Search results for ""altamira press,u.s.""
AltaMira Press,U.S. Du Bois on Education
Although W. E. B. Du Bois was one of the most significant educational thinkers of the twentieth century, many are still unaware of his relevance in this field. DuBois on Education corrects this oversight by collecting Du Bois's major writings on education in one volume. Together these selections powerfully demonstrate Du Bois's commitment to racial educational equality and his contributions to educational thought. Raised in poverty himself, Du Bois combined public education with determination to become the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard. Yet he saw that education could be used to keep down as well as raise up. Arguing against Booker T. Washington and his accommodationist Hampton model, Du Bois called for a radical vision where a 'Talented Tenth' of college educated blacks would lead African-Americans to their highest possibilities. Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. in detailed introduction traces Du Bois's life as a student and teacher, plus his fights for educational equality throughout his life. He has also given each of the twenty-two selections included in this volume short introductions placing the pieces in their historical and critical contexts. Du Bois on Education is an important resource for classes in history, education, African-American studies, or for anyone wishing to understand the last 100 years of black American life and education.
£146.68
AltaMira Press,U.S. Gender and Social Movements
Do men and women experience participation in social movements differently? Are gender roles reproduced or undermined during a struggle for liberation? In this brief text examining gender roles in social movements, M. Bahati Kuumba shows how liberation struggles are viewed through women's eyes and how gender affects women's mobilization, strategies, and outcomes in social movement organizations. Using two well-known examples, the American civil rights movement and the South African national liberation movement, Kuumba documents the circumscribed roles of women, the unheralded role of movement leaders such as Ella Baker and Frances Baard, and how gender affected movement activities and results. Gender and Social Movements is the ideal text to introduce a sophisticated view of race and gender into social movement courses.
£140.69
AltaMira Press,U.S. Social Memory and History: Anthropological Perspectives
In Social Memory and History, a group of anthropologists, sociologists, social linguists, gerontologists, and historians explore the ways in which memory reconstructs the past and constructs the present. A substantial introduction by the editors outlines the key issues in the understanding of social memory: its nature and process, its personal and political implications, the crisis in memory, and the relationship between social and individual memory. Ten cross-cultural case studies—groups ranging from Kiowa songsters, Burgundian farmers, elderly Phildelaphia whites, Chilean political activists, American immigrants to Israel, and Irish working class women—then explore how social memory transmits culture or contests it at the individual, community, and national levels in both tangible and symbolic spheres.
£143.39
AltaMira Press,U.S. Gender and Governance
States are where the power lies, and power is gendered. With these simple statements, Lisa Brush turns a gendered lens on states, power, and governance, showing the inherent inequalities in political systems and gender systems and how they intersect. Her gender lens allows a clear assessment of the different effects state power and social polices have on men and women, highlighting both difference and dominance in the governance of gender. She then turns her eye on the way in which state power supports male dominance, the gender of governance. Her nuanced arguments supported by cases from the American and other western political systems will make this book a useful antidote to traditional textbooks on government, the state, politics, and social policy.
£138.73
AltaMira Press,U.S. Religions in Asian America: Building Faith Communities
The flux of Asian immigration over the last 35 years has deeply altered the United States' religious landscape. But neither social scientists nor religious scholars have fully appreciated the impact of these growing communities. And Asian immigrant religious communities are significant to the study of American religion not only because there are more than ten million Asian Americans. Asian American religions differ substantially from models drawn from European religions, pushing for new wider understandings. Religions in Asian America provides a comprehensive overview of the religious practices of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian Americans. How these new communities work through issues of gender, race, transnationalism, income disparities and social service, and the passing along an ethnic identity to the next generation make up the common themes that reach across essays about the varying communities. The first sociological overview of Asian American religions, Religions in Asian America is necessary reading for those interested in Asians, ethnicity, immigration or religion in the United States.
£143.64
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Power of the Machine: Global Inequalities of Economy, Technology, and Environment
Hornborg argues that we are caught in a collective illusion about the nature of modern technology that prevents us from imagining solutions to our economic and environmental crises other than technocratic fixes. He demonstrates how the power of the machine generates increasingly asymmetrical exchanges and distribution of resources and risks between distant populations and ecosystems, and thus an increasingly polarized world order. The author challenges us to reconceptualize the machine—'industrial technomass'—as a species of power and a problem of culture. He shows how economic anthropology has the tools to deconstruct the concepts of production, money capital, and market exchange, and to analyze capital accumulation as a problem at the very interface of the natural and social sciences. His analysis provides an alternative understanding of economic growth and technological development. Hornborg's work is essential for researchers in anthropology, human ecology, economics, political economy, world-systems theory, environmental justice, and science and technology studies. Find out more about the author at the Lund University, Sweden web site.
£137.65
AltaMira Press,U.S. Collaborative Programs in Indigenous Communities: From Fieldwork to Practice
Harrison's book is a valuable reference for developing collaborative programs between indigenous groups and outside experts. In it she outlines the process of program design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, for formal or pilot programs. The rich case study materials provides details on collaborative programs in economic development, education, social services, and health. Her book will be an essential tool in anthropological practice and research methods, for courses in ethnographic methods, comparative indigenous studies, multicultural education, and Native American studies. Visit the School of Maori and Pacific Development Web site at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
£143.51
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Chinese in America: A History from Gold Mountain to the New Millennium
This new collection of essays demonstrates how a politics of polarity have defined the 150-year experience of Chinese immigration in America. Volume editor Cassel relates how the well-publicized accusations of espionage against scientist Wen Ho Lee at the nuclear facility at Los Alamos can be understood as part of an ongoing systemic and institutionalized racism in American society. Chinese-Americans have been courted as "model workers" by American business, but also continue to be perceived as perpetual foreigners. The contributors offer engrossing accounts of the lives of immigrants, their tenacity, their diverse lifeways, from the arrival of the first Chinese gold miners in 1849 into the present day. The 21st century begins as a uniquely "Pacific Century" in the Americas, with an increasingly large presence of Asians in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The book will prove to be a valuable resource on the Asian immigrant experience for researchers and students in Chinese American studies, Asian American history, immigration studies, and American history. The Chinese in America is published in cooperation with the Chinese Historical Society of Greater San Diego and Baja California.
£67.11
AltaMira Press,U.S. In Her Mother's House: The Politics of Asian American Mother-Daughter Writing
Unwilling to see Asian American women silenced beneath the noisy discourses of feminists, cultural nationalists, and Eurocentric historians, Wendy Ho turns to specific spoken stories of mothers and daughters. Against reductive tendencies of scholarship, she places her own conversations with her China-born grandmother and her U.S.-born mother and her own readings of other Asian American women writers. She finds in the writings of Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Fae Myenne Ng not only complex mother-daughter relationships but many-faceted relationships to fathers, family, community, and culture. Always resisting the simplistic explanations, In Her Mother's House brings Asian American women's experience as mothers and daughters to the forefront of gender and ethnicity.
£131.34
AltaMira Press,U.S. Evolution In An Anthropological View
With characteristic intelligence, wit, and a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, C. Loring Brace brings together 35 years of work into a monumental statement on evolutionary anthropology. An advocate of integrated, four-field anthropology, Brace begins by asking: Which anthropological data can benefit from an evolutionary perspective, and which cannot? Succeeding chapters present path-breaking research on Darwinism, race, cladistics, phylogeny, Neanderthals, dentition, craniometry, fossil evidence, and cultural ecology that raise provocative questions for the entire discipline. Reworked and updated into an accessible whole, the chapters weave analyses of scientific data, intellectual history, and anthropological theory with both grace and rigor. Evolution in an Anthropological View will stand as a milestone of twentieth century anthropology, and essential reading for all anthropologists, and their students.
£136.86
AltaMira Press,U.S. Phytoliths: A Comprehensive Guide for Archaeologists and Paleoecologists
The study of phytoliths—inorganic silica remnants plants leave behind when they die and decay—has developed dramatically over the last twenty years. New publications have documented a diverse array of phytoliths from many regions around the globe, while new understandings have emerged as to how and why plants produce phytoliths. Together, these developments make phytoliths a powerful tool in reconstructing past environments and human uses of plants. In Phytoliths, Dolores Piperno makes sense of the discipline for both those working directly with phytoliths in the field or the lab as well as for those who rely on the results of phytolith studies for their own research. Including over a hundred images, Piperno's book will be of great benefit to archaeologists and paleobotanists in the classroom or the lab.
£152.13
AltaMira Press,U.S. Chinese American Death Rituals: Respecting the Ancestors
Death is a topic that has fascinated people for centuries. In the English-speaking world, eulogies in poetic form could be traced back to the 1640s, but gained prominence with the "graveyard school" of poets in the eighteenth century often stressing the finality of death. Chinese American Death Rituals examines Chinese American funerary rituals and cemeteries from the late nineteenth century until the present in order to understand the importance of Chinese funerary rites and their transformation through time. The authors in this volume discuss the meaning of funerary rituals and their normative dimension and the social practices that have been influenced by tradition. Shaped by individual beliefs, customs, religion, and environment, Chinese Americans have resolved the tensions between assimilation into the mainstream culture and their strong Chinese heritage in a variety of ways. This volume expertly describes and analyzes Chinese American cultural retention and transformation in rituals after death.
£98.90
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Chinese in America: A History from Gold Mountain to the New Millennium
This new collection of essays demonstrates how a politics of polarity have defined the 150-year experience of Chinese immigration in America. Volume editor Cassel relates how the well-publicized accusations of espionage against scientist Wen Ho Lee at the nuclear facility at Los Alamos can be understood as part of an ongoing systemic and institutionalized racism in American society. Chinese-Americans have been courted as 'model workers' by American business, but also continue to be perceived as perpetual foreigners. The contributors offer engrossing accounts of the lives of immigrants, their tenacity, their diverse lifeways, from the arrival of the first Chinese gold miners in 1849 into the present day. The 21st century begins as a uniquely 'Pacific Century' in the Americas, with an increasingly large presence of Asians in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The book will prove to be a valuable resource on the Asian immigrant experience for researchers and students in Chinese American studies, Asian American history, immigration studies, and American history. The Chinese in America is published in cooperation with the Chinese Historical Society of Greater San Diego and Baja California.
£99.76
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Inclusive New Testament
While The Inclusive New Testament is certainly an inclusive-language translation, it is much more: it is a re-imagining of the Christian scriptures and our relationship to them. Not merely replacing male pronouns, the translators have rethought what kind of language has built barriers between the text and its readers. Seeking to be faithful to the original Greek, they have sought new and non-sexist ways to express the same ancient truths. The Inclusive New Testament is a fresh, dynamic translation into modern English, carefully crafted to let the power and poetry of the language shine forth-particularly when read aloud-giving it an immediacy and intimacy rarely found in translations of the Bible. The Inclusive New Testament is also available together with The Inclusive Psalms or as a part of The Inclusive Bible.
£42.24
AltaMira Press,U.S. Museums in the Digital Age: Changing Meanings of Place, Community, and Culture
Museums in the Digital Age: Changing Meanings of Place, Community, and Culture showcases how the use of technology in museums should be understood as factors directly related to the museums’ notion of community, local culture, and place, whether these places are in mid-America, urban metropolises, or ethnically diverse and underserved communities. Here, museum expert Susana Smith Bautista brings more than twenty years of experience in cultural institutes in Los Angeles, New York, and Greece to propose a social understanding of why museums should be adopting technology, and how it should be adapted based on their particular missions, communities, and places. This book is timely because we are in the midst of the digital age, which is rapidly changing due to rapidly changing developments in technology and society as well, with social adaptations of technology. Theory is always racing to catch up with practice in the digital age, but theory remains a critical - and often neglected - component to accompany the practical application of technology in museums. In order to illustrate these points, the book presents five case studies of the most technologically advanced art museums in the United States today: ·The Indianapolis Museum of Art ·The Walker Art Center ·The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ·The Museum of Modern Art ·The Brooklyn Museum Each case study ends with a Lessons Learned section to bring these points home. While the case studies focus on museums in the United States, and also on art museums, this book is relevant to all types of museums and to museums all over the world, as they equally face the challenge of incorporating technology into their institutions. Although these case studies are all well-established and well-endowed museums, Bautista reveals valuable insight into the difficulties they face and the questions they are asking which are relevant to even the smallest museum or community cultural center.
£100.61
AltaMira Press,U.S. Globalization, Health, and the Environment: An Integrated Perspective
Leading health scholars reveal the impact of globalization on human health, as it is mediated through environmental change. They explore the destabilizing impact of globalization on the planet's ecology, and on the health of the human populations that are dependent on the delicate global bionetwork. Their timely case studies describe the cultural adaptations of indigenous populations to their changing environments, evaluating their technological and global political-economic processes. The authors analyze local and global public health strategies, examine the association between globalization and demographies, and offer creative solutions for future health policies. This book will be a valuable resource for professionals in international health, medical anthropology, sociology and geography, environmental studies, and globalization studies.
£89.46
AltaMira Press,U.S. Exploring Maya Ritual Caves: Dark Secrets from the Maya Underworld
Exploring Maya Ritual Caves offers a rare survey and explication of most of the known ancient Maya ritual caves in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. The caves were the Maya underworld, where rituals, including animal and human sacrifice, were carried out. The Maya cave cult and mythology, construction and modification of the caves, and cult art and artifacts are discussed. Chládek, an intrepid explorer, then describes important caves that he has recently visited and provides photos of their wonders.
£68.85
AltaMira Press,U.S. Legal Anthropology: An Introduction
Legal Anthropology: An Introduction offers an initial overview of the challenging debates surrounding the cross-cultural analysis of legal systems. Equal parts review and criticism, James M. Donovan outlines the historical landmarks in the development of the discipline, identifying both strengths and weaknesses of each stage and contribution. Legal Anthropology suggests that future progress can be made by looking at the perceived fairness of social regulation, rather than sanction or dispute resolution as the distinguishing feature of law.
£102.33
AltaMira Press,U.S. Chinese American Death Rituals: Respecting the Ancestors
Death is a topic that has fascinated people for centuries. In the English-speaking world, eulogies in poetic form could be traced back to the 1640s, but gained prominence with the 'graveyard school' of poets in the eighteenth century often stressing the finality of death. Chinese American Death Rituals examines Chinese American funerary rituals and cemeteries from the late nineteenth century until the present in order to understand the importance of Chinese funerary rites and their transformation through time. The authors in this volume discuss the meaning of funerary rituals and their normative dimension and the social practices that have been influenced by tradition. Shaped by individual beliefs, customs, religion, and environment, Chinese Americans have resolved the tensions between assimilation into the mainstream culture and their strong Chinese heritage in a variety of ways. This volume expertly describes and analyzes Chinese American cultural retention and transformation in rituals after death.
£64.66
AltaMira Press,U.S. Communities and Conservation: Histories and Politics of Community-Based Natural Resource Management
The distinguished environmentalists in this collection offer an in-depth analysis and call to advocacy for community-based natural resource management (CBNRM). Their overview of this transnational movement reveals important links between environmental management and social justice agendas for sustainable use of resources by local communities. In this volume, leaders who have been instrumental in creating and shaping CBNRM describe their model programs; the countermapping movement and collective claims to land and resources; legal strategies for gaining rights to resources and territories; biodiversity conservation and land stabilization priorities; and environmental justice and minority rights. This book will be of value to instructors, practitioners and activists in anthropology, cultural geography, environmental justice, environmental policy, political ecology, indigenous rights, conservation biology, and CBNRM.
£109.20
AltaMira Press,U.S. Handbook of Oral History
Originally intending to produce the first comprehensive scholarly reference guide to the antecedents, practices, and theory of oral history, the editors have gone even further, creating a highly readable and useful tool for scholars, students, and the general public. Covering the vast scope of this increasingly popular field, the eminent contributors discuss almost every aspect of a field that once was the province of historians but now has become increasingly democratized and available across numerous disciplines.
£157.15
AltaMira Press,U.S. Gaining Access: A Practical and Theoretical Guide for Qualitative Researchers
Gaining access is a critical part of doing research, not only because one must "get in" in order to gain information, but also because the quality of access affects what information is available to the researcher. Despite its importance, the literature on qualitative methods has not yet provided an extensive treatment of this issue. Gaining Access fills the void by offering useful, prescriptive advice on how to successfully enter different field settings for interviewing and observation. The detailed methodological guidelines presented by the authors are reinforced in a set of case studies by expert researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds on a wide variety of formal and informal settings, from working with ethnic minorities in Bosnia to studying prisons, sex workers, welfare offices, and the clergy. This book will provide useful ideas to experienced qualitative researchers as well as invaluable advice to novices conducting their first study.
£36.23
AltaMira Press,U.S. Longitudinal Qualitative Research: Analyzing Change Through Time
Johnny Salda-a outlines the basic elements of longitudinal qualitative data, focusing on micro-levels of change observed within individual cases and groups of participants. He draws upon his primary experience in theater education to examine time and change in longitudinal qualitative studies; contending that 'playwrights and qualitative researchers write for the same purpose: to create a unique, insightful, and engaging text about the human condition.' Offering sixteen specific questions through which researchers may approach the analysis of longitudinal qualitative data, Professor Salda-a presents a text intended as a primer for fellow newcomers to long term inquiry, based on traditional social science methods from traditional qualitative and quantitative paradigms, but enriched by an artist-educator's unconventional perspective.
£136.85
AltaMira Press,U.S. Gender and Governance
States are where the power lies, and power is gendered. With these simple statements, Lisa Brush turns a gendered lens on states, power, and governance, showing the inherent inequalities in political systems and gender systems and how they intersect. Her gender lens allows a clear assessment of the different effects state power and social polices have on men and women, highlighting both difference and dominance in the governance of gender. She then turns her eye on the way in which state power supports male dominance, the gender of governance. Her nuanced arguments supported by cases from the American and other western political systems will make this book a useful antidote to traditional textbooks on government, the state, politics, and social policy.
£39.66
AltaMira Press,U.S. Manufacturing Powerlessness in the Black Diaspora: Inner-City Youth and the New Global Frontier
Despite the economic utopianism brought on by globalization, effective solutions to the persistent plight of urban blacks throughout the African diaspora continue to elude scholars, politicians, and community leaders. Charles Green brings a decade of research and original fieldwork in Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States to investigate the interface of the historic racism faced by these urban communities and contemporary trends of globalization. Green pays particular attention to the condition of the youth, whose aspirations, vulnerabilities, and insights into their own conditions are central to the future prospects for their communities as a whole. Considering the impacts of economic restructuring and cultural diffusion alike, his analysis asserts the importance of both global ties and local distinctiveness. Ultimately, Manufacturing Powerlessness aims to encourage the formation of alliances throughout the diaspora so that urban black communities can manufacture a future of empowerment. Visit the author's web page
£39.66
AltaMira Press,U.S. GroundWork for Community-Based Conservation: Strategies for Social Research
While ecological and biophysical sciences have dominated the theory and practice of conservation, practitioners and researchers worldwide know that conservation initiatives have profound social impacts and consequences for local communities and cultures. This concise and accessible book will give students and practitioners a solid introduction to important methods from ethnography and interviews to surveys and community mapping, always attending to the imperatives of local control and community partnerships.
£37.95
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures: The Writings
As with the other volumes of The Inclusive Bible, The Inclusive Writings strives to ground its translation in tradition, while seeking to open the Scriptures to all contemporary readers. Following the division of the Hebrew Scriptures, The Inclusive Writings contain wisdom literature, poetry, histories, and prophecies. Together with Volume I: The Torah and Volume II: The Prophets, and this Volume III: The Writings completes the whole of the The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures.
£64.73
AltaMira Press,U.S. Clash of Cultures
In Europe it was called the Age of Discovery. To the rest of the world, it often meant slavery, epidemic disease, cultural genocide, and wholesale social and economic changes. What happened in the period when Europe first came in contact with the rest of the world? In this new edition of Brian Fagan's Clash of Cultures, the best-selling author offers a series of fascinating cases on the impact of cultural contact, including cultures such as those of the Huron fur traders, South African Khoi Khoi, Tahitians, Japanese, and Aztecs. Each case provides a description of the pre-European culture, the short-term impacts of European contact, and long-term changes caused by the clash of two cultures. Fagan also explores the many advances in the general literature on this period such as the 'people without history,' world systems analysis, and the debate over Captain Cook. Ideal for courses in cultural anthropology, world history, historical archaeology, ethnic studies, or area studies, as well as for the general reader.
£141.80
AltaMira Press,U.S. Every Living Thing: Daily Use of Animals in Ancient Israel
The agricultural world of Old Testament Israel swarmed with animals—birds, insects, fish, pack animals, pets, animals for hunting, and domesticated herds of sheep, goats, and cattle. Using information from the Bible, Ancient Near Eastern documents, anthropology, and archaeology, Borowski synthesizes what we know about the use of animals in biblical times for food, clothing, transportation, and even cultic practices. This comprehensive catalog is a convenient desk resource for any reader_whether biblical scholar, archaeology student, or layperson. Essays on pastoral systems, cult, and agricultural economics, makes this also an important tool for researchers.
£130.79
AltaMira Press,U.S. Economies and the Transformation of Landscape
The theme of this volume is change, specifically the dynamic relationship between physical landscapes and economic practices. The contributors to Economies and the Transformation of Landscape consider the relationship between the environment and human activity—from different perspectives and with regard to varied timescales—to arrive at various understandings of economical-ecological transformations and what they can reveal about human culture. While each chapter stands on its own, offering detailed insights into particular cases, the volume as a whole challenges us to think broadly, and reflexively, about how human action affects the environment and changes to the environment affect human action.
£132.08
AltaMira Press,U.S. Dead but not Lost: Grief Narratives in Religious Traditions
The dead are still with us. Contemporary therapists and counselors are coming to understand what's been known for millennia in most religions and in most cultures outside the Western milieu: it's important to continue bonds between the living and the dead. Taking these connections seriously, Goss and Klass explore how bonds with the dead are created and maintained. In doing so, they unearth a fascinating new way to look at the origins and processes of religion itself. Examining ties to dead family members, teachers, religious and political leaders across religious and secular traditions, the authors offer novel ways of understanding grief and its role in creating meaning. Whether for classes in comparative religion and death and dying, or for bereavement counselors and other trying to make sense of grief, this book helps us understand what it means to feel connected to those dead but not lost.
£141.76
AltaMira Press,U.S. Ocasi
Distinguished anthropologist George Marcus and his co-author Fernando Mascarenhas engage in a new experiment in anthropological writing. Ocasi
£152.48
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures: The Prophets
Following the ordering of the Palestinian canon, The Inclusive Prophets includes the twelve minor prophets along with the Isaiah, Jeremiah and the historical books of Samuel and Kings. This second volume of the Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures follows the same commitment to inclusiveness, justice and readability as the other volumes in the Inclusive Bible. Together with Volume I: The Torah, and Volume III: The Writings, this Volume I: The Torah completes the whole of the The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures. Together with Volume I: The Torah and Volume III: The Writings, this completes the whole of the Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures.
£64.11
AltaMira Press,U.S. Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone
When asked their religious identification, more people answer 'none' in the Pacific Northwest than in any other region of the United States. But this does not mean that the region's religious institutions are without power or that Northwesterners who do attend no place of worship are without spiritual commitments. With no dominant denomination, Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Jews, adherents of Pacific Rim religious traditions, indigenous groups, spiritual environmentalists, and secularists must vie or sometimes must cooperate with each other to address the regions' pressing economic, environmental, and social issues. One cannot understand this complex region without understanding the fluid religious commitments of its inhabitants. And one cannot understand religion in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska without Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest.
£108.15
AltaMira Press,U.S. Religion on Trial: How Supreme Court Trends Threaten Freedom of Conscience in America
The free exercise of conscience is under threat in the United States. Already the conservative bloc of the Supreme Court is reversing the progress of religious liberty that had been steadily advancing. And this danger will only increase if more conservative judges are nominated to the court. This is the impassioned argument of Religion on Trial. Against Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Chief Justice Rehnquist, the authors argue that what the First Amendment protects is the freedom of individual conviction, not the rights of sectarian majorities to inflict their values on others. Beginning with an analysis of the origins of the Constitution and then following the history of significant church-state issues, Religion on Trial shows that the trajectory of American history has been toward greater freedoms for more Americans: freedom of religion moving gradually toward freedom of conscience regardless of religion. But in the last quarter-century, conservatives have gained political power and they are now attempting to limit the ability of the Court to protect the rights of individual conscience. Writing not just as scholars, but as advocates of church-state separation, Hammond, Machacek, and Mazur make the strong case that every American needs to pay attention to what is happening on the Surpeme Court or risk losing the liberties of conscience and religion that have been gained so far.
£44.85
AltaMira Press,U.S. Gender in Archaeology: Analyzing Power and Prestige
This new edition of the first comprehensive feminist, theoretical synthesis of the archaeological work on gender reflects the extensive changes in the study of gender and archaeology over the past 8 years. New issues—such as sexuality studies, the body, children, and feminist pedagogy—enrich this edition while the author updates work on the roles of women and men in such areas as human origins, the sexual division of labor, kinship and other social structures, state development, and ideology. Nelson provides examples from gender-specific archaeological studies worldwide to examine such traditional myths as woman the gatherer, the goddess hypothesis, and the Amazon warriors, replacing them with a more nuanced, informed treatment of gender based on the latest research. She also examines the structure of the archaeology in her attempt to understand and change a discipline that has made women all but invisible both as researchers and objects of research. Honored as a Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Book, Nelson's work will continue to be the benchmark for archaeologists interested in gender as a subject of research and in the profession.
£141.28
AltaMira Press,U.S. Researching Paganisms
Should researchers of spirituality and religion be distantly 'objective,' or engaged and active participants? The traditional paradigm of 'methodological agnosticism' is increasingly challenged as researchers emphasize the benefits of direct participation for understanding beliefs and practices. Should academic researchers 'go native,' participating as 'insiders' in engagements with the 'supernatural,' experiencing altered states of of consciousness? How do academics negotiate the fluid boundaries between worlds and meanings which may change their own beliefs? Should their own experiences be part of academic reports? Researching Paganisms presents reflective and engaging accounts of issues in the academic study of religion confronted by anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, historians and religious studies scholars_as researchers and as humans_as they study contemporary Pagan religions. The insights that contributors gain, with resultant changes to their own lives, will fascinate not only other scholars of Pagan religions, but scholars of any religion and indeed anyone who grapples with issues of reflexive research.
£140.43
AltaMira Press,U.S. Healing by Hand: Manual Medicine and Bonesetting in Global Perspective
Anthropologists have routinely overlooked the practice of body therapists, one of the primary providers of 'traditional' medicine. Healing by Hand presents the first cross-cultural primer on manual medicine studies. As a particular modality of healing, manual medicine has reached a high level of popularity and importance as its practitioners investigate the body's important capacities for self-healing. The authors describe how manual medicine takes numerous forms across the world's communities, in urban and rural, as well as Western and non-Western, contexts, in individual and community lives. Though frequently overshadowed and challenged by allopathic practitioners, body workers continue to help the sick and injured reach their health goals. In this book, the individual ethnographic analyses of manual medicine describe beliefs and practices about healing, physical and psychological states, and the relation between culture and health. Given the therapeutic training of many of the authors, Healing by Hand should be a fascinating resource for manual practitioners of western medicine, including massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors, and osteopaths, as well as those with traditional training. It is especially recommended for various courses such as Medical Anthropology, Health and Human Culture, Technology and the Developing World, Sociology of Health, International Health, and Health Care Systems.
£146.26
AltaMira Press,U.S. Reading Native American Women: Critical/Creative Representations
This new collection reveals the vitality of the intellectual and creative work of Native women today. The authors examine the avenues that Native American women have chosen for creative, cultural, and political expressions, and discuss the points of convergence between Native American feminisms and other feminisms. Individual contributors articulate their positions around issues such as identity, community, sovereignty, culture, and representation. This engaging volume crystallizes the myriad realities that inform the authors' intellectual work, and clarifies the sources of inspiration for their roles as individuals and indigenous intellectuals, reaffirming their paramount commitment to their communities and Nations. It will be of great value to Native writers as well as instructors and students in Native American studies, women's studies, anthropology, cultural studies, literature, and writing and composition.
£58.40
AltaMira Press,U.S. Anthropology and Migration: Essays on Transnationalism, Ethnicity, and Identity
Brettell's new book provides new insight into the processes of migration and transnationalism from an anthropological perspective. It has been estimated at the turn of the millennium that 160 million people are living outside of their country of birth or citizenship. The author analyzes macro and micro approaches to migration theory, utilizing her extensive fieldwork in Portugal as well as research in Germany, Brazil, France, the United States and Canada. Key issues she discusses include: the value of immigrant incorporation vs. assimilation models; the impacts on individual, household and community as well as institutions and states; the role of ethnicity and ethnic groups; the effects of clandestine or illegal immigration; the differing commitments to host vs. sending communities; the shift from city enclaves to suburban areas; the constraints and opportunities that lead to ethnic entrepreneurship; the role of religion in transnational linkages; and the differing experiences of men and women as migrants. Brettell also explores the relevance of life histories and oral narratives in understanding the immigration process and the mediation of boundaries in a new society. This book provides a fresh perspective on the contemporary experience of migration and will be indispensable to instructors and researchers in anthropology, race and ethnic studies, immigration studies, urban studies, sociology, and international relations.
£143.51
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Portable Postmodernist
In The Portable Postmodernist, Arthur Asa Berger introduces key concepts written by postmodernism's leading theorists including Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Jameson. This collage of influential writing is followed by Berger's concise, accessible comments. Written for the newcomer, Berger's lucid explanations define the postmodernism's most elusive ideas. Organized in fifty segments, the book runs the gamut from postmodern architecture to feminism to punk music. Berger weaves these diverse topics together, exploring and challenging postmodernism's role in popular culture. This highly-readable book is essential reading for students and anyone interested in media, social, and cultural studies.
£49.46
AltaMira Press,U.S. A Cosmos in Stone: Interpreting Religion and Society Through Rock Art
J. David Lewis-Williams is world renowned for his work on the rock art of Southern Africa. In this volume, Lewis-Williams describes the key steps in his evolving journey to understand these images painted on stone. He describes the development of technical methods of interpreting rock paintings of the 1970s, shows how a growing understanding of San mythology, cosmology, and ethnography helped decode the complex paintings, and traces the development of neuropsychological models for understanding the relationship between belief systems and rock art. The author then applies his theories to the famous rock paintings of prehistoric Western Europe in an attempt to develop a comprehensive theory of rock art. For students of rock art, archaeology, ethnography, comparative religion, and art history, Lewis-Williams' book will be a provocative read and an important reference.
£155.96
AltaMira Press,U.S. Chronicling Cultures: Long-Term Field Research in Anthropology
Some field sites have hosted anthropologists for as long as half a century. Chronicling Cultures collects articles from principals of many of the longest and best-known anthropology projects from four continents—the Kung, Harvard Chiapas Project, Gwembe Valley, Tzintzuntzan, and Navajo among others. These projects have brought a new understanding of change and persistence in communities over time. They have forced researchers to develop methods of involving local communities in research, of using data over generations of scholars, and of resolving ethical issues of research versus advocacy. The projects range from individual scholars who return "home" year after year to large-scale institutionalized projects involving many researchers and numerous studies. This volume will be an important addition to the literature on fieldwork, on the history of ethnology, and on ethnographers' role in their host cultures.
£66.05
AltaMira Press,U.S. Feminist Narratives and the Sociology of Religion
Despite the steady growth of feminism in sociology, little attention has been paid to feminist research on religion. Nason-Clark and Neitz begin to fill this gap, asking leading feminist sociologists of religion to reflect on their work and lives. In addition, the editors include responses from the next generation of feminist sociologists of religion to see how their experiences differ from those of their teachers. The essays show how these feminist scholars construct narratives of their lives and work even among contradictions and interruptions. They show how the researcher, the researched and the research method are all closely intertwined. And they show how these researchers strive to make heard the voices of those they have chosen to study. Feminist Narratives and the Sociology of Religion is an essential text to see how feminist perspectives shape this field. Published in cooperation with the Association for the Sociology of Religion
£54.10
AltaMira Press,U.S. Talking About Cultural Diversity in Your Church: Gifts and Challenges
In the Great Commission, Jesus told his followers to 'go and make disciples of all nations'. But today, you don't need to be a missionary in another country to come across different cultures. In your neighborhood, school, workplace, and shopping area you probably run across many people with backgrounds vastly different from your own. To have an effective ministry in the U.S. today, outside or inside the church, Christians need to be aware of how people's culture affects the ways they think and live. Talking about Cultural Diversity in Your Church gives classes, workshops, or small groups the opportunity to discuss issues of multiculturalism. Presenting what culture means in the first part of the book shows how understanding and misunderstandings of culture affect American society. This beginning section encourages readers to be aware of their own cultural assumptions and how these assumptions color relations with others. It then highlights special skills for communicating between cultures and highlights the special challenges for religion in a pluralistic society. But the heart of the book is eleven case studies with discussion questions. These concrete cases allow participants to see about how their understandings of culture have real world implications. And the discussion questions let participants talk in meaningful ways about these difficult issues. If you want a useful discussion about multiculturalism in your congregation, you should take a look at Talking about Cultural Diversity in Your Church. Visit the author's web page
£125.61
AltaMira Press,U.S. Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture
Cultural Materialism, published in 1979, was Marvin Harris's first full-length explication of the theory with which his work has been associated. While Harris has developed and modified some of his ideas over the past two decades, generations of professors have looked to this volume as the essential starting point for explaining the science of culture to students. Now available again after a hiatus, this edition of Cultural Materialism contains the complete text of the original book plus a new introduction by Orna and Allen Johnson that updates his ideas and examines the impact that the book and theory have had on anthropological theorizing.
£144.00
AltaMira Press,U.S. The Zimbabwe Culture: Origins and Decline of Southern Zambezian States
Offering a unique and original perspective on the rise and fall of indigenous states of southern Zambezia, The Zimbabwe Culture analyzes the long contentious history of the remains of the remarkable cyclopean masonry, ranging from mighty capitals of traditional kings to humble farmsteads. Forming a cornerstone of the geographical lore of Africa in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, debate on the origins, development, and collapse of the Zimbabwe culture has never ceased, and with increasing archaeological research over the twentieth century, has become more complex. Thoroughly examining the growth and decline of pre-colonial states on the entire Zimbabwean Plateau and southern Zambezia, Dr. Pikirayi has contributed tremendously towards the archaeological understanding of this extraordinary culture. The Zimbabwe Culture is essential reading for all students and avocationalists of African archaeology, history, and culture.
£157.96
AltaMira Press,U.S. Ancient Maya Political Economies
Ancient Maya Political Economies examines variation in systems of economic production and exchange and how these systems supported the power networks that integrated Maya society. Chapters in this book take a hard look at existing models of elite exchange and tribute and address the difficult question of how the flow of utilitarian goods supported Maya kingdoms and their ruling classes. Using models originally developed by William L. Rathje, the authors explore core-periphery relations, the use of household analysis to reconstruct political economy, and evidence for market development. In doing so, they challenge the conventional wisdom of decentralized Maya political authority and replace it with a more complex view of the political economic foundations of Maya civilization.
£158.19