illuminate how individual women and their communities negotiate issues of personal identity, spirituality, and political responsibility. Political activists of faith recount adventurous tales of run-ins with police, agonizing moments of fear and powerlessness in the face of global inequality, touching moments of community support, and successful projects Trade Review"Zwissler's book gives a unique insight into the ways activists of faith create new communities and practices in imagining and bringing about a better world, based on a cosmology of interconnection that goes beyond individualism and recognizes every person's ethical responsibility for the well-being of others. It deserves to be widely read by scholars of religion, politics, and the complex interaction between the two."—Kim Knibbe, Political Theology"Bringing together ideas that are often thought to be incongruent, Zwissler . . . discusses individuals who have deep commitments to religion but also to feminism and activism. . . . Offering a wealth of information, this accessible book is well suited to classroom use as well as secondary reading."—M. M. Veeneman, Choice"Based on their worldview of interconnection, activists come together in communities that provide support, encourage patience and compassion, and connect people. With this ethnography of groups rarely studied with such depth, Zwissler provides an important contribution to scholarship on social movements and feminist and religious studies."—Sharon P. Doetsch-Kidder, Reading Religion"Laurel Zwissler centers her analysis around case studies of three women in Canada from the Catholic, United Church, and Pagan traditions. Both micro perspectives and macro investigation provide readers with insights into important differences among the subjects but equally important commonalities of spirit, politics, and action."—Water Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual"More often than not, the attention given to religious activism focuses on the influence of right-wing evangelical Christians in contemporary North American politics. Less often are we made aware of the ways in which other religious groups (Christian or non-Christian) have advocated for progressive policies that tend to fall on the left side of the political spectrum. The stories told by Laurel Zwissler in her book, Religious, Feminist, Activist: Cosmologies of Interconnection fills this void not only by providing a unique perspective on left-leaning religious activism in North America, but her work is imperative to understand the variety of ways in which religious women actively participate in the public and political spheres."—Stacy Keogh George, Religion and Gender“A valuable window into the complex but important role of religion in many progressive feminist groups. Zwissler’s volume helps us to better reflect on the challenging dance of religion and feminism, within the all-important context of activist work. Focusing on cultural and religious resources, rituals, and discourses that shape and constrain movement activity, this is a beautifully written, thoughtfully argued, and timely contribution.”—Courtney Bender, professor in the Department of Religion at Columbia University“The most effective way to understand activist religion is [through] finely tuned ethnographic work. Laurel Zwissler asks perceptive questions, listens to complex responses, and observes the multiple layers of women engaged in progressive public enactments in Toronto. The result is a convincing, compelling book.”—Ronald L. Grimes, director, Ritual Studies International and professor emeritus of religion and culture at Wilfrid Laurier University“Laurel Zwissler’s comprehensive and up-to-date summary and synthesis of matters pertaining to religious, spiritual, and political uses of ritual, ceremony, and action are critical to every large scale protest movement of our time.”—Mary Keller, assistant academic professional lecturer for the Department of Religious Studies at the University of WyomingTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Changing Rituals, Changing Worlds 2. “The Shrine Was Human Rights”: Pilgrimage and Protest 3. “Spirituality” as Feminist Third Choice: Gendering Religion and the Secular 4. Self, Community, and Social Justice Conclusion Source Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
£21.59
University of Minnesota Press The Migrant's Paradox: Street Livelihoods and
Book SynopsisConnects global migration with urban marginalization, exploring how “race” maps onto place across the globe, state, and streetIn this richly observed account of migrant shopkeepers in five cities in the United Kingdom, Suzanne Hall examines the brutal contradictions of sovereignty and capitalism in the formation of street livelihoods in the urban margins. Hall locates The Migrant’s Paradox on streets in the far-flung parts of de-industrialized peripheries, where jobs are hard to come by and the impacts of historic state underinvestment are deeply felt. Drawing on hundreds of in-person interviews on streets in Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, London, and Manchester, Hall brings together histories of colonization with current forms of coloniality. Her six-year project spans the combined impacts of the 2008 financial crisis, austerity governance, punitive immigration laws and the Brexit Referendum, and processes of state-sanctioned regeneration. She incorporates the spaces of shops, conference halls, and planning offices to capture how official border talk overlaps with everyday formations of work and belonging on the street.Original and ambitious, Hall’s work complicates understandings of migrants, demonstrating how migrant journeys and claims to space illuminate the relations between global displacement and urban emplacement. In articulating “a citizenship of the edge” as an adaptive and audacious mode of belonging, she shows how sovereignty and inequality are maintained and refuted. Trade Review "The Migrant’s Paradox is an exploration of the interweaving of citizenship, neoliberal capitalism and the day-to-day lives and livelihoods of migration. It examines how the street itself may become a site of subversion and resistance to wider systems of power... Definitions of who a migrant is, particularly the “migrant entrepreneur” are challenged and complicated by this book. It works well at layering the day-to-day with UK policy, and global levels of social change. Importantly, the stories of the streets and those who work there themselves are the heart of this book. This book would be very useful for those interested in areas such as the politics, geography and sociologies of global migration within cities as well as the possibilities of grassroots everyday resistance, migrant solidarities and social change. From a methodological perspective, it is a useful example of creative ethnographies within streets, and presenting multi-layered research."—Ethnic and Racial Studies "The author effectively unpacks how the city excludes, pushing edges further outward, creating an insecure life for migrants and producing their own ‘contested urban economy’. This perspective allows us to understand the UK’s colonial history as it intersects with global displacement and creates urban marginalization... Throughout The Migrant’s Paradox, the author ‘writes the street as world’ through walking, looking, listening and talking in the streets of Birmingham, Manchester, London, Bristol and Leicester. Hall invites the reader to enter into the world of migrants and residents of edge territories."—LSE Review of Books "Hall develops a compelling and original methodological framework for exploring life and space available to migrants by writing the street as world. She does this through extensive ethnographic research accompanied by beautiful architectural drawings of five different streets in deindustrialized cities in England (Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, London and Manchester)... Hall’s is an eloquently written book that powerfully channels anger at Britain’s hostile environment and its degradation of humanity. Given a tumultuous period over the past six years, it offers a useful, if dismaying, reminder of the political context in Britain – three general elections, the 2008 financial crash and austerity, Brexit, COVID-19... A particular skill in the book is the clear-sighted way in which Hall draws the postcolonial urban politics of the treatment of migrants, such as where the state systematically destroyed documentation that confirmed arrival status of those from former colonies. As Hall argues convincingly, and extending the field in Sociology and Geography, these are racialised politics that mean for some citizenship is always marginal and called into question."—Sociology "Hall asks us to look ‘both from the outside in and the inside out’, to look again and pay attention to the often ordinary and banal spaces that make up cities. In reading and writing these streets—and the spaces connected to them—Hall draws out the complex layers of dispossession and wide geographies of entanglement that mark and define these edge territories."—The Architectural Review "Each page of this book resounds with incisive and clearly formulated insights, exemplifying movements across concepts, scales, histories, and geographies that exceed conventional boundaries... In so thoroughly accounting for the ways in which streets as worlds are composed, Hall is able to offer concrete possibilities of incipience, the ways in which these streets offer the basis, the glimmer of new urbanities."—Contemporary Sociology "Hall’s excellent book rewires the current and divisive logic around the UK and European migration systems. In a Glissantian sense, Hall proposes us to think of borders not as demarcations of cit-/denizens based on racial discrimination, but as a space of multiplicities marked by shared responsibilities and permissions for different ways of living and working across borders."—Anthropology of Work Review "A joy to read... Hall combines geography, ethnography, and architectural observations to bring these streets to life and uses powerful illustrations to capture their complexity from the global scale of the journeys that led the shopkeepers to a particular street, to the micro-scale of shop subdivisions that enable the emergence of flexible, low-threshold businesses."—Sociological Forum "Suzanne M. Hall is our Alvin Ailey of urbanism, and this book is an intricate and fiery choreography of the street as an intersection of edge economies, paradoxical injunctions, moving borders, collective ingenuity, and apparatuses of racial control. Street becomes world becomes street, and these inversions bear down hard on those that embody them but who nonetheless materialize fundamental openings in narrowing nationalisms, making their way toward more judicious and generative forms of belonging."—AbdouMaliq Simone, The Urban Institute, University of Sheffield "Suzanne M. Hall's much-anticipated book adopts a wholly original and refreshing perspective on otherwise well-worn topics such as migrant entrepreneurship and ‘ethnic enclave’ economies, repurposing these areas of study into fascinating sites through which to understand momentous global/postcolonial concerns around migration, borders, citizenship, racial capitalism, and the reconfiguration of labor under conditions of postindustrial neoliberal austerity. The Migrant's Paradox radically unsettles the assimilationist complacencies and parochializing conventions that ordinarily surround the customary ways in which migrant entrepreneurs have been studied or conceptualized, and Hall delivers a sensitive ethnographic portrayal in a remarkably eloquent and intelligent voice that makes it a delight to read."—Nicholas De Genova, editor of The Borders of “Europe”: Autonomy of Migration, Tactics of Bordering "Combining thick ethnographic description and striking visual images, Suzanne M. Hall animates differential public infrastructural investments in local thoroughfares and the rich multicultures and transnational associations that spill out of them."—Yasmin Gunaratnam, Goldsmiths University, and Hannah Jones, University of Warwick "Through a multi-scalar ethnography, The Migrant’s Paradox explores streets as relational edge territories defined by their creativity and ongoing “durable precarity.” Hall reminds us that entrepreneurs working in these urban margins must absorb ongoing and sustained economic and political violence."—Huda Tayob, University of Cape Town "As opposed to the endless extolling of the business ethos of (certain) migrant diasporas—an extolling that helps stage newer iterations of the always tired, but always effective, good/bad migrant dichotomy—Hall captures the more solemn reality that scores the migrant, race and small-business interface."—Sivamohan Valluvan, University of Warwick Table of ContentsContentsIntroduction: The Migrant’s Paradox1. The Scale of the Migrant2. Edge Territories3. Edge Economies4. Unheroic Resistance5. A Citizenship of the EdgeAppendixAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex
£20.69
Wits University Press Race otherwise: Forging a new humanism for South
Book Synopsis‘People from different parts of the world ask ‘what mix’ I am. Which would you prefer? Salt and vinegar or cinnamon and sugar? Neither one of my parents was black Black. Neither one of them was white White. I am not half-and-half.’ (from Chapter 1, ‘This Blackness’)How is ‘race’ determined? Is it your DNA? The community that you were raised in? The way others see you or the way you see yourself?In Race Otherwise: Forging a New Humanism for South Africa Zimitri Erasmus questions the notion that one can know race with one’s eyes, with racial categories and with genetic ancestry tests. She moves between the intimate probing of racial identities as we experience them individually, and analysis of the global historical forces that have created these identities and woven them into our thinking about what it means to be ‘human’.Starting from her own family’s journeys through regions of the world and ascribed racial identities, she develops her argument about how it is possible to recognise the pervasiveness of race thinking without submitting to its power.Drawing on the theoretical work of Frantz Fanon, Sylvia Wynter and others, Erasmus argues for a new way of ‘coming to know otherwise’, of seeing the boundaries between racial identities as thresholds to be crossed, through politically charged acts of imagination and love.Trade Review‘Race Otherwise brings together the full amplitude of Zimitri Erasmus’s thinking about how race works. It tunes into registers both personal and social. It is not without indignation, and not … insensitive to emotion and … the anger inside South Africa. It is a book that is not afraid of questions of affect. Eros and love, Erasmus urges, are not separable from the hard work of thinking.’ — Crain Soudien, CEO of the Human Sciences Research Council, South AfricaTable of Contents Appreciations Foreword by Crain Soudien Prelude 1 This Blackness 2 A Conversation 3 The Look 4 The Category 5 The Gene 6 Beginnings 7 Open closure References Index
£24.30
University of Pennsylvania Press Reverberations
Book Synopsis
£52.70
MP-WIS Uni of Wisconsin Toward the Final Solution A History of European
Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1978, Toward the Final Solution was one of the first in-depth studies of the evolution of racism in Europe, from the Age of Enlightenment through the Holocaust and Hitler's Final Solution.Trade ReviewMosse claims once again his place in modern historiography as the foremost explicator and demythologizer of ideas which have inflamed and energized men's minds and worked irreversible evil in human history. . . . Mosse has produced a strikingly original work whose conceptual brilliance and analytic keenness will surely make it the indispensable work on European racism."" - Commentary ""This is a grim book, and I wish it weren't such a necessary one. . . . Mosse tells the story well."" - Boston Globe ""Mosse has done more than any other historian to trace racism to its intellectual and social roots. . . . A brilliant study."" - Publishers Weekly ""A talented historian entered a neglected field of study and opened the doors of serious scholarship to a topic that will no longer be sidestepped by others too timid to lead. A pioneering volume of great significance."" - Annals of the American Academy
£18.66
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Sand Talk
Book SynopsisA paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainabilityand offers a new template for living.As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. In considering how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation, he raises important questions. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently?In this thoughtful, culturally rich, mind-expanding book, he provides answers. Yunkaporta's writing process begins with images. Honoring indigenous traditions, he makes carvings of what he wants to say, channeling his thoughts through symbols and diagrams rather than words. He yarns with people, looking for ways to connect images and stories with place and relationship to create a coherent world view, and he uses sand talk, the Aboriginal custom of drawing images on the ground to convey knowledge. In Sand Talk, he provides a new model for our everyday lives. Rich in ideas and inspiration, it explains how lines and symbols and shapes can help us make sense of the world. It's about how we learn and how we remember. It's about talking to everyone and listening carefully. It's about finding different ways to look at things.Most of all it's about a very special way of thinking, of learning to see from a native perspective, one that is spiritually and physically tied to the earth around us, and how it can save our world.Sand Talk include 22 black-and-white illustrations that add depth to the text.
£14.44
Bard Graduate Center, Exhibitions Department Frontier Shores – Collection, Entanglement, and
Book SynopsisIn the late nineteenth century, the growing discipline of anthropology was both a powerful tool of colonial control and an ideological justification for it. As European empires and their commercial reach expanded, different populations became intertwined in relationships of exchange and power. Frontier Shores accompanies the exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery and draws from the collection of the American Museum of Natural History. Focusing on Oceania—the vast region encompassing Australia, New Zealand, and the tropical Pacific Islands—it examines crosscultural contact and the contest for power between indigenous and non-indigenous people.Many of Oceania’s peoples were perceived in mainstream European scientific thought as belonging to humanity’s lowest tiers. Although these notions have long since been discredited, Shawn C. Rowlands traces their impact on the development of anthropology, colonial policy, and national identity. Ultimately, Frontier Shores reveals important processes of “othering” and the difficult issue of manufacturing identity and authenticity.
£21.36
University of Washington Press Roses from Kenya
Book SynopsisTrade Review"In addition to an exploration of controversial labor practices, the book is also about a lake and the confluence of wildlife, commerce, power and politics surrounding it. . . . Styles' book helps contextualize the labor that goes into a gift many will receive." * Illinois Times *"Styles has produced an insightful work filled with evocative analysis." * H-Net *"Styles’ vivid ethnographic descrip-tions draw attention to the myriad local contestations refashioned and created byfloriculture. This approach enables the reader to not only learn about the problem-atic sides offlower production in Kenya but to also get to know Naivasha as a site of possibility that has an important place in political and moral imaginations." * The Journal of Modern African Studies *"Styles succeeds in conveying the complexities and contradictions of global commodity production: work in floriculture, in spite of the possibilities it affords, is no bed of roses." * Exertions *
£25.19
Collective Ink Georgian Portraits – Essays on the Afterlives of
Book SynopsisGeorgian Portraits chronicles everyday life in the Republic of Georgia in the decade that followed the Rose Revolution of 2003. Recent anthropological developments argue for the use of "afterlives" as an analytical notion through which to understand processes of socio-political change. Based on a series of portraits, Martin Demant Frederiksen and Katrine Bendtsen Gotfredsen employ the theory of social afterlives to examine the role of revolution in the formation of a modern Georgia. The book contributes to a deeper understanding of life in the aftermath of political reform, depicting the hopefulness of the Georgian population, but also the subsequent return to political disillusionment which lead them to a revolution in the first place.
£12.99
Stanford University Press The Social Life of Politics: Ethics, Kinship, and
Book SynopsisA central motor of Argentine historical and political development since the early twentieth century, unions have been the site of active citizenship in both political participation and the distribution of social, economic, political, and cultural rights. What brings activists to Argentine unions and what gives these unions their remarkable strength? The Social Life of Politics examines the intimate, personal, and family dimensions of two political activist groups: the Union of National Civil Servants (UPCN) and the Association of State Workers (ATE). These two unions represent distinct political orientations within Argentina's broad, vibrant labor movement: the UPCN identifies as predominantly Peronist, disciplined, and supportive of incumbent government, while the ATE prides itself on its democratic, horizontal approach and relative autonomy from the electoral process. Sian Lazar examines how activists in both unions create themselves as particular kinds of militants and forms of political community. The Social Life of Politics places the lived experience of political activism into historical relief and shows how ethics and family values deeply inform the process by which political actors are formed, understood, and joined together through collectivism. Trade Review"Bringing the new anthropology of ethics to bear on the lives of union activists, Sian Lazar provides fresh insight into the moral foundations of political commitment and collective identity. Her nuanced approach to politics expands our understanding of the ethical. This book opens up fertile new terrain." -- Webb Keane * author of Ethical Life: Its Natural and Social Histories *"The Social Life of Politics brings a sensitively deployed interdisciplinary approach to the study of Argentine trade unionism in the contemporary era. Lazar's fine blend of ethnographic research, theoretical sophistication and genuine compassion for trade unionists offers fresh insight into activism and political identity in the complex and shifting context of modern Argentina and Peronism. Latin Americanists and all who are interested in the emerging international contours of labor in the era of neoliberalism are in her debt." -- Daniel James * Indiana University Bloomington *"Written primarily for academic and graduate student audiences, The Social Life of Politics makes a number of key contributions to anthropological scholarship....[Lazar's] book is a theoretically compelling work that will no doubt provide a great source of inspiration for anthropologists studying subjectivation, kinship, union organizing, and class-based social movements." -- Marcos Mendoza * American Ethnologist *"[A] rich ethnographic portrait of the internal dynamics of two public sector unions in Argentina....[Offers] key insights into an overlooked element of the anthropology of bureaucracy." -- Brandon Hunter-Pazzara * Political and Legal Anthropology Review *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractThe introduction presents the main argument and surveys the relevant literature: of anthropology of social movements, class, ethics and kinship. It then summarizes the structure of the book. 1The State and theUnions in Space and Time chapter abstractThe chapter sets out the context within which the unionists work, describing the organization of public sector unionism and some of the differences between the two unions studied in the book. The unions are called UPCN (Unión del Personal Civil de la Nación, Union of National Civil Servants) and ATE (Asociación de Trabajadores del Estado, Association of State Workers). The chapter then outlines some key moments in contemporary history of state restructuring, which deeply affected public sector workers and their unions and framed nearly all of the discussions about this research with the unions. It introduces the various histories that run throughout the chapters of this book, as they are entwined with personal stories of militancy and shape projects of collective ethical subjectivation and political action: histories of Peronism, of the labor movement in Argentina more broadly, of dictatorship, of state restructuring, and of neoliberalism. 2Militancia: An Ethics and Politics of the Self chapter abstractThis chapter introduces the concept of militancia (activism), a philosophy of political action and self-definition with an associated set of historical resonances and claims about character. Union activists often explained that they became activists because of what they considered to be their essential being: they were that kind of character; they joined because their parents had been unionists; political activity was a biological necessity; an addiction or a virus. The chapter explores these narratives of character as essence, and shows how militancy as subject position is deeply ethical in that it has ethical consequences - for activists' life course and for political action, because it shapes how they strive for the good, how they are perceived from the outside. However, outside of the research interview it is not often reflected upon. Rather, it is a process of self-cultivation that just happens and for which they are naturally pre-disposed. 3Family and Intergenerational Transmission of Militancia chapter abstractThis chapter focuses on one of the dominant ways that people explained their predisposition to activism, as something inherited from their families. The character of political militant can be transmitted through generations by stories, childhood experience, teaching and inherited characteristics. It is not always an easy path, and does not always happen, but family loomed large in many stories that activists told about their militant trajectories. Again, this is an aspect of ethical subjectivation that is considered to be part of one's essence, but it is more mutable than the character essence narrated in the previous chapter, which might be thought only to develop teleologically, by becoming stronger or weaker. In contrast, family transmission of essential ethical characteristics is more open to narration and thus to contingency, change and variation – as siblings take very different attitudes towards politics, for example. 4Pedagogy and Political Community chapter abstractThis chapter turns to explicit pedagogies of construction of individual militants and the collective ethical subject of the union by examining the ways that the two unions train newly elected delegates – by UPCN in the school for unionists, and by ATE in a less formal workshop structure. The chapter shows how the unions cultivate particular virtues among their activists, principally associated with how they orient themselves to and define the collectivity. This is a political community envisaged as vertical (for UPCN) and horizontal (for ATE), a difference which indexes the difference between political community as organism and as political project. This collective subject, and the individual selves that comprise it, is constructed through explicit exhortation, by appealing to characteristics and virtues that are thought to already exist among the delegates, drawing out their predisposition to rage against injustice or to feel a vocation for social action, for example. 5Containment as Care chapter abstractThis chapter introduces the concept of containment (contención), and describes how members of a UPCN delegation in the Health Ministry enact collectivity in their day to day life. Containment names ways that the union delegation encompasses its activists and affiliates. This can be through quasi-therapeutic relationships between activist and affiliate, as the activist seeks to resolve workplace problems and to talk through concerns from their life more broadly. But the main subject of this chapter is encompassment through practices of sociability, care, ritual and problem-solving. The local delegation is a space for processes of kinning, of making people into kin and friends. This takes place as ethical values of vocation, will, or desire for social justice circulate alongside talk, food, and other shared concerns to build a shared collective subjectivity. Kinship also shapes the conditions of possibility for action and care on the part of the union. 6Containment as Political Encompassment chapter abstractThis chapter examines containment as collective political action, which provides activists with spaces for self-fulfilment and political subject-hood. Through assemblies and street protests, unionists in both ATE and UPCN act on themselves and on the world. They construct themselves as a collective ethical subject and seek to transform the world for the better, or prevent or mitigate its transformation for the worse. Both kinds of political ethical action take place from a particular embodied and spatialized subject position. They also involve a particular relation to time, as each assembly or protest is part of a trajectory of action in history that also builds history, as well as being an experience of quotidian work which might only achieve very small but incremental improvements. Finally, they are also events where collective subjectivation takes place through the building of kinship as 'mutuality of being' in moments of effervescence and shared effort. Conclusion chapter abstractThe conclusion summarizes the book's argument that, for the unionists, activism is an ethical mode of existence that combines life experience and action to transform society. The conclusion shows how the concepts of hexis, praxis, and essence describe different ethical modes for the unionists. Understandings of essential character or biological predisposition interact with hexis – the cultivated state or disposition of political activist – and then transform into praxis, or explicitly theorized political action. The book has introduced these concepts in turn as overlapping modes of subjectivation, and the conclusion ties together this conceptual framework. The unions derive their strength and longevity insofar as they are able to successfully achieve projects of collective ethical-political subjectivation, as people become good activists and contain each other within the group. Politics is grounded in the ethical realms of the everyday, of the intimate, of shared values, and of the family.
£21.59
Penguin Putnam Inc The Coddling of the American Mind
Book Synopsis
£15.30
University of California Press On the Road of the Winds
Book SynopsisTrade Review"As a synthesis of Oceanic prehistory, the revised edition is meritorious and it remains unique in its comprehensive coverage." * Archaeology in Oceania *""A grand synthesis. Kirch has done Pacific archaeology proud with this book." * Antiquity *"Excellent." * Times Literary Supplement *"Riveting" * The Washington Post *"Patrick Kirch’s revised version of his near-classic On the Road of the Winds appears only eighteen years after the original edition and makes it clear that that received wisdom was very much mistaken. While the broad outlines of settlement and social processes in the Pacific Islands have become well-known, ongoing excavations in the past two decades have rewritten a great many of the details. Some of these are especially salient, including increasing recognition of the importance of trade networks and the environmental and ecological changes wrought by human agency." * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsList of Maps / List of Figures / List of Tables / Preface / INTRODUCTION / Defining Oceania / • Linguistic, Human Biological, and Cultural Variation in Oceania / • About This Book / • A Note on Dates and Time / 1 • DISCOVERING THE OCEANIC PAST / Enlightenment Voyagers / • Outposts of Empire: Missionaries, Colonists, and Academic Beginnings / • “The Problem of Polynesian Origins” / • Te Rangi Hiroa and the “Micronesian Route” to Polynesia / • The Discovery of Time Depth and Culture Change / • The Search for Polynesian Sequences / • Broadening Research Horizons / • Moving beyond Polynesia: Archaeology in Melanesia and New Guinea / • Francophone Archaeology in the Pacific / • Not an Ivory Tower: Public Archaeology in the Pacific / • Recent Advances in Pacific Archaeology / 2 • THE PACIFIC ISLANDS AS A HUMAN ENVIRONMENT / Origins and Development of the Pacific Islands / • Types of Islands / • Climatic Factors in the Pacific / • Island Life and Biogeography / • The Microbiotic World and Human Populations / • Island Ecosystems / • Humans and Island Socioecosystems / 3 • SAHUL AND THE PREHISTORY OF “OLD” MELANESIA / The Pleistocene Geography of Sahul and Near Oceania / • Initial Human Arrival in Sahul and Near Oceania / • Pleistocene Voyaging in Near Oceania / • Near Oceania during the Pleistocene / • Cultural Innovations of the Early Holocene / • A Paradox and a Hypothesis / 4 • LAPITA AND THE AUSTRONESIAN EXPANSION / The Human Landscape of Near Oceania at 2000–1300 b.c. / • The Advent of Lapita / • Lapita Origins: The Austronesian Expansion / • Lapita across Time and Space / • Lapita in Linguistic and Biological Perspective / • The Lapita Ceramic Series / • Lapita Sites and Settlements / • Lapita Subsistence Economies / • Exchange between Lapita Communities / • Ancestral Oceanic Societies / 5 • THE PREHISTORY OF “NEW” MELANESIA / Trading Societies of Papua and the Massim / • The Late Holocene in Highland New Guinea / • The Bismarck Archipelago after Lapita / • The Solomon Islands / • Vanuatu / • The Polynesian Outliers in Melanesia / • Ethnogenesis in La Grande Terre / • Fiji: An Archipelago “in Between” / • Larger Themes in Melanesian Prehistory / 6 • MICRONESIA: IN THE “SEA OF LITTLE LANDS” / Colonization and Early Settlement in Micronesia / • Cultural Sequences in Micronesia / • Tuvalu and the Polynesian Outliers in Micronesia / • Atoll Adaptations / • Later Prehistory in Western Micronesia / • Development of Sociopolitical Complexity in the Caroline High Islands / 7 • POLYNESIA: ORIGINS AND DISPERSALS / Polynesian Origins / • Polynesia as a Phyletic Unit / • Ancestral Polynesia / • Cultural Sequences in Western Polynesia / • The Settlement of Eastern Polynesia / • Early Settlement Sites in Eastern Polynesia / • Polynesian Voyaging / • Summary / 8 • POLYNESIAN CHIEFDOMS AND ARCHAIC STATES / Polynesian Chiefdoms: Ethnographic Background and Anthropological Significance / • The “Traditional” Societies / • Sociopolitical Transformation in the Open Societies / • The Emergence of Stratified Chiefdoms / • From Chiefdom to Archaic State: Tonga and Hawai‘i / • Polynesian History: A Concluding Note / 9 • BIG STRUCTURES AND LARGE PROCESSES IN OCEANIC PREHISTORY / Voyaging and the Human “Conquest” of the Pacific / • History Written in the Present: Correlations between Language, Biology, and Culture / • The Role of Demographic Transitions in Oceanic History / • Oceanic Populations on the Eve of European Contact / • The Political Economy of Dynamic Landscapes / • Intensification and Specialization in Island Economies / • Transformations of Status and Power / • On Comparison: A Closing Comment / Notes / References / Index /
£32.30
Little, Brown Book Group The Mammoth Book of Superstition
Book SynopsisRather than providing a dictionary of superstitions, of which there are already numerous excellent, exhaustive and, in many cases, academic works which list superstitions from A to Z, Bainton gives us an entertaining flight over the terrain, landing from time to time in more thought-provoking areas. He offers an overview of humanity''s often illogical and irrational persistence in seeking good luck and avoiding misfortune. While Steve Roud''s two excellent books - The Penguin Dictionary of Superstitions and his Pocket Guide - and Philippa Waring''s 1970 Dictionary concentrate on the British Isles, Bainton casts his net much wider. There are many origins which warrant the full back story, such as Friday the thirteenth and the Knights Templar, or the demonisation of the domestic cat resulting in ''cat holocausts'' throughout Europe led by the Popes and the Inquisition. The whole is presented as a comprehensive, entertaining narrative flow, though Trade ReviewPraise for The Mammoth Book of Unexplained Phenomena:Bainton is a very good writer . . . excellent and witty . . . confident and clear . . .Hooray for Roy Bainton! - Fortean Times
£9.74
Cambridge University Press Human Remains
Book SynopsisWorking with human remains raises a whole host of ethical issues, from how the remains are used to how and where they are stored. Over recent years, attitudes towards repatriation and reburial have changed considerably and there are now laws in many countries to facilitate or compel the return of remains to claimant communities. Such changes have also brought about new ways of working with and caring for human remains, while enabling their ongoing use in research projects. This has often meant a reevaluation of working practices for both the curation of remains and in providing access to them. This volume will look at the issues and difficulties inherent in holding human remains with global origins, and how diverse institutions and countries have tackled these issues. Essential reading for advanced students in biological anthropology, museum studies, archaeology and anthropology, as well as museum curators, researchers and other professionals.Trade Review'Each chapter includes brief case studies as well as practical advice. Due to Clegg's intent to provide a general overview accessible to students, those interested in following up on these issues are directed to the bibliography, which unfortunately seems a little out-of-date. Regardless, advanced students will find much of value here, including the brief quizzes at the end of each chapter, along with an answer key at the end.' W. Kotter, ChoiceTable of Contents1. A history of human remains in museum and other collections; 2. Human remains and scientific research; 3. The legal aspects of human remains; 4. Ethical considerations for human remains; 5. Good practice in curating human remains; 6. Other belief systems and the care of human remains; 7. A history of repatriation; 8. Repatriation today; 9. The importance of provenance; 10. Reburial and the alternatives; 11. Where we go from here?
£999.99
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd The Great Indian Phone Book: How Cheap Mobile
Book SynopsisThe cheap mobile phone is arguably the most significant personal communications device in history. In India, where caste hierarchy has reinforced power for generations, the disruptive potential of the mobile phone is even more striking than elsewhere. In 2001, India had 35 million telephones, only four million of them mobiles. Ten years later, it had more than 800 million phone subscribers; more than 95 per cent were mobile phones. In a decade, communications in India have been transformed by a device that can be shared by fisherfolk in Kerala, boatmen in Banaras, great capitalists in Mumbai and power-wielding politicians and bureaucrats in New Delhi. Village councils banned unmarried girls from having mobile phones. Families debated whether new brides should surrender them. Cheap mobile phones became photo albums, music machines and radios. Religious images and uplifting messages flooded tens of millions of phones each day. Pornographers and criminals found a tantalising new tool. In politics, organisations with cadres of true believers exploited a resource infinitely more effective than telegrams, postcards and the printing press for carrying messages to workers, followers and voters. Jeffrey and Doron focus on three groups - controllers: the bureaucrats, politicians and capitalists who wrestle over control of radio frequency spectrum; servants: the marketers, agents, technicians, tower-builders, repairers and second-hand dealers who carry mobile phones to the masses; and users: the politicians, activists, businesses and households that adapt the mobile phone to their needs. The book probes the whole universe of the mobile phone - from the contests of great capitalists and governments to control radio frequency spectrum, to the ways ordinary people build the troublesome and addictive device into their daily lives.Trade ReviewThis superb new book reminds us how little we have explored the new landscape of opportunity, aspiration and, inevitably, disappointment that mobile phones have opened up in India. -- Pankaj Mishra * Bloomberg *A comprehensive look at what cellphones have meant for India. Their story covers everything from family relations and gender barriers to terrorism and the relations of citizens to the state. Out of what could have been a dry study packed with statistics the authors have managed to write a superb book--informative, insightful, witty--that is essential reading for anyone interested in India, or technological change, or good stories told with clarity and purpose. * Wall Street Journal *This book is, overall, a very well researched, comprehensive and timely contribution to understanding the consequences of mobile phone technology, and its engaging and accessible style means it is likely to appeal to a variety of audiences. * Times Higher Education *How did India go from being a country in which making phone calls was exquisite torture to the world's second-largest market for mobile phones in just ten years? And what did this rapid proliferation of communication do to Indian society? Assa Doron's and Robin Jeffrey's ambitious survey is a good place to find some answers. ... 'The Great Indian Phone Book' is actually two books in one. The first half is a whirlwind recap of how India was connected, told simply and with a wealth of numbers. The second is an ethnographic study that dives into the intricacies of Indian society without pretending to be comprehensive. ... [T]he strength of the book lies in its repeated emphasis on technology as something that does not eliminate political and social structures, though it may modify them. * The Economist *a riveting account of India's wholesale uptake of mass telecommunication... The Great Indian Phone Book is as packed with thrills as it is with anecdotes and information. This is that rarest of literary marriages, scholarship with a light touch. * Asian Affairs *In this fine anthropological study, Doron and Jeffrey look at how the introduction and current widespread use of the cell phone has altered life in one of the world s largest countries. In 1991, there were 165 people for every telephone in India, but today this ratio is 2:1 or less. The authors cover the technical aspects of this rapid expansion, as well as some of the corruption involved, including the arrest of a former minister of communications. More compelling, though, are the stories of individual citizens and the changes, not always for the better, wrought by mobile phone ownership. For example, the growth of the cell phone industry resulted in new jobs in sales, tower construction, manufacturing, and repair, both by corporate employees and street craftsmen. The 2007 elections in Uttar Pradesh were profoundly affected by motivated citizens using their mobiles. In traditional households, it isn't uncommon for new brides to have their phones confiscated by their in-laws for modesty's sake. Pornography, terrorism, and surveillance abuses are just some of the criminal acts abetted by cell phones. This rich study reveals much about modern India and should be read by both students and scholars of technology and South Asia. * Publishers Weekly *A major achievement. The authors have explored every facet of this topic thoroughly, setting everything in its complex historical context. They demonstrate knowledge and true understanding of the historical and social issues. What is more, their work is eminently readable. -- Bill Kirkman * The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs *[I]n this book a historian and an anthropologist illustrate the titanic impact of the telecommunications industry on the largest democracy in the world . . . where there has been more dramatic growth in the spread of mobile phones than in any other region in the world. . . . They describe the unique potency of a cheap mobile phone that puts an immensely disruptive device within reach of the poor. . . . This is an important book that can usefully be read by students, social scientists, and business managers--indeed, by anyone interested in change and its effect on developing and complex societies. -- Denis O'Brien * Finance & Development *In 'The Great Indian Phone Book', Robin Jeffrey (a political scientist) and Assa Doron (an anthropologist) have produced a riveting study that traces the effects of mobile technology on the lives of everyday people, from the fishermen who can now more effectively set the price of their catch to the electronic technicians who make a living from repairing banged-up handsets. . . . Jeffrey and Doron offer a timely reminder that mobile cultures are moving in many directions simultaneously. With convergence, the technological gap between the mobile and other devices is closing--but the uses to which the mobile is put around the world remain impossibly diverse. -- Ramon Lobato * Inside Story *This book takes us on India's journey towards modernity through the story of the rise of the mobile telephone, tracking the incredible social, economic and political changes that have accompanied the explosion of mobile communications in India. * Contemporary South Asia *Jeffrey and Doron's landmark study of how the humble cell phone is changing the culture of Indian democracy in everyday life has no competitors. Their interdisciplinary analysis of popular aspirations and anxieties surrounding mobile telephones will invite and inspire comparative studies set in other emerging economies. A remarkable achievement. -- Dipesh Charkrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service ProfessorThis is a fascinating, smart and erudite volume on how the Indian cellphone industry developed, and what its extraordinary growth has meant for the country. It can serve as a kind of vade mecum for many thousands of interested readers seeking to learn about the subject whether as amateurs or as specialists entering a new domain. -- Arvind Rajagopal, Professor of Media Studies, New York UniversityA marvelous, briskly written book, combining a panoptical overview of the broader media landscape with gripping vignettes. Doron and Jeffrey write with insight and journalistic brio, making this book highly accessible to a very wide range of readers. -- Christopher PinneyA comprehensive chronicle of how mobile phones changed Indian lives and in the process India's economy. Capitalists, ministers, boatmen, farmers, advertising geniuses, porn peddlers, political workers and tireless salesmen populate this story. Jeffrey and Doron's sociological take on the mobile phone as a great leveller is rich and riveting. -- Sevanti Ninan, editor of 'The Hoot', and author of, inter alia, 'Through the Magic Window: Television and Change in India''The Great Indian Phone Book' is a wake-up call for anyone intrigued by today's network society. Engagingly written, intelligently researched, and enlivened with memorable anecdotes framed by deft exposition, it offers up a compelling and compellingly readable introduction to a subject of unquestioned significance: the remarkable emergence of the mobile telephone as an agent of change in the developing world. -- Richard R. John, author of 'Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications'An engaging and informative analysis of the use of cell phones in India, a nation of over one billion people, where this small device has been a harbinger of big social and economic changes--and an enabler of unbridled entrepreneurship. -- Tarun Khanna, author of 'Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India are Reshaping Their Futures--and Yours'This book takes a comprehensive, and highly entertaining look at the mobile phone revolution and its implications for India . . . The authors . . . have clearly succeeded in their central mission of writing a book that would hold up its head as both sound scholarship and engaging reading. * The Commonwealth Lawyer *
£14.24
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd Trust: Forms, Foundations, Functions, Failures
Book SynopsisTrust is an elusive concept, meaning different things to different people, and so needs to be clearly defined. By focusing on relations within and between firms, Bart Nooteboom undertakes to produce a clearer definition of trust and its role in the economy.Trust deals with a range of questions such as: what are the roles of trust? What can we trust in? Can trust serve as an instrument for the governance of relations? Is trust a substitute, a precondition or an outcome of contracts? The author then goes on to analyse what trust is based on, what its limits are, how it grows and how it can also break down. The role of intermediaries is also discussed.Bart Nooteboom argues that trust goes beyond calculative self-interest and that blind, unconditional trust is unwise. He then examines the paradox of how trust can be non-calculative and yet, not blind. The book also reveals ways to measure and model trust, its antecedents and its consequences.Trade Review'The book is a pleasure to read, well edited, well argued, and covering much ground in only just over 200 pages. It is thoroughly introduced and has a very complete "summary and conclusions" chapter. With its extensive references and a subject and author index, it is a valuable scholarly help.' -- D.J. Bezemer, Journal of Socio-Economics'[The book] provides a well-grounded approach to the study of trust and offers a number of ways to continue empirical work on this difficult subject.' -- Peter Smith Ring, Administrative Science Quarterly'. . . the book is clear and engaging, targeted at an academic audience but suitable also for practitioners and general interest given some basic knowledge of organisation science and proclivity for concepts.' -- Guido Mollering, Personnel Review'This book provides an interesting and informative account of the nature, causes and consequences of trust. . . Nooteboom has written an interesting book which has prompted this reviewer to think fruitfully about various aspects of trust. I am confident that the book will provide other readers with similar intellectual stimulation and sustenance.' -- P.A. Lewis, The Economic Journal'. . . it is clear that this is an important work, which, with considerable erudition, breaks new ground on a hitherto little understood aspect of economic behaviour. The fact that the book is also well written and draws upon literatures that range from psychology through to organization theory and philosophy, reinforces the indubitable intellectual contribution it makes. It deserves to be widely read and discussed.' -- Gary B. Magee, Journal of Evolutionary Economics'In the past, the economic analysis of the firm has focused too exclusively on pecuniary considerations. While costs and revenues are vital, it is equally important not to ignore other essential elements, such as trust, that cannot be so readily traded or given a monetary value. Bart Nooteboom's work is an important corrective to mainstream opinion. He is one of the pioneers of the analysis of trust in organizations and this present volume is a wonderful and elegant addition to this literature.' -- Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire Business School, UKTable of ContentsContents: Preface 1. Aims and Foundations 2. Forms 3. Foundations 4. Functions 5. Failures 6. Figures 7. Summary and Conclusions References Index
£30.35
Bloomsbury Academic A Cultural History of Youth in the Age of
Book Synopsis
£71.25
Jessica Kingsley Publishers Emerging Ritual in Secular Societies: A
Book SynopsisThe growing absence of meaningful ritual in contemporary Western societies has led to cohesive research on the history of ritualizing behaviour in different cultures. The relatively new field of ritology, which includes neuroscience, anthropology, cultural psychology, psychotherapy and even art and performance, raises questions about the significance and practice of ritual today. This book is the first of its kind to discuss the importance of secular rituals for cultural and personal growth. Using a transdisciplinary approach, a range of contributors provide an authoritative account of the science and history of rituals and their role in creating healthy societies in the modern age.Trade ReviewEmerging Ritual in Secular Societies is a timely addition to the scholarship of sociology and culture, and indeed, to sociology of religion as well. Often overlooked by those who equate ritual with religion, the authors of this book provide rich descriptions of how secular rituals bind communities together and create meaning for groups and individuals. -- Sharon L. Miller, Ph.D. Director of Research, Auburn Theological Seminary, USABased on instructive case studies, this book contributes very valuable insights on the importance and functions of non-religious rituals within secularized pluralistic societies in order to create individual meaning in life and establish social cohesion in heterogeneous contexts. -- Professor Dr. René Gründer, Sociologist, GermanyEmerging Ritual in Secular Societies constitutes an important contribution to the burgeoning field of Ritual Studies. The essays featured in this edited volume, written by leading anthropologists, psychologists, and sociologists, as well as ritual professionals, present a unique vantage point that combines both academic and practical concerns. Focusing on contemporary secular rituals, Emerging Ritual in Secular Societies successfully navigates between ritual theory and practice, offering answers to such issues as the role of ritual in modern life and the mechanisms involved in constructing new rituals to celebrate life events in a non-religious context. For far too long, modern scholars of ritual have ignored the perspectives of living ritualists in favor of developing theoretical frameworks that analyzed ritual from a supposed perspective of scientific cognitive distance. Following in the footsteps of contemporary ritologists such as Ronald Grimes, this volume aims to rectify this situation by offering a transdisciplinary exploration of ritual presented by experienced professionals involved in the creation and practice of new forms of ritual activity. This well-written and informative work will be of strong interest to scholars and students of ritual alike. -- Ori Tavor, Lecturer in Chinese Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, USAEmerging Ritual in Secular Societies is a rich collection of essays, case studies, and interviews that help us understand how people make meaning, mark life transitions, and construct spiritual journeys without the benefit of religious institutions. It contributes not only to our knowledge of ritual practices and secularization, but also to our appreciation of the multiple ways people employ their imaginations to connect with the mystery of grace and the power of human community. -- The Rev. Dr. Deborah Kapp, Edward F. and Phyllis K. Campbell Professor of Urban Ministry, McCormick Theological SeminaryThis fine volume shines a much-needed light on the growing field of secular ritual, and its breadth and depth offer rich insights for scholars and practitioners alike. It's a wonderful contribution to the important conversation about finding meaning and connection in an ever-more complex world. -- Sarah Kerr, PhD. Death Doula & Ritual Practitioner, Soul Passages, CanadaThis book is indeed a transdisciplinary conversation on how ritual supports society in its primary role. The writers remind us that throughout the history of civilisation we have used ritual to deal with potentially traumatic events. As a therapist I particularly appreciate how Robert Scaer relates ritual to the neurophysiology of trauma. In trauma therapy our first challenge is helping people feel safe so they can self-regulate. Matthieu Smyth considers ritual a privileged means for group self-regulation through attachment and emotional attunement. Michael Picucci contributes outstanding resources for the use of ritual in clinical practice as well as in intimate relationships. The case studies and research demonstrate the importance of respecting ritual timing, interpersonal resonance and our own biological rhythms. Integrating all of these aspects in one book was a stroke of genius! -- Sonia Gomes, PhD in Clinical Psychology, International SE Advanced Faculty of the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, USA. Creator of SOMA (Embodiment - Touch & Movement in Somatic Experiencing) in Brazil and USAAs an artist I'm drawn to secular ritual - those events where we 'make meaning' with each other outside of (though perhaps borrowing from) traditions. We dearly need guidance in this moment, as traditions harden into entrenched divisions. This book on contemporary ritual encourages us to rethink what it is that unites us, what deserves to be celebrated, and how to reinvent rituals to bridge our differences -- Suzanne Lacy, Ph.D. Artist, Professor, Roski School of Art and Design, University of Southern CaliforniaThrough ritual we can experience stability and safety. As we 'do something' to mark an occasion, we connect with other people and something beyond ourselves. Those with complex trauma suffer greatly from loss of equilibrium and connection with others. Emerging Ritual in Secular Societies opens the way to treating emotional responses to trauma by ritualising transitions and celebrating life. This is effective when, as Jeltje Gordon-Lennox writes, ritual is a body-based, rather than a cognitive experience. -- Dagmar Härle, Master of Psychotraumatology (University of Zurich); Practitioner of Somatic Experience, TCTSY-Facilitator (Traumacenter Traumasensitive Yoga)A well-researched book, with engaging dialogue on emerging ritual through the human sciences, art and life experiences, which leaves the door open for intelligent discussion. This is more than an academic book, it's a well-intended and clear-sighted discussion. I believe this book will benefit any reader and is an absolute must for many years to come. -- Cécile Wesolowski, www.cecilewesolowski.comThis creative enlightening book is rich in perspectives. It conveys a deep understanding of the value and meaning of rituals and incorporates many moving and powerful examples. It will appeal to anthropologists and psychotherapists, celebrants and faith leaders and individuals looking to express themselves at significant moments in their lives. It has the potential to spark ideas and give depth to people's experience. -- Dr Sharon Pettle, Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Systemic Psychotherapist, UKWhy do citizens of secular societies continue to ritualize? Contributors to this provocative volume answer with a focus on how we are actually doing it, documenting the immense creativity with which people craft and enact new rituals to celebrate unions, mark life transitions, say goodbye, heal, reconcile and remember, but also to experience the world afresh. -- Jane K. Cowan Ph.D. Professor of Anthropology, University of Sussex, UKA delightful exploration of meaning-making beyond the frontal cortex. This fascinating book describes secular ritual as "multi-media packages" of "human technology" for making meaning through sound, touch, smell, taste, color, shape, and motion. A sensual map for times of transition. -- Lisa Schirch, Ph.D. author of 'Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding' and Research Professor at Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia, USARitual has been an overlooked asset to the healing of trauma and to restoring broken connections. The diverse contributors to this volume make this a widespread and accessible work for all those interested in ritual and social trauma. -- Peter A Levine Author of Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma and Trauma and MemoryDemonstrating the need for a more inclusive ritual grammar, Emerging Ritual in Secular Societies meets the demands of a changing world. The variety of discussions in this book contribute generously to the bricolage that is the secular ritualist's toolbox. It is a highly useful methodology for practitioners. -- Nina Faartoft, Head of Ceremonies, Danish Humanist Society, anthropologist and funeral celebrantThis volume offers a much-needed roadmap for exploring a new territory: that of making sense of life through secular ritual, both in public and in private spaces. It offers foundational chapters and a number of useful case studies. It is a major contribution to the field of ritual studies and will be highly helpful to both scholars and practitioners. -- Peter Nissen, Professor of Spirituality Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsTable of ContentsList of Illustrations. Credits. Notes on Contributors. Introduction. Jeltje Gordon-Lennox, Ashoka Association, Geneva, CH. Part I THE ORIGINS OF RITUAL. 1. The Art of Ritual and the Ritual of Art. Ellen Dissanayake. 2. Human Rituals and Ethology: A Scholar's Journey. Matthieu Smyth, Ritual Anthropologist, University of Strasbourg. 3. The Neurophysiology of Ritual and Trauma: Cultural Implications. Robert C. Scaer, Neurologist, Psychologist, Colorado, USA. Part II - SENSEMAKING IN LIFE EVENTS. 4. The Rhyme and Reason of Ritualmaking. Jeltje Gordon-Lennox. 5. Case Study: A Nordic Rite of Passage Come of Age. Jeltje Gordon-Lennox with Lene Mürer, Siri Sandberg and Inger-Johanne Slaatta (Norwegian Humanist Assocation), Marie Louise Petersen (Danish Humanist Society), Bjarni Jonsson (Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association), and Tuomas Rutanen (Finnish Prometheus Camps Association). 6. Multicultural Wedding Ceremonies: Venturing into the World of Diversity. Andrés Allemand Smaller, Journalist, Geneva, CH. 7. Case Study: A Funeral Ceremony for a Violinist. Christine Behrend, Celebrant, Pully, CH. 8. Case Study: A Memorial and a Wedding Rolled into one Humanist Ceremony. Isabel Russo, Head of Ceremonies at British Humanist Association, London, UK. 9. Part III RITUALIZING IN INTIMATE SPACES. 9. Ritual - A Resource for Health and Transformation in the Twenty-first Century. Michael Picucci, PhD., New York City, USA. 10. Sensing the Dead: The Role of Embodiment, the Senses and Material Objects in the Ritualization of Mourning. Joanna Wojtkowiak, PhD., Cultural Psychologist, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, NL. 11. Food and Ritual. Lindy Mechefske, Journalist, Ontario, CAN. Part IV RITUALIZING IN PUBLIC PLACES. 12. Commemorative Ritual and the Power of Place. Irene Stengs, PhD, Cultural Anthropologist, Amsterdam, NL. 13. New Ritual Society: Consumerist Revolution and the Rediscovery of Ritual. Gianpiero Vincenzo, Accademia di Belle Arti di Catania, Italy. 14. Ritual and Contemporary Art. Jacqueline Millner, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, AUS. 15. Interview: Ritual Artist Ida van der Lee. Index.
£29.99
Columbia University Press Unfinished Nature Particle Physics at CERN
Book Synopsis
£27.00
Stanford University Press Life Beyond Waste: Work and Infrastructure in
Book SynopsisOver the last several decades, life in Lahore has been undergoing profound transformations, from rapid and uneven urbanization to expanding state institutions and informal economies. What do these transformations look like if viewed from the lens of waste materials and the lives of those who toil with them? In Lahore, like in many parts of Pakistan and South Asia, waste workers—whether municipal employees or informal laborers—are drawn from low- or noncaste (Dalit) groups and dispose the collective refuse of the city's 11 million inhabitants. Bringing workers into contact with potentially polluting materials reinforces their stigmatization and marginalization, and yet, their work allows life to go on across Lahore and beyond. This historical and ethnographic account examines how waste work has been central to organizing and transforming the city of Lahore—its landscape, infrastructures, and life—across historical moments, from the colonial period to the present. Building upon conversations about changing configurations of work and labor under capitalism, and utilizing a theoretical framework of reproduction, Waqas H. Butt traces how forms of life in Punjab, organized around caste-based relations, have become embedded in infrastructures across Pakistan, making them crucial to numerous processes unfolding at distinct scales. Life Beyond Waste maintains that processes reproducing life in a city like Lahore must be critically assessed along the lines of caste, class, and religion, which have been constitutive features of urbanization across South Asia.Trade Review"This book helps us understand the centrality of caste as a category and the processes of pollution/purity linked as they are to the labyrinths through which waste work is organized in Lahore. It is a path-breaking contribution to the fields of urban studies, informal labor practices and the production of social marginality in Pakistan. It will undoubtedly be a model for future research."—Kamran Asdar Ali, University of Texas, Austin"Life Beyond Waste is a deeply sensitive ethnography of Lahore's waste workers and traders, offering luminous insights on the entanglements of people, matter, and institutions that constitute the city's "waste infrastructure." The book is also distinctive for its historical analysis of how agrarian class and caste inequalities are reproduced in urban Pakistan. A model for urban anthropology and waste studies!"—Vinay Gidwani, University of Minnesota"Butt shows waste infrastructure is about more than where pollution goes and who decides. Combining richly-detailed ethnography with in-depth history on the continuity between colonial governance and recent statecraft, he uncovers the diverse forms of labor that are necessary to reproduce urban life and inequality, whether in Pakistan or in wasted worlds beyond."—Joshua Reno, Binghamton University"How is hate channeled through waste work carried out by Christians as non-Muslims? How do powerlessness and anger touch the lives of those who work with waste materials? Butt's interventions on these critical questions bring to life a story of caste, waste work, and urban life that are not only in a state of flux and transformation but also a site of contestation and struggle."—Nausheen H. Anwar, The Developing EconomiesTable of ContentsPreface 1. Introduction 2. An Order for Urban Life 3. The Appearance of Things 4. Surplus and Its Excess 5. The Unevenness of Intimacy 6. The Possibility of Reproduction 7. Coda
£21.59
The University of Chicago Press Gifts in the Age of Empire
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Focusing on primary sources, Casale extensively contextualizes the gift exchanges between the Safavids and Ottomans in the early sixteenth-century within their cultural and historical context. With clear writing and fresh perspectives, Gifts in the Age of Empire is a bold book that will particularly interest art historians, cultural historians, and scholars interested in material culture and materiality.” * Melis Taner, Özyegin University, Istanbul *“Until now, viewing early modern Ottoman and Safavid art and politics through the lens of gift giving was a relatively novel idea and one that had not previously been employed in a comprehensive manner. With Gifts in the Age of Empire, Casale repositions the study of gift exchange in a broader sphere, which has to do with the global movement of works of art and its impact on visual culture. This thoroughly researched, well-written, and profusely illustrated monograph is particularly relevant when considering later Islamic arts.” * Linda Komaroff, curator and department head, Los Angeles County Museum of Art *Table of ContentsNote on Transliteration Introduction 1 Scandal and Decorum 2 An Exquisite Shahnama 3 King of the World 4 Little Prince Bearing Gifts 5 Diplomacy and Transaction Epilogue Appendix 1: Favors to Ahmed Beg, July 1505 Appendix 2: Remittance to Shaikh Ismaʿil, November 1510 Appendix 3: Gifts to Selim II, 1568 Appendix 4: Gifts to Murad III, January 1590 Appendix 5: Favors to Haydar Mirza, January 1590 Appendix 6: Gifts to Mehmed III, January 1597 Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
£41.80
Duke University Press The Social Sciences in the Looking Glass
Book SynopsisIn recent years, social scientists have turned their critical lens on the historical roots and contours of their disciplines, including their politics and practices, epistemologies and methods, institutionalization and professionalization, national development and colonial expansion, globalization and local contestations, and public presence and role in society. The Social Sciences in the Looking Glass offers current social scientific perspectives on this reflexive moment. Examining sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political science, legal theory, and religious studies, the volume’s contributors outline the present transformations of the social sciences, explore their connections with critical humanities, analyze the challenges of alternate paradigms, and interrogate recent endeavors to move beyond the human. Throughout, the authors, who belong to half a dozen disciplines, trace how the social sciences are thoroughly entangled in the social facts they analyze and are kTrade Review"In an era in which the social sciences are routinely under attack for being perceived as unproductive and overly critical and deterministic, this “social science of the social sciences” is an important and timely contribution. Recommended. Graduate students and faculty." -- J. R. Mitrano * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Toward a Social Science of the Social Sciences / Didier Fassin and George Steinmetz 1 Part One. Disciplines in the Making 1. Concept-Quake: From the History of Science to the Historical Sociology of Social Science / George Steinmetz 21 2. Spaces of Real Possibilities: Counterfactuals and the Impact of Donors on the Social Sciences / Álvaro Maorcillo Laiz 81 3. The Social Life of Concepts: or, How to Study the Idea of Creativity? / Bregje F. Van Eekelen 107 4. Epistemological Crises in Legal Theory: The (Ir)Rationality of Balancing / Carel Smith 129 5. The Reinvention of Sociology: Into the Trenches of Fieldwork at the Time of the Algerian Liberation War / Amín Pérez 147 Part Two. From the National to the Global 6. How Sociology Shaped Postwar Poland and How Stalinization Shaped Sociology / Agata Zysiak 175 7. The Public Anthropology of Violence in India / Chitralekha 195 8. Challenging Objectivity in Japan’s Long 1968 / Miriam Kingsberg Kadia 218 9. How Political Commitment Delineates Social Scientific Knowledge / Kristoffer Kropp 240 10. Making Sense of Globalizing Social Science / Johan Heilbron 262 Part Three. Exploring Borders and Boundaries 11. Critical Humanities and the Unsettling of the Sociological Field: Is There a French Exception? / Jean-Louis Fabiani 287 12. Recovering Subalternity in the Humanities and Social Sciences / Peter D. Thomas 310 13. Thinking about Cognitive Scientists Thinking about Religion / John Lardas Modern 328 14. Cooperative Primates and Competitive Primatologists: Prosociality and Polemics in a Nonhuman Social Science / Nicolas Langlitz 351 15. The Rise and Rise of Posthumanism: Will It Spell the End of the Human Sciences? / Didier Fassin 368 Contributors 393 Index 397
£22.79
Taylor & Francis Ltd Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£39.99
Rutgers University Press Self-Alteration: How People Change Themselves
Book SynopsisMany of us feel a pressing desire to be different—to be other than who we are. Self-conscious, we anxiously perceive our shortcomings or insufficiencies, wondering why we are how we are and whether we might be different. Often, we wish to alter ourselves, to change our relationships, and to transform the person we are in those relationships. Not only a philosophical question about how other people change, self-alteration is also a practical care—can I change, and how? Self-Alteration: How People Change Themselves across Cultures explores and analyzes these apparently universal hopes and their related existential dilemmas. The essays here come at the subject of the self and its becoming through case studies of modes of transformation of the self. They do this with social processes and projects that reveal how the self acquires a non-trivial new meaning in and through its very process of alteration. By focusing on ways we are allowed to change ourselves, including through religious and spiritual traditions and innovations, embodied participation in therapeutic programs like psychoanalysis and gendered care services, and political activism or relationships with animals, the authors in this volume create a model for cross-cultural or global analysis of social-self change that leads to fresh ways of addressing the 'self' itself. Trade Review"This remarkable volume casts new light on our understanding of selfhood, by looking at the ways different people in different contexts alter themselves."— Jon P. Mitchell, author of Ambivalent Europeans: Ritual, Memory and the Public Sphere in Malta "Anthropology has only recently focused on one of the basic human experiences: that people set out to change themselves, and they do so using the tools that their culture offers to them. This volume presents a rich array of observations around this theme to carry the conversation forward."— Tanya Luhrmann, author of How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible OthersTable of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: A Time for Change: Modes of Self-Alteration Jean-Paul Baldacchino and Christopher Houston Part I: Religious Cultures, Spiritual Practices, and Self-Alteration Chapter 2 Exemplary Masters, Exemplary Reeds: Pedagogies of Self-Alteration in Sufi Music Banu Şenay Chapter 3 Re-imagining Self and Self-Alteration in Contemporary New Age, Pagan and Neo-Shamanic Spiritualities Kathryn Rountree Chapter 4 Wounded by Grace: Becoming a Prophet in an Evangelical Revival in Solomon Islands Jaap Timmer Part II: Self-Alteration and Political Activism Chapter 5 Fabricating the New Man and Woman: Self-Alteration Through Revolutionary Socialism Christopher Houston Chapter 6 Transcendental Terror: Zen Self-Transformation through White Supremacist Atrocity, from Nazi Germany to Utøya and Christchurch Max Harwood Part III: Gendered Bodies and Therapeutic Interventions Chapter 7 Beautiful, Moral, Functional: Bodily Self-Alteration in an Italian Centre for Eating Disorders Gisella Orsini Chapter 8 Porous Individuality as Self-Alteration: Commercial Self-Improvement in Urban China Gil Hizi Chapter 9 How Is Psychoanalysis a Mode of Self-Alteration? Anthropological Interrogations Jean-Paul Baldacchino Part IV: Self-Alteration, The Human, and the More-Than-Human Chapter 10 Mutualistic Self-Alteration: Human-Pigeon Assemblages in Rural Pakistan Muhammad A. Kavesh Chapter 11 Self-Alteration as Human Capacity and as Cosmopolitan Right Nigel Rapport Part V: Afterword Chapter 12 Making Oneself Otherwise: Reflections on Natality Michael Jackson Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors Index
£28.90
Duke University Press Genomics with Care
Book SynopsisIn Genomics with Care Mike Fortun presents an experimental ethnography of contemporary genomics, analyzing science as a complex amalgam of cognition and affect, formal logics and tacit knowledge, statistics, and ethics. Fortun examines genomics in terms of care—a dense composite of affective and cognitive forces that drive scientists and the relations they form with their objects of research, data, knowledge, and community. Reading genomics with care shows how each resists definition yet is so entangled as to become indistinguishable. Fortun analyzes four patterns of genomic care—curation, scrupulousness, solicitude, and friendship—seen in the conceptual, technological, social, and methodological changes that transpired as the genetics of the 1980s became the genomics of the 1990s, and then the “post-genomics” of the 2000s. By tracing the dense patterns made where care binds to science, Fortun shows how these patterns mark where scientists are driveTrade Review“Genomics with Care is an inventive, generous, funny, rigorous, and path-opening contribution to the anthropology of science that teaches readers new methods of understanding science as a vocation. Mike Fortun deftly fuses attention to the social affects and effects that accompany research in today’s molecular biology. This utterly splendid book reminds us what science and science studies are for.” -- Stefan Helmreich, author of * A Book of Waves *“This brilliant and much-needed intervention into science and technology studies provides an affecting model for reading not just genomics, but the sciences in general. It opens a new path for thinking and writing differently in relation to the natural sciences. Indeed, it is a superb model for scholars and students who wish to read any text, community, or epistemology in a caring and critical way.” -- Elizabeth A. Wilson, author of * Gut Feminism *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Poem-Like Tolls 1: A Prelude 1 Part I. Genomics, Double Binds, Affects 1. Fors 13 2. Labyrinth Life: Affect Excess Infrastructure 42 3. Double Binds of Science 80 Poem-Like Tolls 2: An Interlude Part II. Minding the Infrastructure of Genomics 4. Curation: Of Data’s Limits 111 5. Scrupulousness: Of Experiment’s Limit 141 6. Solicitude: Of Science’s Limit 183 7. Friendship: Of Community’s Limits 221 Poem-Like Tolls 3: An Appendix 253 Postscript 259 Notes 277 Works Cited 311 Index 337
£21.59
University of Guam Press Ulithi Atoll, Micronesia
Book Synopsis
£19.79
Cambridge University Press Technology and Culture in Pharaonic Egypt
Drawing upon aspects of Actor Network Theory, this Element introduces an approach to see technique as the interaction of people and things, and technology as the reflection of these networks of entanglement.
£17.00
LEGARE STREET PR Anthropologie structurale
£21.80
Fordham University Press The Work of Repair: Capacity after Colonialism in
Book SynopsisIn the timber plantations in northeastern South Africa, laborers work long hours among tall, swaying lines of eucalypts, on land once theirs. In 2008, at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, timber corporations distributed hot cooked meals as a nutrition intervention to bolster falling productivity and profits. But life and sustenance are about much more than calories and machinic bodies. What is at stake is the nurturing of capacity across all domains of life—physical, relational, cosmological—in the form of amandla. An Nguni word meaning power, strength or capacity, amandla organizes ordinary concerns with one’s abilities to earn a wage, to strengthen one’s body, and to take care of others; it describes the potency of medicines and sexual vitality; and it captures a history of anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggle for freedom. The ordinary actions coordinated by and directed at amandla do not obscure the wounding effects of plantation labor or the long history of racial oppression, but rather form the basis of what the Algerian artist Kader Attia calls repair. In this captivating ethnography, Cousins examines how amandla, as the primary material of the work of repair, anchors ordinary scenes of living and working in and around the plantations. As a space of exploitation that enables the global paper and packaging industry to extract labor power, the plantation depends on the availability of creative action in ordinary life to capitalize on bodily capacity. The Work of Repair is a fine-grained exploration of the relationships between laborers in the timber plantations of KwaZulu-Natal, and the historical decompositions and reinventions of the milieu of those livelihoods and lives. Offering a fresh approach to the existential, ethical and political stakes of ethnography from and of late liberal South Africa, the book attends to urgent questions of postapartheid life: the fate of employment; the role of the state in providing welfare and access to treatment; the regulation of popular curatives; the queering of kinship; and the future of custom and its territories. Through detailed descriptions, Cousins explicates the important and fragile techniques that constitute the work of repair: the effort to augment one’s capacity in a way that draws on, acknowledges, and reimagines the wounds of history, keeping open the possibility of a future through and with others.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Repair and the Question of Capacity | 1 1 Labor Power and Amandla | 37 2 The Plantation and the Making of a Labor Regime | 58 3 The Game of Marriage | 88 4 Repair and the Substance of Others | 115 5 In the Vicinity of the Social | 144 Conclusion: The Work of Repair | 181 Acknowledgments | 197 Notes | 201 Bibliography | 277 Index | 319
£26.99
Cornell University Press Gleaning for Communism
Book SynopsisGleaning for Communism is a historical ethnography of the property regime upon which Soviet legal scholars legislated a large modern state as a household, with guaranteed rights to a commons of socialist property, rather than private possessions. Starting with former Leningrad workers'' everyday stories about smuggling industrial scrap home over factory fences, Xenia Cherkaev traces collectivist ethical logic that was central to this socialist household economy, in theory and practice: from its Stalin-era inception, through Khrushchev''s major foregrounding of communist ethics, to Gorbachev''s perestroika, which unfurled its grounding tension between the interests of any given collective and of the socialist household economy itself. A story of how the socialist household economy functioned, how it collapsed, and how it was remembered, this book is haunted throughout by a spectral image of the totalitarian state, whose jealous political control over the Table of ContentsIntroduction: Households and Historiographies 1. The "Soviet" Things of Postsocialism 2. Gleaning for the Common Good 3. Songs of Stalin and Khrushchev 4. Chuvstvo khoziaina: The Feeling of Being an Owner Conclusion: Russian Socialism
£20.39
Duke University Press The Pulse of the Earth
Book SynopsisAdam Bobbette tells the story of how modern theories of the earth emerged from the slopes of Indonesia's volcanoes, showing that the origin of the earth sciences emerged from a fusion of Western and non-Western cosmology, theology, anthropology, and geology.Trade Review“Adam Bobbette’s simultaneous making strange of Western science and making reasonable of animist thought give this book its charm and intellectual heft. I can’t think of any other book that is as balanced in its treatment of Western science and non-Western thought and as insistent on putting them on a level playing field. At once ethnographic and global in scope, The Pulse of the Earth boldly defines and owns the concept of political geology every bit as much as it is a book about Java or a political volcano.” -- Nigel Clark, coauthor of * Planetary Social Thought: The Anthropocene Challenge to the Social Sciences *“Adam Bobbette’s book is ambitious. To quote Goethe, it is ‘endowed with magnificent sensory perception’ and rubs against the patience of scholars who are more ‘successful at ordering phenomena and putting them under the proper rubrics.’ The Pulse of the Earth is a perilous and exciting book.” -- Rudolf Mrázek, author of * The Complete Lives of Camp People: Colonialism, Fascism, Concentrated Modernity *"Java is a worthy stage to host this intense combination of fiery volcanism, cosmology, and culture, and this work provides an accessible introduction to political geology in both concept and practice. . . . Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers." -- J. Brewer * Choice *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xix 1. Political Geology as Method 1 2. The Origins of Java in Four Maps: From an Island of Ruins to Youthful Throes 20 3. Intercalated: The Political and Spiritual Geographies of Plate Tectonics 52 4. AD 1006 Geodeterminism: Cultures of Catastrophe and the Story of a Date 80 5. Geopoetics: Joannes Umbgrove’s Cosmic and Aesthetic Science 114 6. Volcano Observatories: Proximity and Distance in Science and Mysticism 142 Conclusion 175 Notes 179 Bibliography 197 Index 215
£76.50
St. Martin's Publishing Group Custodians of Wonder
Book Synopsis
£19.65
Bohlau Verlag Die Seestadt Aspern: Ein Stadtteil im Werden
Book Synopsis
£35.99
Indiana University Press Meat Matters
Book SynopsisTrade Review"In this remarkable book, Hagar Salamon reveals unsuspected relationships and new domains of meaning communicated between species. Meat Matters is a major contribution at the vanguard of a challenging new scholarly field and should be required reading for ethnographers from across the disciplines."—Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and African and African American Studies at Harvard University"A rich, sensitive and nuanced ethnography of the interlaced practices, ideas, meanings, beliefs, and symbols of meat for the Beta Israel community. Beautifully conceptualized, written and illustrated, Hagar Salamon's evocative book offers illuminating insights into the singular Ethiopian Jewish experience and Ethiopian culture more broadly."—Jonathan Miran, author of Red Sea Citizens: Cosmopolitan Society and Cultural Change in MassawaTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Enduring Exposures: Everyday Bonding with Creatures2. Zooming In: Creaturely Sentiments3. Zooming Out: Emerging from the Pen4. Shifting Focus/Lenses: Interreligious Negotiations5. Transposing and Splitting: Under New Hegemonies6. Candid Camera: Focusing the Lens on Lost Meats7. Upraising the Vision: God Watches over Flesh8. Concluding Words and Continuing QuestionsReferencesGlossary
£21.59
University of California Press Information and Behavior in a Sikh Village
Book Synopsis
£35.70
University of Alberta Press Our Whole Gwich’in Way of Life Has Changed /
Book SynopsisOur Whole Gwich’in Way of Life Has Changed / Gwich’in K’yuu Gwiidandài’ Tthak Ejuk Gòonlih is an invaluable compilation of historical and cultural information based on a project originally conceived by the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute to document the biographies of the oldest Gwich’in Elders in the Gwich’in Settlement Region. Through their own stories, twenty-three Gwich’in Elders from the Northwest Territories communities of Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtshik, Inuvik, and Aklavik share their joy of living and travelling on the land. Their distinctive voices speak to their values, world views, and knowledge, while McCartney assists by providing context and background on the lives of the narrators and their communities. Scholars, students, and all those interested in Canadian/Northern history, anthropology, Indigenous Studies, oral history, or cultural geography will benefit from this critical resource. Foreword by Grand Deputy Chief Jordan Peterson. Elders Who Contributed Their Stories: Antoine (Tony) Andre, Caroline Andre, Hyacinthe Andre, Annie Benoit, Pierre Benoit, Sarah Bonnetplume, Marka Bullock, Lydia Alexie Elias, Mary Martha Firth, Sarah Ann Gardlund, Elizabeth Greenland, Violet Therese Jerome, Peter Kay Sr., Mary Rose Kendi, Ruby Anne McLeod, Catherine Martha Mitchell, Eunice Mitchell, Joan Ross Nazon, Annie Moses Norbert, Alfred Semple, Sarah Simon, Ellen Catherine Vittrekwa, Jim Julius VittrekwaTrade Review"[Elders] recall the sound of sled dogs galloping through the snow, the blue gleam of moonlight in winter and smell of fresh caribou steaks drying on spruce boughs…. Their stories are chronicled in Our Whole Gwich’in Way of Life Has Changed, a big, beautiful volume. It is warm and human." [Full article at https://www.blacklocks.ca/review-moonlight-and-fresh-caribou/] -- Holly Doan * Blacklock's Reporter *“I can easily anticipate that this book will be used in an education setting by the nation…. It will also be of interest to anyone interested in the Gwich’in nation, Gwich’in history, and colonialism in the Arctic. Given the rapid pace of change in the last century or so, quite often the histories provided by the Elders document a huge part of the history of colonization in the North, with many of the Elders in question being amongst the last generations to live for at least part of their life without significant outside influence or change.” [Full article at https://ormsbyreview.com/2021/04/05/1086-sims-mccartney-gwichin/] -- Daniel Sims * The Ormsby Review *"Our Whole Gwich’in Way of Life Has Changed is a remarkable collection of oral history and anthropology that should find a ready audience for anyone interested in Indigenous peoples, particularly those located in Arctic Canada.... The reader comes away from each chapter feeling newly connected to the storyteller and to the Gwich’in community. It is meticulously well documented.... Front- and back-end appendixes and materials provide a beautiful introduction and rich context for the reader... Highly recommended. All levels." G. Christensen, CHOICE Magazine, December 2021"In crafting each Elder's narrative--working from oral recordings to written English--McCartney chose to use an 'impressionist approach' in which the writing focus is on the researcher as storyteller, thus allowing the author (McCartney) to provide contextual information in a story format along with detailed descriptions in the Elder's own words. While necessarily several steps removed from the voices of individual Elders, I found this technique effective in unifying the text for a broad and varied audience.... Readers like myself unfamiliar with the Gwich'in homeland are given clear guides to the rich history of the Gwich'in world. And Gwich'in readers, both young and old, are presented with an accessible account of twentieth century life along the Peel River, Arctic Red River, and lower MacKenzie River." Ann Fienup-Riordan, Alaska History, Fall 2021"Cette magnifique contribution, presque encyclopédique, qui saura très certainement capter l’intérêt de nombreux anthropologues ainsi que des chercheurs d’autres domaines des sciences sociales, constitue dans le même temps un superbe et poignant hommage à la mémoire des aînés gwich’in — dont seulement deux parmi ceux qui ont participé sont encore en vie au moment de la parution de l’ouvrage —, à l’attachement qu’ils portent à leur territoire, aux drames et aux joies qu’ils ont vécus." Paul Bénézet, Anthropologie et Sociétés, Vol. 46, No 2, 2022“… this collection makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Dinjii Zhuh histories, the methodology of oral histories, and Indigenous engagement in scholarly research…. [The] scholarship used and modeled in Gwich’in K’yuu Gwiidan-dài’ Tthak Ejuk Gòonlih charts an innovative, ethical, and respectful path for Indigenous research.... In this timeless piece, McCartney and the GTC have centered and elevated the words of our Elders in a way that remains unmatched in today’s scholarship on northern Canada.” Crystal Gail Fraser, NAIS, Spring 2023Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements Introduction 1 | Sarah (Stewart) Simon, cm 2 | Sarah (Mitchell) Bonnetplume 3 | Hyacinthe Andre 4 | Annie (Koe) Benoit 5 | Joan (Husky) Ross Nazon 6 | Violet Therese (Cardinal) Jerome 7 | Mary Rose (Koe) Kendi 8 | Sarah Ann (Firth) Gardlund 9 | Peter Kay Sr. 10 | Catherine Martha (Stewart) Mitchell 11 | Lydia (Vittrekwa Vaneltsi Neyando) Alexie Elias 12 | Elizabeth (Bonnetplume) Greenland 13 | Ellen Catherine (Wilson) Vittrekwa 14 | Eunice (Gà’ahdoh) Mitchell 15 | Alfred Semple 16 | Annie (Niditchie) Moses Norbert 17 | Pierre Benoit 18 | Jim Julius Vittrekwa 19 | Antoine (Tony) Andre 20 | Marka (Andre) Bullock 21 | Mary Martha (Robert) Firth 22 | Ruby Anne (Stewart) McLeod 23 | Caroline (Kendo) Andre 24 | Marie Therese Remy-Sawyer 25 | Listen to What I’m Saying Appendix: Transcribing and (Re)Constructing the Elders’ Stories Further Reading Endnotes Index"
£58.64
LEGARE STREET PR The Australian Race
£21.80
Ohio University Press Sports in Africa Past and Present
Book SynopsisThrough the prism of sports and from a range of scholarly perspectives, this anthology offers insight into the varied and shifting experiences of African athletes, fans, communities, and postcolonial states.Trade Review“An extraordinary volume…. Not only is the writing empirically driven, but, more importantly, the theoretic content is grounded in prose that is fresh, vibrant, and something not always associated with what is a university textbook, fascinating. Cleveland, Kaur, and Akindes are to be congratulated for putting together a team that explores complex identities and the dynamic nature of African sport…. Hats off to the Ohio University Press for not only supporting the venture but publishing a book that looks like, and reads like, a classic.” * Journal of Sport History *“A long-overdue project by scholars committed to building African sports studies as a humanities subject. It presents close studies of sports like cycling, surfing, track and field, ultra-marathoning, and weightlifting, which are often neglected in favor of bigger and more popular sports such as soccer, rugby, and cricket. Scholars of social history, nationalism, popular culture, social anthropology, media, and cultural studies will appreciate this book.”“The Sport in Africa collective, active since 2004, has helped kick-start a movement. Here it adds seventeen more topics to the growing corpus of works on African sports history—from surfers in Transkei and women in Nigeria to Kenyan athletes and the football migrations to Europe (happening alongside desperate refugee journeys in the Mediterranean)—showing what a rich field of study sport is becoming.”“Sports in Africa heralds the arrival in sports studies of an empirically rich, theoretically informed, methodologically rigorous, and incisive African-focused genre. The volume demonstrates the centrality and complexity of sport in the daily rhythms and social fabric of life on the continent, across time, and in the formal and informal economies. It challenges longstanding racial, ethnic and cultural stereotypes pertaining to Africans, and dispenses with any notion of fixed and prescribed social and cultural identities.”“This collection of essays opens up the debate on the influences of social history, subaltern studies, and postmodernism in stimulating new research and pedagogical approaches to sport studies in Africa. It offers exemplary studies of mainstream sports (athletics, cricket, football, and rugby) and those on the margins (cycling, surfing, and wrestling) and reflects on the contributions and trajectories of those sporting pasts and their present impacts and meanings across the African continent. A go-to volume for those seeking a solid introduction to the politics, poetics and practices of the fascinating life-worlds of sports in Africa.”
£23.39
Cornell University Press Love and Liberation
Book SynopsisLauren Carruth''s Love and Liberation tells a new kind of humanitarian story. The protagonists are not volunteers from afar but rather Somali locals caring for each other: nurses, aid workers, policymakers, drivers, community health workers, and bureaucrats. The contributions of locals are often taken for granted, and the competencies, aspirations, and effectiveness of local staffers frequently remain muted or absent from the planning and evaluation of humanitarian interventions structured by outsiders. Relief work is traditionally imagined as politically neutral and impartial, and interventions are planned as temporary, extraordinary, and distant. Carruth provides an alternative vision of what humanitarian response means in practicenot driven by International Humanitarian Law, the missions of Western relief organizations, or trends in the aid industry or academia but instead by what Somalis call samafal. Samafal is structured by the Trade ReviewLauren Carruth's Love and Liberation is an insightful ethnographic study of global humanitarianism, critically analyzing humanitarian work in Ethiopia's Somali Region (Soomaaliweyn). Over the course of the book's chapters, the author takes us on a journey, from the vast and arid terrains of the Ogaden to the dilapidated and stifling office buildings of Jijiga (the region's capital). * Society of the Anthropology of Work *Table of ContentsPrologue: "I Cannot Give It Up" Introduction: Humanitarianism in the Margins of Empire 1. Humanitarianism Is Local 2. Humanitarianism Is Samafal 3. Humanitarian Work 4. Crisis Work 5. Humanitarianism Is Anti-Politics 6. From Crisis to Liberation
£23.39
University of Nebraska Press The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western
Book SynopsisPaulette F. C. Steeves presents evidence that archaeology sites, Paleo environments, landscapes, and mammalian and human migrations between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres predate Clovis culture (11,200 years ago).Trade Review"The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere offers a refreshing perspective of the peopling of what was once called the New World."—Justin A. Holcomb and Curtis N. Runnels, Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology"I want people to read this exciting book and challenge our own assumptions about what we know about Indigenous people's past. Reading books such as this one is important if archaeologists are to confront their own troubling history and challenge themselves to tell different stories which celebrate Indigenous people, their land, and their own ideas about where they come from."—Matthew E. Hill, Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society"Unique and thoughtful. . . . This solid narrative of research findings—the first from a Native American perspective—is essential reading."—C. C. Kolb, Choice“Writing in the vein of scholars such as Vine Deloria Jr., Paulette Steeves’s critique of the ‘Clovis-first’ model of peopling of the Americas both engages with and moves beyond current ideas about how and when people first came to these lands. The research presented in this book questions the ways archaeologists have traditionally constructed narratives of movement and arrival without considering Indigenous ways of knowing. This is an important and timely contribution to the field.”—Kisha Supernant (Métis), associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta“Paulette Steeves decenters Western power and authority over Indigenous thought, voice, inclusion, and history. The result is an act of healing that benefits both Indigenous people and academic scholarship.”—Randall H. McGuire, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Binghamton University“A timely analysis of the ethnocentric influences on past and present scientific inquiry and archaeological practice from the perspective of an Indigenous archaeologist. Steeves brings together a host of voices espousing the importance of contextual relationships in hypothesis development and archaeological analysis.”—Kathleen Holen, director of the Center for American Paleolithic Research“Written from an essential Indigenous perspective, this insightful book examines the existence of First Peoples in the Western Hemisphere for at least 50,000+ years longer than previously accepted and uncovers the reasons this theory has been dismissed for decades.”—Karla Strand, Ms. Magazine"Paulette Steeves writes this book from a very personal and intimate understanding of the various impacts of Indigenous colonization."—Guadalupe Sánchez, American AnthropologistTable of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Terminology 1. Decolonizing Indigenous Histories Finding Home 2. Unpacking Colonial Baggage Rise Up 3. Relations Who Opened the Way Riddle Me This 4. Minds Wide Open 5. Pleistocene Sites in North America Old World: -60,000 6. Pleistocene Sites in South America 7. Genetics, Linguistics, Oral Traditions, and Other Supporting Lines of Evidence Memories 8. Reawakening, Resisting, Rewriting All My Relations Appendix: Pleistocene Sites and References Notes Bibliography Index
£48.60
University of Texas Press Banana Cultures
Book SynopsisA lively, interdisciplinary history of why the banana became America's most popular fresh fruit and how its popularity has affected the banana republics of Central America.Trade ReviewAn historian by profession, John Soluri has written a book that defies disciplinary pigeonholing. This ambitious treatise on ‘banana cultures' links Honduran production with North American consumption, ecumenically drawing on archival records and oral histories as well as the burgeoning field of agroecology and the interpretive methodologies of cultural studies. . . . Soluri has accomplished what I thought impossible: writing a new and innovative book on one of the most-mined topics in Central American history. This book makes an important contribution to the field by connecting banana production and consumption, and its accessible style makes it well suited for classroom use. -- Edward F. Fischer * Journal of Latin American Studies *[Soluri] provides a well-written, balanced, and multifaceted perspective on the banana. . . . Banana Cultures leaves the reader with an understanding of the banana export trade that combines history and the botany and agriculture of the banana with a discussion of production, economics, and the changing culture of consumption in the United States. The reader will never take a banana for granted again. -- Marcus B. Griffin * Gastronomica *Emphasizing a dimension of banana production mentioned in passing by others—the ecological challenges posed by monoculture farming—Soluri offers a major rewriting of the industry's history. His eminently readable account starts on the north coast of Honduras, one of the first regions incorporated into the banana trade. . . . [Soluri's account] is significant both for its rethinking of industry history and its skillful integration of the material, ecological, and symbolic aspects of banana production and consumption. In sum, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in the production and social life of everyday commodities. -- Mark Moberg * American Historical Review *[A] splendid transnational history…this is a path-breaking study that makes a major contribution to agroecology and to the history of business strategies, agricultural science and technology, work processes, and the marketing and consumption of tropical commodities in North America. * The Americas *"[Banana Cultures] will be a standard-bearer in banana plantation history for years to come." * Environmental History *Soluri’s narrative, well written and informed by popular culture and oral histories, is also very engaging for readers of any background. By providing a comparative perspective in his last chapter, he also highlights the implications of his approach and points to some other commodities, such as coffee and sugar, that could benefit from his approach. -- Felipe Cruz * Not Even Past *Soluri’s volume remains distinctive for its sweeping consideration of the social, ecological and symbolic contexts of banana production and consumption...Banana Cultures remains essential reading on the social, cultural and ecological dimensions of the fruit and firms that transformed much of Central America. * Journal of Latin American Studies *Soluri has taken an already classic and wonderfully accessible work and further enhanced it by bookending it with these two new thought-provoking and insightful essays. In doing so, he has only strengthened an already pioneering work. * The Americas *Table of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition: Bananas, Seriously Preface to the First Edition Acknowledgments Introduction. Linking Places of Production and Consumption Chapter 1. Going Bananas Chapter 2. Space Invaders Chapter 3. Altered Landscapes and Transformed Livelihoods Chapter 4. Sigatoka, Science, and Control Chapter 5. Revisiting the Green Prison Chapter 6. The Lives and Time of Miss Chiquita Chapter 7. La Química Chapter 8. Bananas Cultures in Comparative Perspective Postscript to the Second Edition: Beyond Banana Cultures Notes Bibliography Index
£23.39
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Food and Folklore Reader
Book SynopsisThe Food and Folklore Reader is the first comprehensive introduction to folklore methods and concepts relevant to food. Mapping the study of food through key sources in folkloristics, the forty readings span the entire discipline: from seminal works on identity and aesthetics, to innovative scholarship on contemporary food issues such as food security and culinary tourism. The book also features:- Expert commentary and comprehensive introductions to each of the book's five parts by renowned folklorist and food scholar Lucy M. Long- Global coverage, with examples from the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, Jewish and Filipino culture, and much more- Questions for discussion and suggestions for further reading supporting learning and encouraging students to explore these ideas in their own workDefinitive in scale and scope, this book defines the field of food and folklore for a new generation of students. An essential resource for all students in food studies, folklore Trade Review[Lucy M.] Long has culled the archives of the field, using seminal works that define folklore as well as articles that explore more contemporary issues such as food security and culinary tourism … She does an admirable job covering diverse food cultures with examples from the many ethnic identities within the United States, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Jewish and Arab cultures, and many more … an admirable job of collecting these articles on how to study the vast and ever growing world of food and culture chiefly from Folklore’s foodways perspectives. * Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture *This collection is sure to appeal to students in many disciplines, and really to anyone interested in the meaning of food. Accessible but sophisticated, the chapters start with foundational work, and then show us new angles on many familiar topics, from Spam to fruitcake, and draw us into the richness of contemporary folkloristics. This book belongs on every food scholar's shelves. -- Richard Wilk, Indiana University, USAWant to understand why food is so important? Read this book. Expertly curated by Lucy Long, The Food and Folklore Reader traces the history of the field and details the depth and breadth of food in the vernacular. Appealing and accessible to the general reader, it is a must have for food studies scholars. -- Amy Bentley, New York University, USAFolklore was one of the earliest disciplines to take food seriously and engage with popular disputations around literal taste. This excellent anthology reminds us of the insights that can be garnered in pursuing the productive methodologies and concepts in folkloristics. It is brimming with pedagogical tools for teaching about food, culture and society. -- Krishnendu Ray, New York University, USAThis is a major resource for the rapidly growing field of foodways and its study by folklorists. Opening with the pioneering work of Don Yoder in the 70s and closing with her own recent work on culinary tourism, Lucy Long casts a wide net as editor of this rich and diverse set of readings. From Jewish cuisine in the Mississippi Delta to the Dog’s Eye Pie in Australia, Long leaves no stone unturned. Essential reading for understanding food worlds. -- William Ferris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USAFood and Folklore Reader is an excellent contribution to the study of food from the distinctive angle that folklore provides. * Folklore *Table of ContentsGeneral Introduction Part 1: Foundations: History, Definitions, and Methodologies Introduction to Part One Discussion Questions References and Further Reading Readings Part 2: Food in Groups, Community, and Identity Introduction to Part One Discussion Questions References and Further Reading Readings Part 3: Food as Art, Symbol, and Ritual Introduction to Part One Discussion Questions References and Further Reading Readings Part 4: Food as Communication, Performance, and Power Introduction to Part One Discussion Questions References and Further Reading Readings Part 5: Food in Public and Applied Folklore Introduction to Part One Discussion Questions References and Further Reading Readings Appendix of Sources Index
£36.99
Duke University Press Governing Gaza
Book SynopsisAn investigation into how government persists under even the most untenable conditions, based on an analysis of government in Gaza between 1917 and 1967.Trade Review“In revealing the regularity, singularity, contradiction, continuity, and rupture at the heart of governing Gaza, Feldman’s original and important book has much to teach scholars of the colonial and postcolonial world, as well as scholars concerned with the historicity and ethnography of government as such.” - Omnia E. Shakry, American Historical Review“A fascinating and sophisticated examination. . . . The richness of this study is in the mundane, in its reflections on, and deep understanding of, people’s lives and work as government employees. . . . By making Gaza seem normal, Feldman enables us to see beyond the current headlines and fearful murmurings.” - Rochelle A. Davis, Journal of Palestine Studies“This innovative and well-written book has brought to the fore immense detail, scholarly rigor of the first order, and a subtle but substantial political commitment that unearths the genealogy of adversity for residents of Gaza. . . . Feldman’s Governing Gaza, is a superb and imaginative piece of scholarship. As thorough and fascinating an ethnohistory related to Palestine as any other this reviewer has seen.” - Thomas Abowd, Anthropological Quarterly“Governing Gaza, Ilana Feldman's meticulously researched, well-argued and fluidly written book, is that rare thing: an historical ethnography of the instruments and institutions of bureaucracy beyond the bounds of Europe. What makes the book particularly important is its long time span. . . .” - Laleh Khalili, Times Higher Education Supplement“Feldman’s conclusion is powerful not just for her exploration of Gaza during these two important periods in its history, but for her keen insights about current conditions in the region relative to bureaucracy. . . . [T]his book contributes to our understanding of Gaza from an under-explored level of analysis, and is also significant because it furthers our understanding of what it means to be a Palestinian from Gaza.” - JoAnn Digeorgio-Lutz, Middle East Journal“In her remarkable and thoroughly researched book, Governing Gaza, Ilana Feldman unravels the relational aspects that underpin the governing of Gaza through defining periods in its history. . . . Feldman uses archival materials, interviews, and in-depth historical analysis in her meticulous examination of patterns of governance. . . . Her thorough approach makes this book compellingly useful to policymakers, social anthropologists and historians. . . . Feldman’s book deserves a wide reading; it is modest in tone and acutely rigorous in argument and presentation.” - Atef Alshaer, H-Net Reviews“Governing Gaza is a brilliant exploration of the everyday work of rule. In examining how people produce authority under exceptional circumstances, Ilana Feldman offers an original interpretation of the general conditions of modern bureaucratic power.”—Timothy Mitchell, author of Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity“Through a historical ethnography of everyday bureaucratic practices in British- and then Egyptian-ruled Gaza, this pathbreaking and lucidly written book offers challenging new perspectives on what government is and how it operates. Governing Gaza is a work of remarkable theoretical sophistication that makes a unique contribution to the anthropology of government and the state while remaining firmly grounded in the specificities of this crisis-ridden place and in the experience of its long-suffering people.”—Zachary Lockman, author of Comrades and Enemies: Arab and Jewish Workers in Palestine, 1906–1948“Feldman’s beautifully written book stands as such a valuable documentation of site-specific history, where years of siege and seizures have attempted to erase the traces of the Palestinian people’s claims to legitimacy and annihilate their iron-forged bonds to place.” -- Micaela Sahhar * The Australian Journal of Anthropology *“Ilana Feldman’s book is a nuanced and illuminating attempt to understand the persistent forms of bureaucratic rule that have taken shape in the Gaza Strip. . . . This is a well-written and sophisticated blend of ethnography and history that sheds invaluable light on the Gaza Strip. It will be of interest to those with a specific interest in the region, as well as those grappling with issues of bureaucracy and political rule more generally.” -- Tobias Kelly * American Ethnologist *“In this monograph—one impressive in its meticulous attention to historical detail, its artful melding of ethnography and history, and its skillful engagement with a wide range of scholarly literatures—Feldman contends that the case of Gaza does much to illuminate both an understudied aspect of Palestinian history and the often fragile and makeshift nature of government bureaucracy per se. . . . What Governing Gaza provides is not merely the ethnographic and historic basis for a rethinking of the very notion of ‘government’—a shift from an aggregate institution to a body of ordinary practices—but also a vision of everyday Gaza that most scholars have neglected.” -- Rebecca L. Stein * American Anthropologist *“Governing Gaza, Ilana Feldman's meticulously researched, well-argued and fluidly written book, is that rare thing: an historical ethnography of the instruments and institutions of bureaucracy beyond the bounds of Europe. What makes the book particularly important is its long time span. . . .” -- Laleh Khalili * TLS *“A fascinating and sophisticated examination. . . . The richness of this study is in the mundane, in its reflections on, and deep understanding of, people’s lives and work as government employees. . . . By making Gaza seem normal, Feldman enables us to see beyond the current headlines and fearful murmurings.” -- Rochelle A. Davis * Journal of Palestine Studies *“Feldman’s conclusion is powerful not just for her exploration of Gaza during these two important periods in its history, but for her keen insights about current conditions in the region relative to bureaucracy. . . . This book contributes to our understanding of Gaza from an under-explored level of analysis, and is also significant because it furthers our understanding of what it means to be a Palestinian from Gaza.” -- JoAnn Digeorgio-Lutz * Middle East Journal *“In her remarkable and thoroughly researched book, Governing Gaza, Ilana Feldman unravels the relational aspects that underpin the governing of Gaza through defining periods in its history. . . . Feldman uses archival materials, interviews, and in-depth historical analysis in her meticulous examination of patterns of governance. . . . Her thorough approach makes this book compellingly useful to policymakers, social anthropologists and historians. . . . Feldman’s book deserves a wide reading; it is modest in tone and acutely rigorous in argument and presentation.” -- Atef Alshaer * H-Net Reviews *“In revealing the regularity, singularity, contradiction, continuity, and rupture at the heart of governing Gaza, Feldman’s original and important book has much to teach scholars of the colonial and postcolonial world, as well as scholars concerned with the historicity and ethnography of government as such.” -- Omnia E. Shakry * American Historical Review *“This innovative and well-written book has brought to the fore immense detail, scholarly rigor of the first order, and a subtle but substantial political commitment that unearths the genealogy of adversity for residents of Gaza. . . . Feldman’s Governing Gaza, is a superb and imaginative piece of scholarship. As thorough and fascinating an ethnohistory related to Palestine as any other this reviewer has seen.” * Thomas Abowd Anthropological Quarterly *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Note on Transliteration xiii 1. Introduction: Government Practice and the Place of Gaza 1 Part One. Producing Bureaucratic Authority 2. Ruling Files 31 3. On Being a Civil Servant 63 4. Civil Service Competence and the Course of a Career 91 Part Two. Tactical Practice and Government Work 5. Service in Crisis 123 6. Servicing Everyday Life 155 7. Community Services and Formations of Civic Life 189 8. Conclusion: Gaza and an Anthropology of Government 219 Notes 237 Bibliography 297 Index 313
£25.19
Duke University Press Earth Beings
Book SynopsisConversing with Mariano and Nazario Turpo, father and son, Marisol de la Cadena explores the entanglements and partial connections between indigenous and non-indigenous worlds, and the ways in which indigenous knowing both include and exceed modern and non-modern practices.Trade Review"While theoretically sophisticated, the book’s concrete language and brief introductory asides make it suitable for advanced undergraduates unfamiliar with its core concepts." -- Carwil Bjork-James * Anthropological Quarterly *"Earth Beings is essential reading for those following current research on relational ontologies and the importance of other-than-human contributions to society (ayllu) by encouraging us to think about how beings, places, knowledges, and power interact, particularly in the Peruvian Andes, but in a way that is relevant to much of South America and beyond.... [T]he exceptional ethnographic narratives and the clarity of writing make this a monograph that could be incorporated into a senior undergraduate or, more likely, a graduate level anthropology, geography, environmental studies, political sciences, or Indigenous studies class." -- Katherine MacDonald * Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies *"De la Cadena's Earth Beings reads, from start to finish, as a labor of love. . . . Each page is dense with insights about the intricacies and challenges of collaborative politics." -- Emily Yates-Doerr * Medicine Anthropology Theory *"De la Cadena’s book is an important read and a profound application of contemporary theory to Quechua struggles in South America. It is a moving yet challenging read where the discussions, specifically on cultural politics and representation, can be applied in numerous Indigenous contexts to better transform the relational mode of interactions and divisions between nature, humans and other- than- human entities within a political realm." -- Agnieszka Pawlowska-Mainville * AlterNative *"Earth Beings is a powerful ethnography, the result of more than a decade of fieldwork in the Peruvian Andes.... [T]he reader can visualize the changes in the political opportunities for indigenous peoples in Peru’s political trajectory from liberalism to socialism to, most recently, the neoliberal multiculturalism of the new millennium." -- Anita Carrasco * American Ethnologist *"[T]his book is important and vividly written and deserves to be widely read for how it revalorizes and brings fresh insight to the Andean living earth as a subject of social relations." -- Peter Gose * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *"A remarkable feat of ethnographic writing with a keen linguistic sensitivity and a stunning accomplishment of cultural translation." -- Enrique Mayer * Journal of Anthropological Research *"A remarkable achievement, not only merely in the compelling case it makes for ecologies of nature-humanity practices, but above all, at the level of method and authorship, where it models a concept of anthropology as of colaboring and writing 'from' rather than 'about' a specific place and land." -- Valentina Napolitano * Hau: Journal of Ethnographic Theory *Table of ContentsForeword xi Preface. Ending This Book without Nazario Turpo xv Story 1. Agreeing to Remember, Translating, and Carefully Co-laboring 1 Interlude 1. Mariano Turpo: A Leader In-Ayllu 35 Story 2. Mariano Engages "the Land Struggle": An Unthinkable Indian Leader 59 Story 3. Mariano's Cosmopolitics: Between Lawyers and Ausangate 91 Story 4. Mariano's Archive: The Eventfulness of the Ahistorical 117 Interlude 2. Nazario Turpo: "The Altomisayuq Who Went to Heaven" 153 Story 5. Chamanismo Andino in the Third Millennium: Multiculturalism Meets Earth-Beings 179 Story 6. A Comedy of Equivocations: Nazario Turpo's Collaboration with the National Musuem of the American Indian 209 Story 7. Munayniyuq: The Owner of the Will (and How to Control That Will) 243 Epilogue. Ethnographic Cosmopolitics 273 Acknowledgments 287 Notes 291 References 303 Index 317
£21.59
Stanford University Press Woman Culture and Society
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsContents ROSALDO MICHELLE ZIMBALIST LAMPHERE LOUISE ROSALDO MICHELLE ZIMBALIST CHODOROW NANCY ORTNER SHERRY B. COLLIER JANE FISHBURNE LAMPHERE LOUISE STACK CAROL B. TANNER NANCY WOLF MARGERY HOFFER CAROL P. SANDAY PEGGY R. SACKS KAREN LEIS NANCY B. DENICH BETTE S. BAMBERGER JOAN PAUL LOIS O'LAUGHLIN BRIDGET
£22.49
Duke University Press Atmospheric Noise The Indefinite Urbanism of Los
Book SynopsisMarina Peterson traces entanglements of environmental noise, atmosphere, sense, and matter that cohere in and through encounters with airport noise at Los Angeles International Airport since the 1960s, showing how noise is central to how we know, feel, and think atmospherically.Trade Review“An exemplary experiment in compositional thinking and writing, Atmospheric Noise buzzes with conceptual and methodological inventiveness. Through the style in which it deftly traces the uneven emergence and refraction of urban noise across archives, concepts, bodies, regulations, and experience, Marina Peterson's book brilliantly performs its own argument about the importance of an ethos of informed listening. Atmospheric Noise should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in understanding and writing about the atmospheric conditions of worlds.” -- Derek P. McCormack, author of * Atmospheric Things: On the Allure of Elemental Envelopment *“Writing in and through the movements of people, butterflies, planes, and homes; the shifts in environmental discourse; and varied human-nonhuman entanglements, Marina Peterson brings us a story and a book that will resonate across fields for years to come. Original, compelling, and evocative.” -- Nicole Starosielski, author of * The Undersea Network *"Peterson’s prose is always lyric, tidal almost, but she sacrifices neither scholarly rigor nor theoretical ferocity in her pursuit of how sound gets us into questions, spaces, activities, constructions, and the politics of infrastructure. Atmospheric Noise is the story of a city remade (parts indeed sacrificed) around an airport, flight paths, and racket. It’s also the story of instrumentation, calibration, and how we both measure and experience what we claim to know. It’s a shining example of what, with care, ethnography can be." -- Gretchen Bakke * Public Books *"Peterson conceptualizes the act of listening as an intervention into the atmosphere, which originates these categories and definitions, while sound itself remains immaterial and unquantifiable. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals." * Choice *"Atmospheric Noise is an engaging and timely piece of scholarship. At its most successful, the work draws jarring, cacophonous resonances between the science and engineering of acoustics, urban political economy, governmentality, the metaphysics of sound, and the social construction of ecology and environment. It amplifies the possibilities of social science inquiry in its call for attunement to noise, to sound, to an atmospheric sensibility as method." -- Andrew Merrill * Public *"Atmospheric Noise is a rich and complex interrogation of urban noise, and there is much to engage readers interested in sonic philosophy, auditory culture, and histories of acoustics. . . . Atmospheric Noise offers an original account of how the sounds of Los Angeles airport came to shape lives, neighbourhoods, and the urban environment." -- Marie Thompson * Yearbook for Traditional Music *"This study offers researchers in fields including music, sound studies, urban planning, and American studies a model for the possible contributions of new materialism’s methodological assumptions. In doing so it invites readers and researchers to be sensitive to new attunements demanded by the changing (post)human onto-epistemologies supporting our own entanglements with the sonic in music and other regimes of tonality." -- Andrew J. Kluth * Journal of the Society for American Music *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Aerial Attunements 19 2. Noise Annoys 45 3. Environmental Imaginaries 77 4. Murmurs: Experiments in Glitching 105 5. Vibrating Matter 129 6. Indefinite Urbanism 155 Notes 185 References 207 Index 231
£18.89