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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology
Fitful Histories and Unruly Publics re-examines the relationship
between Eurasia's past and its present by interrogating the social
construction of time and the archaeological production of culture.
Traditionally, archaeological research in Eurasia has focused on
assembling normative descriptions of monolithic cultures that
endure for millennia, largely immune to the forces of historical
change. The papers in this volume seek to document forces of
difference and contestation in the past that were produced in the
perceptible engagements of peoples, things, and places. The
research gathered here convincingly demonstrates that these forces
made social life in ancient Eurasia rather more fitful and its
publics considerably more unruly than archaeological research has
traditionally allowed. Contributors are Mikheil Abramishvili, Paula
N. Doumani Dupuy, Magnus Fiskesjoe, Hilary Gopnik, Emma Hite,
Jean-Luc Houle, Erik G. Johannesson, James A. Johnson, Lori
Khatchadourian, Ian Lindsay, Maureen E. Marshall, Mitchell S.
Rothman, Irina Shingiray, Adam T. Smith, Kathryn O. Weber and Xin
Wu.
In Bourdieu in Question: New Directions in French Sociology of Art,
Jeffrey A. Halley and Daglind E. Sonolet offer to English-speaking
audiences an account of the very lively Francophone debates over
Pierre Bourdieu's work in the domain of the arts and culture, and
present other directions and perspectives taken by major French
researchers who extend or differ from his point of view, and who
were marginalized by the Bourdieusian moment. Three generations of
research are presented: contemporaries of Bourdieu, the next
generation, and recent research. Themes include the art market and
value, cultural politics, the reception of artworks, theory and the
concept of the artwork, autonomy in art, ethnography and culture,
and the critique of Bourdieu on literature. Contributors are:
Howard S. Becker, Martine Burgos, Marie Buscatto, Jean-Louis
Fabiani, Laurent Fleury, Florent Gaudez, Jeffrey A. Halley,
Nathalie Heinich, Yvon Lamy, Jacques Leenhardt, Cecile Leonardi,
Clara Levy, Pierre-Michel Menger, Raymonde Moulin, Jean-Claude
Passeron, Emmanuel Pedler, Bruno Pequignot, Alain Quemin, Cherry
Schrecker, Daglind E. Sonolet.
If you drive through Mpumalanga with an eye on the landscape
flashing by, you may see, near the sides of the road and further
away on the hills above and in the valleys below, fragments of
building in stone as well as sections of stone-walling breaking the
grass cover. Endless stone circles, set in bewildering mazes and
linked by long stone passages, cover the landscape stretching from
Ohrigstad to Carolina, connecting over 10 000 square kilometres of
the escarpment into a complex web of stone-walled homesteads,
terraced fields and linking roads. Oral traditions recorded in the
early twentieth century named the area Bokoni - the country of the
Koni people. Few South Africans or visitors to the country know
much about these settlements, and why today they are deserted and
largely ignored. A long tradition of archaeological work which
might provide some of the answers remains cloistered in
universities and the knowledge vacuum has been filled by a variety
of exotic explanations - invoking ancient settlers from India or
even visitors from outer space - that share a common assumption
that Africans were too primitive to have created such elaborate
stone structures. Forgotten World defies the usual stereotypes
about backward African farming methods and shows that these
settlements were at their peak between 1500 and 1820, that they
housed a substantial population, organised vast amounts of labour
for infrastructural development, and displayed extraordinary levels
of agricultural innovation and productivity. The Koni were part of
a trading system linked to the coast of Mozambique and the wider
world of Indian Ocean trade beyond. Forgotten World tells the story
of Bokoni through rigorous historical and archaeological research,
and lavishly illustrates it with stunning photographic images.
Africa Reimagined is a passionately argued appeal for a rediscovery of our African identity. Going beyond the problems of a single country, Hlumelo Biko calls for a reorientation of values, on a continental scale, to suit the needs and priorities of Africans. Building on the premise that slavery, colonialism, imperialism and apartheid fundamentally unbalanced the values and indeed the very self-concept of Africans, he offers realistic steps to return to a more balanced Afro-centric identity.
Historically, African values were shaped by a sense of abundance, in material and mental terms, and by strong ties of community. The intrusion of religious, economic and legal systems imposed by conquerors, traders and missionaries upset this balance, and the African identity was subsumed by the values of the newcomers.
Biko shows how a reimagining of Africa can restore the sense of abundance and possibility, and what a rebirth of the continent on Pan-African lines might look like. This is not about the churn of the news cycle or party politics – although he identifies the political party as one of the most pernicious legacies of colonialism. Instead, drawing on latest research, he offers a practical, pragmatic vision anchored in the here and now.
By looking beyond identities and values imposed from outside, and transcending the divisions and frontiers imposed under colonialism, it should be possible for Africans to develop fully their skills, values and ingenuity, to build institutions that reflect African values, and to create wealth for the benefit of the continent as a whole.
We live in a globalized world in which a person in Burkina Faso can
identify with Star Wars heroes, and in which a New York trader
drinks the same Starbucks coffee as his Taiwanese counterpart. How
are individuals socialized in Rome, Bombay, and Tokyo? To answer
this question, a unique investigation has been carried out using
two scales of analysis usually tackled separately by global
studies: the scale of the cosmopolitan world and its global
narratives, imaginaries, iconographies; as well as the scale of
everyday life and socialization to otherness. This two-fold
perspective constitutes the innovative approach of this volume that
endeavors to address an operationalization of the cosmopolitan
perspective and reacts to current debates and new research
findings. With a Foreword by Natan Sznaider. This book was first
published in 2016 as Pluriel et commun. Sociologie d'un monde
cosmopolite by Les Presses de Sciences Po, Paris. Other editions:
the book is also published in Italian as Plurale e comune.
Sociologia di un mondo cosmopolita by Morlacchi editore, Perugia,
2018; and in Brazilian as Plural e comum. Sociologia de um mundo
cosmopolita by Edicoes Sesc, Sao Paulo, 2018.
Interdisciplinary research is a rewarding enterprise, but there are
inherent challenges, especially in current anthropological study.
Anthropologists investigate questions concerning health, disease,
and the life course in past and contemporary societies,
necessitating interdisciplinary collaboration. Tackling these 'big
picture' questions related to human health-states requires
understanding and integrating social, historical, environmental,
and biological contexts and uniting qualitative and quantitative
data from divergent sources and technologies. The crucial interplay
between new technologies and traditional approaches to anthropology
necessitates innovative approaches that promote the emergence of
new and alternate views. Beyond the Bones: Engaging with Disparate
Datasets fills an emerging niche, providing a forum in which
anthropology students and scholars wrestle with the fundamental
possibilities and limitations in uniting multiple lines of
evidence. This text demonstrates the importance of a multi-faceted
approach to research design and data collection and provides
concrete examples of research questions, designs, and results that
are produced through the integration of different methods,
providing guidance for future researchers and fostering the
creation of constructive discourse. Contributions from various
experts in the field highlight lines of evidence as varied as
skeletal remains, cemetery reports, hospital records, digital
radiographs, ancient DNA, clinical datasets, linguistic models, and
nutritional interviews, including discussions of the problems,
limitations, and benefits of drawing upon and comparing datasets,
while illuminating the many ways in which anthropologists are using
multiple data sources to unravel larger conceptual questions in
anthropology.
Jan Ken Po, Ai Kono Sho"" ""Junk An'a Po, I Canna Show"" These
words to a simple child's game brought from Japan and made local,
the property of all of Hawaii's people, symbolize the cultural
transformation experienced by Hawaii's Japanese. It is the story of
this experience that Dennis Ogawa tells so well here.
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.
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