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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology
Dialogue and the New Cosmopolitanism: Conversations with Edward
Demenchonok stands in opposition to the doctrine that might makes
right and that the purpose of politics is to establish domination
over others rather than justice and the good life for all. In the
pursuit of the latter goal, the book stresses the importance of
dialogue with participants who take seriously the views and
interests of others and who seek to reach a fair solution. In this
sense, the book supports the idea of cosmopolitanism, which-by
contrast to empire-involves multi-lateral cooperation and thus the
quest for a just cosmopolis. The international contributors to this
volume, with their varied perspectives, are all committed to this
same quest. Edited by Fred Dallmayr, the chapters take the form of
conversations with Edward Demenchonok, a well-known practitioner of
international and cross-cultural philosophy. The conversations are
structured in parts that stress the philosophical, anthropological,
cultural, and ethical dimensions of global dialogue. In our
conflicted world, it is inspiring to find so many authors from
different places agreeing on a shared vision.
Shinto, Nature and Ideology in Contemporary Japan is the first
systematic study of Shinto's environmental turn. The book traces
the development in recent decades of the idea of Shinto as an
'ancient nature religion,' and a resource for overcoming
environmental problems. The volume shows how these ideas gradually
achieved popularity among scientists, priests, Shinto-related new
religious movements and, eventually, the conservative shrine
establishment. Aike P. Rots argues that central to this development
is the notion of chinju no mori: the sacred groves surrounding many
Shinto shrines. Although initially used to refer to remaining areas
of primary or secondary forest, today the term has come to be
extended to any sort of shrine land, signifying not only historical
and ecological continuity but also abstract values such as
community spirit, patriotism and traditional culture. The book
shows how Shinto's environmental turn has also provided legitimacy
internationally: influenced by the global discourse on religion and
ecology, in recent years the Shinto establishment has actively
engaged with international organizations devoted to the
conservation of sacred sites. Shinto sacred forests thus carry
significance locally as well as nationally and internationally, and
figure prominently in attempts to reposition Shinto in the centre
of public space.
For research in linguistic anthropology, the successful execution
of research projects is a challenging but essential task. Balancing
research design with data collection methods, this textbook guides
readers through the key issues and principles of the core research
methods in linguistic anthropology. Designed for students
conducting research projects for the first time, or for researchers
in need of a primer on key methodologies, this book provides clear
introductions to key concepts, accessible discussions of theory and
practice through illustrative examples, and critical engagement
with current debates. Topics covered include creating and refining
research questions, planning research projects, ethical
considerations for research, quantitative and qualitative data
collection methods, data processing, data analysis, and how to
write a successful grant application. Each chapter is illustrated
by cases studies which showcase methods in practice, and are
supported by activities and exercises, discussion questions, and
further reading lists. Research Methods in Linguistic Anthropology
is an essential resource for both experienced and novice linguistic
anthropologists and is a valuable textbook for research methods
courses.
In 2007, while researching mountain culture in upstate South
Carolina, anthropologist John M. Coggeshall stumbled upon the small
community of Liberia, in the Blue Ridge foothills. There he met
Mable Owens Clarke and her family, the remaining members of a small
African American community still living on land obtained
immediately after the Civil War. This intimate history tells the
story of five generations of the Clarke family and their friends
and neighbors, chronicling their struggles through slavery,
Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the desegregation of the
state. Through hours of interviews with Mable and her relatives, as
well as friends and neighbors, Coggeshall presents an ethnographic
history that allows a largely ignored community to speak and record
their own history for the first time. This story sheds new light on
the African American experience in Appalachia, and in it Coggeshall
documents the community's 150-year history of resistance to white
oppression, while offering a new way to understand the symbolic
relationship between residents and the land they occupy, tying
together family, memory, and narratives to explain this connection.
The volume deals with the history of the concept of Arya and Aryans
in East and West, with the linguistic, textual and archaeological
evidence in South Asia and beyond. The terms Aryan and Non-Aryan,
corresponding to Sanskrit arya and anarya, can readily be shown
that among the literary traditions indigenous to South Asia have
always evoked strong responses, both positive and negative, as they
continue to do even today; but it can also be shown that while they
designate a boundary that is in some sense an ethnic one in the
Veda, in other literatures the distinction has a religious or moral
character. There have been reconsiderations and reinterpretations
of the terms within and outside of the academy. There is on the one
hand the established view of a migration of Aryans into South Asia;
on the other hand there are new voices calling the whole endeavour
fanciful, motivated by colonialism, "Orientalism", nationalism, or
something else. What is startling is that the criticism of the
status quo comes from completely different directions.
This impressive and inspiring volume has as its modest origins the
documentation of a contemporary collecting project for the British
Museum. Informed by curators' critiques of uneven collections
accompanied by highly variable information, Sillitoe set out with
the ambition of recording the totality of the material culture of
the Wola of the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea, at a time
when the study of artefacts was neglected in university
anthropology departments. His achievements, presented in this
second edition of Made in Nuigini with a new contextualizing
preface and foreword, brought a new standard of ethnography to the
incipient revival of material culture studies, and opened up the
importance of close attention to technology and material
assemblages for anthropology. The `economy' fundamentally concerns
the material aspects of life, and as Sillitoe makes clear, Wola
attitudes and behaviour in this regard are radically different to
those of the West, with emphasis on `maker users' and egalitarian
access to resources going hand in hand with their stateless and
libertarian principles. The project begun in Made in Niugini, which
necessarily restricted itself to moveable artefacts, is continued
and extended by the newly published companion volume Built in
Niugini, which deals with immoveable structures and buildings. It
argues that the study of material constructions offers an
unparalleled opportunity to address fundamental philosophical
questions about tacit knowledge and the human condition.
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