Social and cultural anthropology Books

Book SynopsisThis is the long-awaited publication of a set of writings by the British philosopher, historian, and archaeologist R. G. Collingwood on critical, anthropological, and cultural themes only hinted at in his previously available work. At the centre of the book are six chapters of a study of folktale and magic, composed by Collingwood in the mid-1930s and intended for development into a book. Here Collingwood applies the principles of his philosophy of history to problems in the long-term evolution of human society and culture. This is preceded, in Part I, by a range of contextualizing material on such topics as the relations between music and poetry, the nature of language, the value of Jane Austen''s novels, the philosophy of art, and the relations between aesthetic theory and artistic practice. Part III of the volume consists of two essays, one on the relationship between art and mechanized civilization, and the second, written in 1931, on the collapse of human values and civilization lTrade ReviewReview from previous edition The appearance in print in a scholarly and scrupulously edited form of Collingwood's folktale manuscript is very much to be welcomed as something of an event in Collingwood studies. The editors have done a superb job in presenting the folktale manuscript in a highly accessible form and in linking it with a number of other previously unpublished manuscripts and papers on broadly connected themes. * Peter Johnson, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION ; The Re-Enactment of Self: Perspectives from Literature, Criticism, and Culture ; A Fieldworker's Philosopher: Perspectives from Anthropology ; In Defence of Collingwood: Perspectives from Philosophy and the History of Ideas ; PART I: ART AND CULTURE ; 1. Words and Tune ; 2. Observations on Language ; 3. Jane Austen (1921) ; 4. Jane Austen (?1934) ; 5. The Philosophy of Art ; 6. Aesthetic Theory and Artistic Practice ; PART II: TALES OF ENCHANTMENT ; 7. Fairy Tales ; 8. Three Methods of Approach: Philological, Functional, Psychological ; 9. The Historical Method ; 10. Magic ; 11. Excavating Cinderella and King Lear ; 12. The Authorship of Fairy-Tales ; Addenda to the Folktale Manuscript ; PART III: THE MODERN UNEASE ; 13. Art and the Machine ; 14. Man Goes Mad

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Book SynopsisThis is a pioneering cognitive psychological study of Ayahuasca, a plant-based Amazonian psychotropic brew. Benny Shanon presents a comprehensive charting of the various facets of the special state of mind induced by Ayahuasca, and analyzes them from a cognitive psychological perspective. He also presents some philosophical reflections. Empirically, the research presented in this book is based on the systematic recording of the author''s extensive experiences with the brew and on the interviewing of a large number of informants: indigenous people, shamans, members of different religious sects using Ayahuasca, and travellers. In addition to its being the most thorough study of the Ayahuasca experience to date, the book lays the theoretical foundations for the psychological study of non-ordinary states of consciousness in general.Trade Review... a great book ... it makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of consciousness ... The strength of the book lies in the rich descriptions and analyses of the ayahuasca experience ... deserves to be widely read by those who are seriously interested in understanding the nature of consciousness and reality. * Journal of Scientific Exploration *The experiences described in this book are quite literally mind-blowing and the cosmic vision it describes will be of great interest to TC readers. Highly recommended. * The Cauldron *It deserves to be read by anyone interested in religion, mysticism, and conciousness - and who is not? it should be required reading for psychologists, psychiatrists, and neuroscientists, because it shows how absurdly simplistic are the biochemical, darwinianm and genetic models now dominating mind-science. * John Horgan, Maps Vol XIII 2003 *Shanon's authorial persona is earnest, serious, straightforward, absolutely trustworthy. Antipodes is suffused with a sense of genuine adventure. * John Horgan, author of Rational Mysticism *Shanon's pioneering work * Thomas B Roberts, Northern Illinois University *Table of ContentsPROLOGUE ; GENERAL BACKGROUND; THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS; METHODOLOGY AND GENERAL STRUCTURE ; ATMOSPHERE AND GENERAL EFFECTS; OPEN EYE VISUALIZATIONS; A STRUCTURAL TYPOLOGY OF AYAHUASCA VISUALIZATIONS; INTERACTION AND NARRATION; THE CONTENTS OF VISIONS; THE THEMES OF VISIONS; IDEAS, INSIGHTS, AND REFLECTIONS; NON-VISUAL PERCEPTIONS; CONSCIOUSNESS I; TRANSFORMATIONS; TIME; MEANING AND SEMANTICS; CONSCIOUSNESS II; LIGHT ; STAGES AND ORDER; CONTEXTUAL CONSIDERATIONS; COGNITIVE PARAMETERS; DYNAMICS; A GENERAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE; CONCLUDING PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS ; EPILOGUE ; APPENDIX (QUANTITATIVE DATA) ; BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisWhat motives underlie the ways humans interact socially? Are these the same for all societies? Are these part of our nature, or influenced by our environments?Over the last decade, research in experimental economics has emphatically falsified the textbook representation of Homo economicus. Literally hundreds of experiments suggest that people care not only about their own material payoffs, but also about such things as fairness, equity and reciprocity. However, this research left fundamental questions unanswered: Are such social preferences stable components of human nature; or, are they modulated by economic, social and cultural environments? Until now, experimental research could not address this question because virtually all subjects had been university students, and while there are cultural differences among student populations throughout the world, these differences are small compared to the full range of human social and cultural environments. A vast amount of ethnographic and hTrade ReviewIn my opinion this is one of the major social science projects of the last 20 years. * Professor Elinor Ostrom, University of Indiana *Table of Contents1. Introduction and Guide to the Volume ; 2. Overview and Synthesis ; 3. Measuring Social Norms and Preferences Using Experimental Games: A Guide for Social Sciences ; 4. Coalitional Effects on Reciprocal Fairness in the Ultimatum Game: A Case from the Ecuadorian Amazon ; 5. Comparative Experimental Evidence from Machiguenga, Mapuche, Huinca, and American Populations Shows Substantial Variation Among Social Groups in Bargaining and Public Goods Behavior ; 6. Dictators and Ultimatums in an Egalitarian Society of Hunter-Gatherers - the Hadza of Tanzania ; 7. Does Market Exposure Affect Economic Game Behavior? The Ultimatum Game and the Public Goods Game Among the Tsimane of Bolivia ; 8. Market Integration, Reciprocity, and Fairness in Rural Papua New Guinea: Results from a Two-Village Ultimatum Game Experiment ; 9. Ultimatum Game with an Ethnicity Manipulation: Results from Khovdiin Bulgan Sum, Mongolia ; 10. Kinship, Familiarity, and Trust: An Experimental Investigation ; 11. Community Structure, Mobility, and the Strength of Norms in an Africa Society: the Sangu of Tanzania ; 12. Market Integration and Fairness: Evidence from Ultimatum, Dictator, and Public Goods Experiments in East Africa ; 13. Economic Experiments to Examine Fairness and Cooperation among the Ache Indians of Paraguay ; 14. The Ultimatum Game, Fairness, and Cooperation among Big Game Hunters

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Book SynopsisThis book challenges the widely held view that inmates create prison gangs to promote racism and violence. On the contrary, gangs form to create order. Most people assume that violent inmates left to themselves will descend into a chaotic anarchy, but that''s not necessarily the case. This book studies the hidden order of the prison underworld to understand how order arises among outlaws. It uses economics to explore the secret world of the convict culture, inmate hierarchy, and prison gang politics. Inmates engaged in illegal activity cannot rely entirely on state-based governance institutions, such as courts of law and the police, to create order. Correctional officers will not resolve a dispute over a heroin deal gone wrong or help kill a predatory rapist. Yet, the inmate social system is relatively orderly and underground markets flourish. In today''s prisons, gangs play a pivotal role in protecting inmates and facilitating illicit commerce. They have sophisticated internal structuTrade ReviewThis book has much to offer in terms of ideas and analytical contributions ... Many fields of study need to take notice of what this book provides. It is deeply relevant for anyone interested in prisons anywhere, but also to those working on organized crime and gangs, violence, ethnicity and race, governance, urban sociology and politics, economics and, even, international development and anthropology. * Graham Denyer Willis, Public Choice Journal *This is a remarkable study of a 'natural experiment' in the evolution of government. Put a couple of thousand men, not of the nicest kind, into close confinement with limited communication facilities and little government, and see what happens. What happens is government, based largely on ethnic gangs, with hierarchy, rules, and sometimes written constitutions. The basic problem to be solved is the management of the market for drugs, and solving that leads to genuine institutions. A great read. * Thomas Schelling, Nobel Laureate in Economics (2005) *David Skarbek has written a wonderful book. It is a gripping account of prison gangs, pointing to a wholesale re-thinking of the management of American prisons. But it is far more than this: if you care at all about ethnic politics, violence, and the emergence of social order, organizational theory and the problems of collective action-in short, if you have any interest at all in how societies govern themselves-you have to read this book. * Philip Keefer, Lead Economist, Development Research Group, The World Bank *David Skarbek's The Social Order of the Underworld can be read with great profit on each of three levels: it is an engrossing ethnography of American prison life; it is a penetrating economic analysis of the organization of the drug trade; and it offers an innovative theory of how an effective governing institution can originate in the wild and exert legitimate domination over its subjects. This book is a stunning achievement that makes me proud to be a social scientist. * David D. Laitin, Watkins Professor of Political Science, Stanford University *Meticulously researched and convincingly argued. Skarbek's book is an outstanding addition to our understanding of self-governance, its ubiquity, and effectiveness. * Peter T. Leeson, George Mason University, and author of The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates *Skarbek's study of California prison gangs offers delightfully fresh perspective on the relationship between underworld's informal institutions. He argues that gangs evolved as substitutes for another set of informal rules, i.e., systems of criminal codes. The rules constantly evolve to lower transaction costs and often stabilize interactions and reduce chaotic violence unrelated to business enforcement. This is a first rate and novel take on the structure of organized criminal enterprises. * Marek Kaminski, University of California, Irvine, and author of Games Prisoners Play *Drawing on economic theory, David Skarbek shows how social order can emerge in the most unlikely circumstances. In the nasty and brutish world of American prisons, gangs have emerged to govern the penal system, settle dispute and regulate the market for drugs. This is a story about the ingenuity of gang members and of institutional failure. The Social Order of the Underworld straddles all the social sciences to give us a masterly account of the human condition in the most harrowing circumstances. Add a vivid narrative style and the total absence of jargon, and you have in your hand a terrific book. * Federico Varese, Professor of Criminology, Oxford University *Skarbek shows how gangs have spread through the prison system in the United States. He argues, convincingly, that gangs offer protection and governance in places where established institutions fail, and that it makes sense for prisoners to join them. Mr. Skarbek's analysis confounds the assumption that prisons are stuffed with violent, racist thugs who act irrationally. The very logic of gangs' existence may be the key to constraining them. Reduce demand for their services, he argues, by locking up fewer people and making prisons safer, and their appeal would diminish. * The Economist *This is a thoughtful book that contains much of value, not least in the ways it surveys a mass of data and illustrates its central theme: how gangs operate as alternative governmental bodies within the American penal system. Skarbek uses a wide range of sources...to build up a nuanced and detailed picture of elements of the history, and much of the current organizational strategy of America's prison gangs. The Social Order of the Underworld is thought-provoking and challenging. * Tim Newburn, The London School of Economics and Political Science *A fascinating new book... * Matt Ridley, The Times *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; 1. Governance Institutions and the Prison Community ; Men's Central Jail ; 2. The Convict Code ; Death Row ; 3. The Rise of Prison Gangs ; My Brother's Keeper ; 4. Governance in the Society of Captives ; Background Check ; 5. The Internal Organization of Prison Gangs ; MacArthur Park ; 6. How Prison Gangs Govern the Outside ; Puppet ; 7. What Works? ; References

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Book SynopsisGenealogy has long been one of humanity''s greatest obsessions. But with the rise of genetics, and increasing media attention to it through programs like Who Do You Think You Are? and Faces of America, we are now told that genetic markers can definitively tell us who we are and where we came from.The problem, writes Eviatar Zerubavel, is that biology does not provide us with the full picture. After all, he asks, why do we consider Barack Obama black even though his mother was white? Why did the Nazis believe that unions of Germans and Jews would produce Jews rather than Germans? In this provocative book, he offers a fresh understanding of relatedness, showing that its social logic sometimes overrides the biological reality it supposedly reflects. In fact, rather than just biological facts, social traditions of remembering and classifying shape the way we trace our ancestors, identify our relatives, and delineate families, ethnic groups, nations, and species. Furthermore, genealogies arTrade ReviewAn erudite treatise about how culture drives human cognition about near and remote relatives, Ancestors and Relatives offers lay and academic audiences alike a great read. * Marta Tienda, Science *Table of ContentsList of Figures ; Preface ; The Genealogical Imagination ; Ancestry and Descent ; Co-Descent ; Nature and Culture ; The Politics of Descent ; The Genealogy of the Future ; The Future of Genealogy ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisJacob Kinnard offers an in-depth examination of the complex dynamics of religiously charged places. Focusing on several important shared and contested pilgrimage placesGround Zero and Devils Tower in the United States, Ayodhya and Bodhgaya in India, Karbala in Iraqhe poses a number of crucial questions. What and who has made these sites important, and why? How are they shared, and how and why are they contested? What is at stake in their contestation? How are the particular identities of place and space established? How are individual and collective identity intertwined with space and place? Challenging long-accepted, clean divisions of the religious world, Kinnard explores specific instances of the vibrant messiness of religious practice, the multivocality of religious objects, the fluid and hybrid dynamics of religious places, and the shifting and tangled identities of religious actors. He contends that sacred space is a constructed idea: places are not sacred in and of themselves, bTrade ReviewJacob Kinnard sets his sights on a place, and sits and watches that place over time, observing shifts in light, the movements of people cutting across the frame, and ultimately takes note of the ways people gather together. These chapters are like long exposure photographs, with the resulting image capturing the blurs of activity of many people for many purposes over time. By seeing places in motion, Kinnard also puts scholarship in motion. A rich take on space through time. * S. Brent Plate, author of A History of Religion in 5 1/2 Objects *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Preface: The Questions of Places ; 1. Place, Contestation, and the Complexities of Agency ; 2. Power Fallen from the Sky ; 3. The Polyvalent Padas of Vishnu and the Buddha ; 4. The Drama of Vishnu and the Buddha at Bodhgaya ; 5. Bodhgaya, UNESCO, and the Ambiguities of Preservation ; 6. The Power and the Politics of Emplacement ; 7. Public Space or Sacred Place? ; 8. Fences and Walls: A Not-So-Final Reflection On Preservations, Prohibitions, and Places in Motion ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisWithout overlooking the role of coercive force in the maintenance (or overthrow) of social structures, Lincoln argues his thesis with rich illustrations drawn from such diverse areas as Platonic philosophy, the Upanishads of India, ancient Celtic banquets, professional wrestling, and the Spanish Civil War. This wide-ranging interdisciplinary study--which draws on works in history, semiotics, anthropology, sociology, classics, and indology--offers challenging new insights into the complex dynamics of social cohesion and change. The second edition includes three new chapters, new images, and an updated bibliography.Trade ReviewDiscourse and the Construction of Society is a game changer-simple as that- and so a book that I've passed along to countless people over the years. Each chapter is an example of how the academic study of religion ought to be done if it is to be something other than well-meaning cheerleading or idle voyeurism (to name two roles Lincoln himself has time and again critiqued convincingly). Having a new edition, with new material, invites yet another generation to take seriously issues of power, identity, rank, contest, the past, the future, and the always crafty ways that we try to signify this world of ours. * Russell T. McCutcheon, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama *I read Bruce Lincoln's Discourse and the Construction of Society with pleasure and profit; he has the art of stating complicated ideas plainly without simplifying them, and the gift for finding telling examples; together these two qualities make his book engaging * and also useful. It is a kind of kit for thinking about society.James Redfield, University of Chicago *Offers a perspective on how different processes of orally delivered discourse can be used for the creation, maintenance, or disintegration of society. It raises our consciousness of the power of discourse, not only as narrative that informs but also as polemic that can create and destroy. * Oral History *Lincoln's works always bring a breath of fresh air, and this one no exception....His use and treatment of a multiplicity of fields make his work relevant to many disciplines, including the history of religions, anthropology, sociology, political science, and semiotics. Highly recommended. * Religious Studies Review *Discourse and the Construction of Society is a helpful monkey wrench for canonbusters, cultural and political activists, and other demystifiers of dominant discourse. In this cross-disciplinary study...Lincoln...examines the role of symbolic discourse and its ugly cousin, force, in constructing society. * Voice Literary Supplement *The book's heterogeneity is vivid and its author adroit - his sense of loose links among rituals of resistance from highbrow politics and lowbrow media events alike should make good classroom fare. * American Anthropologist *I read Bruce Lincoln's Discourse and the Construction of Society with pleasure and profit; he has the art of stating complicated ideas plainly without simplifying them, and the gift for finding telling examples; together these two qualities make his book engaging - and also useful. It is a kind of kit for thinking about society. * James Redfield, University of Chicago *Lincoln's splendidly eclectic cultural critique unveils both the conceptual rigidity and the flexible uses of classification in social and political life....An exemplary achievement, arrayed in arrestingly lucid prose. * Michael Herzfeld, Choice *Deserves to be widely read by people interested in social history. * Journal of Social History *A masterful and imaginitive argument for the centrality of symbolic action in modern societies. * P. Manning, Michigan State University *Table of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition ; Introduction ; Part I: Myth ; 1. Myth, Sentiment, and the Construction of Social Forms ; 2. The Politics of Myth ; 3. Competing Uses of the Future in the Present ; Part II: Ritual ; 4. Ritual, Rebellion, Resistance: Rethinking the Swazi Ncwala ; 5. Banquets and Brawls: Aspects of Ceremonial Meals ; 6. Festivals and Massacres: Reflections on St. Bartholomew's Day ; 7. Revolutionary Exhumations in Spain ; Part III: Classification ; 8. The Tyranny of Taxonomy ; 9. The Dialectics of Symbolic Inversion ; 10. The Uses of Anomaly ; Part IV: Affinity, Estrangement, Alterity [new] ; 11. The Mythic Sisterhood of Europe and Asia [new] ; 12. "We are all related": The Limits of Inclusion at a Lakota Sun Dance ; 13. Food, Filth, and Religious Community ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Acknowledgments ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe Indo-Europeans, speakers of the prehistoric parent language from which most European and some Asiatic languages are descended, most probably lived on the Eurasian steppes some five or six thousand years ago. Martin West investigates their traditional mythologies, religions, and poetries, and points to elements of common heritage. In The East Face of Helicon (1997), West showed the extent to which Homeric and other early Greek poetry was influenced by Near Eastern traditions, mainly non-Indo-European. His new book presents a foil to that work by identifying elements of more ancient, Indo-European heritage in the Greek material. Topics covered include the status of poets and poetry in Indo-European societies; metre, style, and diction; gods and other supernatural beings, from Father Sky and Mother Earth to the Sun-god and his beautiful daughter, the Thunder-god and other elemental deities, and earthly orders such as Nymphs and Elves; the forms of hymns, prayers, and incantations; conTrade Review...the ideal guide in a complex field of learning. * International Review of Biblical Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Poet and Poesy ; 2. Phrase and Figure ; 3. Gods and Goddesses ; 4. Sky and Earth ; 5. Sun and Daughter ; 6. Storm and Stream ; 7. Nymphs and Gnomes ; 8. Hymns and Spells ; 9. Cosmos and Canon ; 10. Mortality and Fame ; 11. King and Hero ; 12. Arms and the Man ; Elegy on an Indo-European Hero

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Book SynopsisThis timely book aims to change the way we think about religion by putting emotion back onto the agenda. It challenges a tendency to over-emphasise rational aspects of religion, and rehabilitates its embodied, visceral and affective dimensions. Against the view that religious emotion is a purely private matter, it offers a new framework which shows how religious emotions arise in the varied interactions between human agents and religious communities, human agents and objects of devotion, and communities and sacred symbols. It presents parallels and contrasts between religious emotions in European and American history, in other cultures, and in contemporary western societies. By taking emotions seriously, A Sociology of Religious Emotion sheds new light on the power of religion to shape fundamental human orientations and motivations: hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, loves and hatreds.Trade ReviewA Sociology of Religious Emotion is exactly the kind of specialist academic book that is usually overlooked by the celebrity combatants in the secular commentariat. If the book's arguments and its proposals for research are heeded, it might ground the wrangles about the proper place of religion. * Bernice Martin, Times Literary Supplement *I came away from this book better informed, and richer in understanding. My respect for these authors is considerable, because there is a real art to making academic research accessible; and this book did a good job of interesting me, a lay person, in a discipline I didn't know ... I felt wiser when I had finished A Sociology of Religious Emotion. * Gwen Adshead, Church Times *Riis and Woodhead's efforts here are essential for a field of study which has all too often trivialised the role of emotions in religious belief in an effort to understand society without the reflexivity and depth due unto persons. ... Riis and Woodhead stake out an important and highly recommended path for what will hopefully be a renewed interest in 'A Sociology of Religious Emotion'. * Grant Brooke, Scottish Journal of Theology *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Emotion - a relational view ; 2. Delineating religious emotion ; 3. Dynamics of religious emotion I: connections of self, society, and symbols ; 4. Dynamics of religious emotion II: disconnections of self, society, and symbols ; 5. The power of religious emotion ; 6. Religious emotion in late modern society and culture ; Conclusion ; Appendix: Studying religious emotion: Suggestions for method and practice

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Book SynopsisThis book offers an exciting new perspective on the origins of language. Language is conceptualized as a collective invention, on the model of writing or the wheel, and the book places social and cultural dynamics at the centre of its evolution: language emerged and further developed in human communities already suffused with meaning and communication, mimesis, ritual, song and dance, alloparenting, new divisions of labour and revolutionary changes in social relations. The book thus challenges assumptions about the causal relations between genes, capacities, social communication and innovation: the biological capacities are taken to evolve incrementally on the basis of cognitive plasticity, in a process that recruits previous adaptations and fine-tunes them to serve novel communicative ends. Topics include the ability brought about by language to tell lies, that must have confronted our ancestors with new problems of public trust; the dynamics of social-cognitive co-evolution; the roleTable of ContentsPART 1 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS; PART 2 LANGUAGE AS A COLLECTIVE OBJECT; PART 3 APES AND PEOPLE, PAST AND PRESENT; PART 4 THE SOCIAL ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE; PART 5 THE JOURNEY THEREAFTER

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Book SynopsisThe state of Israel was established in 1948 as a Jewish democracy without a legal separation between religion and the state. This state-religion tension has been a central political, social, and moral issue in Israel, resulting in a theocracy-democracy cultural conflict between secular Jews and the fundamentalist ultra-orthodox-Haredi-counter-cultural community in Israel. And one of the major arenas where such conflicts are played out is the media. An expert on the construction of social and moral problems, Nachman Ben-Yehuda examines more than 50 years of media-reported unconventional and deviant behavior by the Haredi community. He finds that not only have they increased over the years, but their most salient feature is violence. This violence is not random or precipitated by some situational emotional rage-it is planned and aims to achieve political goals. Using verbal and non-verbal violence in the forms of curses, intimidations, threats, setting fires, throwing stones, beatings, staging mass violations and more, Haredi activists try to drive Israel towards a more theocratic society. Most of the struggle is focused on feuds around the state-religion status quo and the public arena. Driven by a theological notion that stipulates that all Jews are mutually responsible and accountable to the Almighty, these activists believe that the sins of the few are paid by the many. Making Israel a theocracy will, they believe, reduce the risk of transcendental penalties. Like other democracies, Israel has had to face significant theocratic and secular pressures. The political structure that accommodates these contradicting pressures is effectively a theocratic democracy. Characterized by chronic negotiations, tensions, and accommodations, it is by nature an unstable structure. However, it allows citizens with different worldviews to live under one umbrella of a nation state without tearing the social fabric apart.Trade ReviewTheocratic Democracy is an excellent and deeply researched study of dissident religious subcultures, focusing on Israel's growing communities of ultra-Orthodox Jews. The book is hugely significant for understanding the future of the state of Israel, and of Judaism more generally. It also tells us much about the politics of religion and the nature of religious violence. This is a really impressive achievement. * Philip Jenkins, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities, Pennsylvania State University *Table of ContentsPart One: Outlining the Study Prologue 1. Theocratic Democracy and Cultural Conflicts 2. Religion, Politics and Haredim in Israel 3. Methodology: How Information Was Collected 4. The Printed Media: Making News - Constructing Realities Part Two: Haredi Non-Conformity and Deviance 5. Illustrative Events and Affairs 6. Theocratic Underground Groups 7. Themes of Deviance and Unconventionality Part Three: Culture Conflict in the Media 8. Life as It Should Be, The Right of the People Not to Know and Conspiracies of Silence 9. Examining 50 Years of Haredi Deviance Part Four: Discussion and Conclusions 10. Discussion: The Doctrine of Mutual Responsibility, Nonconformity and Deviance vs. Cultural Change and Stability 11. Concluding Summary and some Global Observations

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Book SynopsisJanice Perlman wrote the first in-depth account of life in the favelas, a book hailed as one of the most important works in global urban studies in the last 30 years. Now, in Favela, Perlman carries that story forward to the present. Re-interviewing many longtime favela residents whom she had first met in 1969--as well as their children and grandchildren--Perlman offers the only long-term perspective available on the favelados as they struggle for a better life. Perlman discovers that while educational levels have risen, democracy has replaced dictatorship, and material conditions have improved, many residents feel more marginalized than ever. The greatest change is the explosion of drug and arms trade and the high incidence of fatal violence that has resulted. Yet the greatest challenge of all is job creation--decent work for decent pay. If unemployment and under-paid employment are not addressed, she argues, all other efforts will fail to resolve the fundamental issues. Foreign Affairs praised Perlman for writing with compassion, artistry, and intelligence, using stirring personal stories to illustrate larger points substantiated with statistical analysis.Trade ReviewThis book deserves its broad public reception. No work on informal settlements can compare with the longitudinal breadth of Favela, and in this respect the work is an invaluable achievement. * Alessandro Angelini, CUNY Graduate Center, Social Forces Journal *A valuable and vivid study of life as it has been lived by the poor in one of Latin America's biggest cities. * Michael Reid, Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1: Deep Roots in Shallow Soil ; 2: Favela Chic, Favela Chique ; 3: Returning to Rio ; Four Decades, Three Communities ; 4: Catacumba ; 5: Nova Brasilia ; 6: Duque de Caxias: 3 favelas, 5 loteamentos ; 7: The World Goes to the City ; 8: The Metamorphosis of Marginality ; 9: The Meanings of Mobility ; 10: Disillusionment with Democracy

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Book SynopsisThousands of years ago, seafront clans in Denmark began speaking the earliest form of Germanic language - the first of six signal events that Ruth Sanders highlights in this marvelous history of the German language. Blending linguistic, anthropological, and historical research, Sanders presents a brilliant biography of the language as it evolved across the millennia. She sheds light on the influence of such events as the bloody three-day Battle of Kalkriese, which permanently halted the incursion of both the Romans and the Latin language into northern Europe, and the publication of Martin Luther''s German Bible translation, a People''s Bible which in effect forged from a dozen spoken dialects a single German language. The narrative ranges through the turbulent Middle Ages, the spread of the printing press, the formation of the nineteenth-century German Empire which united the German-speaking territories north of the Alps, and Germany''s twentieth-century military and cultural horrors. Trade ReviewAn approachable overview of the evolution of the German language and a history of its speakers. * eLanguage *Ruth Sanders has written a biography of the German language and its speakers for the generalist and the specialist. She punctuates the broad sweep of historical recollections with vivid vignettes of daily life, and she supplements insights culled from traditional linguistic and historical research with the latest findings of genetic and archaeological studies. Ancient cultures come tantalizingly close in this engaging narrative. * Katherine R. Goodman, Brown University *An ingenious telling of just how German emerged from the primordial Germanic soup, and how many other ways it could have been. * The Economist *For any scholar of linguistics, this book offers rich material. * Organiser, New Delhi *Specialists and the intellectually curious will find here a wealth of information; the book has a very widespread appeal...An excellent bibliography and plentiful unobtrusive footnotes make this a fine reference work. This is an exhilarating and enlightening read. * Catholic Library World *Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction: What this book covers ; Chapter One: Germanic Beginnings: Early Ancestors in Denmark ; Timeline : From the earliest settlements in northern Europe to the beginning of the Christian era ; Sidebars: ; 1. Indo-European: Protolanguage and culture ; 2. The First Sound Shift ; 3. Language contact and language change: The case of Finland ; Chapter Two: The Germanic Languages Survive the Romans: The Battle of Kalkriese ; Timeline: From the beginning of the Christian era to the end of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle ges ; Sidebars: ; 1. The Germanic tribes ; 2. The Goths and the Gothic language ; 3. The Celts ; Chapter Three: A Fork in the Road: Germanic languages separate into Low and High ; Timeline: From the beginning of the Middle Ages to the Protestant Reformation ; Sidebars: ; 1. The Second Sound Shift ; 2. The Vikings: Raiders, traders, and neighbors ; 3. The Germanen go to England: The Anglo-Saxons and the English language ; 4. Yiddish: The creation of a new Germanic language ; Chapter Four: A perfect storm, and the birth of Standard German ; Timeline: From the beginning of the Reformation to the beginning of the First Industrial Revolution ; Sidebars: ; 1. The Thirty Years' War ; 2. The Reformation ; 3. The history of European printing ; Chapter Five: The German language gets a state ; Timeline: From the Unification of Germany to the beginning of World War I ; Sidebars: ; 1. The revolution of 1848 ; Chapter Six: Postwar Comeback Times Two: German Begins to Recover after a Fall from grace ; Timeline: From the end of World War I to the present ; Sidebars: ; 1. Spelling Reforms ; 2. Early Germanic language in a deep freeze: The case of Icelandic ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAn interdisciplinary collection exploring the practices and cultures of mapping in the arts, humanities and social sciences. It features contributions from scholars in critical cartography, social anthropology, film and cultural studies, literary studies, art and visual culture, marketing, museum studies, architecture, and popular music studies. Trade Review"This collection gives a widely spread voice to the widening acknowledgement of what maps mean and do; how and where they occur. Comprising a series of related but distinctive, lively, well worked and critically engaging chapters, the book will find readers across a range of disciplines and subjects." - David Crouch, University of Derby, UK "Mapping Cultures offers a collection of innovative studies and theoretical essays, each confronting the diffusion of cartographic method and rhetoric throughout humanities and social science research over the past two decades. . . . [the book] is brimming with insight into the emergent mapping practices and vocabularies by which we might better resist authoritarian, anti-democratic practices, which themselves do work through mapping. And it helps clear a path by which researchers in the humanities and social sciences alike might better understand and express that ''it is not so much what people do with maps as it is what maps do with people'' (Wood, p. 300). For this alone, the book is an important bridge between the relatively recent innovations of critical cartography, in particular, and a host of other fields just as recently innovated by the methods and metaphors of cartography in general." - Cartographica 48 (2), 2013. "The book closes with a call for a more explicit critical reorientation towards mapping, and map use a project of the anthropology of cartography (D. Wood). This call seems to be still valid and one can admit that Mapping Cultures is a significant step towards achieving the goal. Readers from different disciplines will find valuable contributions both theoretical and empirical in the collection. For a tourism researcher or student, the book is thought-provoking for several reasons, not only because of the enhancing awareness of cartography in relation to areas such as cinema, music, travel..." - Tourism, Culture and Communication 12, 2013.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Mapping Cultures – a Spatial Anthropology; L.Roberts PART I: PLACE/TEXT/TOPOGRAPHY Critical Literary Cartography: Text, Maps and a Coleridge Notebook; D.Cooper Mapping Rohmer: Cinematic Cartography in Post-war Paris; R.Misek Cinematic Cartography: Projecting Place Through Film; L.Roberts Walking, Witnessing, Mapping: An Interview with Iain Sinclair; D.Cooper & L.Roberts Maps, Memories and Manchester: the Cartographic Imagination of the Hidden Networks of the Hydraulic City; M.Dodge & C.Perkins PART II: PERFORMANCE/MEMORY/LOCATION Urban Musicscapes: Mapping Music-making in Liverpool; S.Cohen Mapping the Soundscapes of Popular Music Heritage; P.Long & J.Collins Walking Through Time: Use of Locative Media to Explore Historical Maps; C.Speed Salford 7/ District Six. The Use of Participatory Mapping and Material Artefacts in Cultural Memory Projects; L.Cassidy PART III: PRACTICE/APPARATUS/CARTOGRAPHICS 'Spatial Stories': Maps and the Marketing of the Urban Experience; G.Warnaby Mapping My Way: Map-making and Analysis in Participant Observation; H.Andrews Mental Maps and Spatial Perceptions: The Fragmentation of Israel-Palestine; E.Ben Ze'ev Peripatetic Box and Personal Mapping: From Studio to Classroom to City; S.Moro The Anthropology of Cartography; D.Wood Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of public performance in everyday life, by the leading cultural and social thinkerThe Performer explores the relations between performing in art (particularly music), politics and everyday experience. It focuses on the bodily and physical dimensions of performing, rather than on words. Richard Sennett is particularly attuned to the ways in which the rituals of ordinary life are performances.The book draws on history and sociology, and more personally on the author''s early career as a professional cellist, as well as on his later work as a city planner and social thinker. It traces the evolution of performing spaces in the city; the emergence of actors, musicians, and dancers as independent artists; the inequality between performer and spectator; the uneasy relations between artistic creation and social and religious ritual; the uses and abuses of acting by politicians. The Janus-faced art of performing is both destructive and civilizing.

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Book SynopsisAn ethnography of magic-religious, medicinal and recreational tobacco use among nearly 300 native South American societies. Wilbert found that South American Indians use tobacco in many ways and that a close functional relation exists between tobacco and shamanism.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive study of Bedouin law, including oral, pre-modern law. It shows how a nomadic desert-dwelling society provides for its own law and order in the traditional absence of any centralized authority or enforcement agency to protect it.Trade Review“Clinton Bailey is an extraordinary master of Bedouin culture, bringing to us the beauty of Bedouin poetry and way of life. Now he has turned to a subject of equal fascination: Bedouin law, fashioned from the traditions of nomadic life and a keen sense of justice. Bailey’s book has deep meaning for anyone interested in distant cultures and in how the concept of law develops in a society.”—Anthony Lewis, author of Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment -- Anthony Lewis“Bailey confronts a central issue in Bedouin life: the ability to survive without a government and maintain legal traditions that contribute to social stability. There is no other comprehensive study in English that analyzes this phenomenon as thoroughly as Bailey’s.”—Ernest S. Frerichs, Brown University -- Ernest S. Frerichs"Bailey's book is not only original, but extremely important, as it broadens the range of literature available on the Bedouin."—Benjamin Saidel, East Carolina University -- Benjamin Saidel

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Trade ReviewSelected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine“Gilmore’s superb study achieves universal relevance precisely through its particularity—a goal often sought after but seldom achieved by anthropologists.”—Timothy Mitchell, author of Flamenco Deep Song

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Book SynopsisHow has one stone created empires, ruined lives, inspired lust and emptied wallets throughout history? A diamond version of Susan Orleans' "The Orchid Thief", this work aims to take you on a journey to the cold heart of the world's most unyielding gem.

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Book SynopsisWith complete coverage on Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, Culture and Customs of the Arab Gulf States is a must-have for every high school and public library shelf.Trade Review"This book on the Arab Gulf States is a fine addition to Greenwood Press's Culture and Customs of the Middle East series. The work is divided into eight well-developed chapters. . . . This work will be of considerable help to students interested in both the ancient and modern Arab Gulf States. It is able to give the reader a unique view into everyday life and the rich cultural heritage of the people of this region. It should be included in all libraries at all levels." - ARBAonline"Torstrick and Faier present a concise volume for students and general readers focusing on contemporary culture and life of the Arab Gulf countries, within an historical context." - Reference & Research Book News

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Book SynopsisStefan Berger is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Glamorgan, UKTrade Review'[Berger's] insightful guide over this slippery but crucial terrain convincingly shows how each different 'Germany' was dependent on its predecessors and contemporary events.' Choice 'It is overall an interesting, balanced, and very readable account of a fascinating and pertinent topic.' Central European History Vol 38, No 4

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Book SynopsisIn the celebrated Buffalo Woman Comes Singing, Brooke Medicine Eagle revealed her extraordinary spiritual odyssey from her first guided steps on the medicine path to her ongoing work as one of the most respected Native American teachers of the modern era. Now she shares a groundbreaking approach to spiritual transformation--by revitalizing the powerful ancient ritual The Ghost Dance.Four centuries ago, when European invaders were ruthlessly plundering indigenous cultures, a Paiute tribesman received a vision of hope and resurrection, given by Father Spirit, to help survivors of the onslaught create a beautiful new life in the face of defeat, broken dreams, and death. That vision was celebrated in an ecstatic ghost dance honoring those who had perished.Brooke Medicine Eagle explains how and why we are profoundly connected to The Ghost Dance. As she herself becomes initiated into the 'illusion of death' and the wisdom of 'heart-centered ascension,' she teaches us how to c

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved, offering a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is, how it came to be, and how this evolution still shapes all our lives today   “A page-turning whistle-stop tour of mammalian development that begins in the Jurassic Era, Eve recasts the traditional story of evolutionary biology by placing women at its center…. The book is engaging, playful, erudite, discursive and rich with detail. —Sarah Lyall, The New York Times “A smart, funny, scientific deep-dive into the power of a woman’s body, Eve surprises, educates, and emboldens.”—Bonnie Garmus, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Lessons in Chemistry   How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evoluti

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Book SynopsisSince the development of modern medicine, men have become increasingly involved in childbearing as obstetricians and, more recently, as fathers. This book argues that the beneficial contribution of men has been taken for granted. Certain changes to childbearing practice have resulted, which, together with men''s involvement, have been encouraged without any reference to evidence and without adequate opportunity for reflection.Considering the findings of recent research and wider literature, and using qualitative research with mothers the text examines: how men became increasingly involved in childbearing the medicalisation of childbirth the difficulties men experience with childbirth as fathers challenging situations, such as fathers'' grief the taken-for-granted assumptions that men's increased contribution to childbearing is beneficialThis text will be of great interest to academics and postgraduate students of midwifery, obstetrics, mediTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Cultures and Times 2. The Midwife and Medical Men 3. Fathers and Fatherhood 4. The Labour and the Birth 5. Becoming a Father After the Birth 6. Childbearing and Domestic Violence 7. Men and Loss in Childbearing 8. How to Help - The Midwife's Role 9. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisFeminist Therapy with Latina Women highlights the principles of feminist and multicultural counselling and therapy with Latinas and Latin American women, providing both theoretical approaches and applied frameworks. The authors are all experienced therapists and researchers with a deep understanding of the issues relevant to this particular population. In presenting their expertise, they discuss individual concerns and social context, applying it concretely to the personal and collective lives of Latina women. Chapters focus on the intersecting principles of feminism and multiculturalism, providing a much needed contribution to the field, with topics including domestic violence, eating disorders and body image, addictive behaviours, sexuality, immigrant and refugee experiences, and balancing the multiple roles of work and family.This book was originally published as a special issue of Women & Therapy.Table of Contents1. Integrating the Personal and Social Voices of Latinas in Feminist Therapy Debra M. Kawahara and Oliva M. Espín 2. Ni Pardo, Ni Prieto: The Influence of Parental Skin Color Messaging on Heterosexual Emerging Adult White-Hispanic Women’s Dating Beliefs Dionne P. Stephens, Paula B. Fernández and Erin L. Richman 3. Understanding the Role of Gender and Ethnic Oppression when Treating Mexican American Women for Eating Disorders Sue A. Kuba, Diane J. Harris-Wilson and Siobhan K. O’Toole 4. "I Have Not a Want But a Hunger to Feel No Pain" Mexican Immigrant Women with Chronic Pain: Narratives and Psychotherapeutic Implications Consuelo M. Flores, Diane C. Zelman and Yvette Flores 5. ..."An Illness We Catch From American Women"? The Multiple Identities of Latina Lesbians Oliva M. Espín 6. Cross-Border Family Therapy: An Innovative Approach to Working with Latina Refugee Women in Therapy Mirna E. Carranza 7. Understanding Latina Immigrants Using Relational Cultural Theory Elizabeth Ruiz 8. Empowerment Feminist Therapy with Latina Immigrants: Honoring the Complexity and Socio-Cultural Contexts of Clients’ Lives Carlos M. Díaz-Lázaro, Susana Verdinelli and B. Beth Cohen 9. Integrating Women’s Voices and Theory: A Comprehensive Domestic Violence Intervention for Latinas Julia L. Perilla, Josephine Vasquez Serrata, Joanna Weinberg and Caroline A. Lippy 10. Acceptability and Cultural Fit of Spiritual Self-Schema Therapy for Puerto Rican Women with Addiction Disorders: Qualitative Findings Michael Meléndez, Dharma E. Cortés and Hortensia Amaro 11. Latina Re-Visionings of Participatory Health Promotion Practice: Cultural and Ecosystemic Perspectives Linking Personal and Social Change Ester R. Shapiro and Celeste Atallah-Gutiérrez

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Book SynopsisPULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN NONFICTION • FINALIST FOR THE PEN/GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION • A stunning account of a colossal wildfire and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind from the award-winning, best-selling author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce • Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-FictionA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, TIME, NPR, Slate, and Smithsonian“Grips like a philosophical thriller, warns like a beacon, and shocks to the core. —Robert Macfarlane, bestselling author of Underland“Riveting, spellbinding, astounding on every page.” —David Wallace-Wells, #1 bestselling author of The Uninhabitable EarthIn May 2016, Fort McMurray, the hub of Canada’s oil industry and America’s biggest foreign supplier, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster melted vehicles, turned entire neighborhoods into firebombs, and drove 88,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the lens of this apocalyptic conflagration—the wildfire equivalent of Hurricane Katrina—John Vaillant warns that this was not a unique event, but a shocking preview of what we must prepare for in a hotter, more flammable world.Fire has been a partner in our evolution for hundreds of millennia, shaping culture, civilization, and, very likely, our brains. Fire has enabled us to cook our food, defend and heat our homes, and power the machines that drive our titanic economy. Yet this volatile energy source has always threatened to elude our control, and in our new age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in previously unimaginable ways.With masterly prose and a cinematic eye, Vaillant takes us on a riveting journey through the intertwined histories of North America’s oil industry and the birth of climate science, to the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern forest fires, and into lives forever changed by these disasters. John Vaillant’s urgent work is a book for—and from—our new century of fire, which has only just begun.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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