More than a quarter of a century has passed since the first Southeast Asian refugees arrived in this country, but because of their age and formidable language barriers, many elders have difficulty making their voices heard. Language barriers, family privacy, and social isolation have made it almost impossible for their experiences to be shared outside the family and community. Elder Voices helps to understand the family life of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, and Hmong refugees from the perspective of the oldest generation. Their stories are composed of complex family narratives that help us understand the ways in which migration and resettlement processes are experienced. The forty life histories of Southeast Asian elders gathered for this study collectively reveal personal perspectives on new immigrant family adaptation to American life at the end of the twentieth century. This volume is a great resource for anyone interested in Southeast Asian families in America.

What it means to be a Jew lies at the very heart of "Confessions of a Secular Jew," a provocative memoir and a thoughtful speculation on the nature of Jewish identity and experience in an increasingly secular world. The legacy bequeathed to Eugene Goodheart was a "progressive" secular Yiddish education which identified Jewish struggles against oppression with working class struggles against exploitation. In the vanguard was the Soviet Union. Goodheart's heroes were Moses, Bar Kochbah, Judah Maccabee, Karl Marx and that strange honorary Jew, Joseph Stalin, whose anti-Semitism would later become known to the world. "Confessions of a Secular Jew" is the story of Goodheart's disillusionment with the naive, even false, progressivism of that education. At the same time, it is an attempt to rescue and come to grips with the positive remains of that education and heritage. In the introduction to the new Transaction edition of his memoir, Goodheart addresses the themes of social justice, Zionism, chosenness, messianism, and alienation from a secular Jewish perspective. The memoir takes the reader from Goodheart's coming of age in Brooklyn to his higher education at Columbia College in the early fifties and beyond to his varied career as university teacher and literary critic. The memoir provides memorable characterizations of writers whom he knew, among them Lionel Trilling (his teacher), Saul Bellow, Richard Wright (whom he met in Paris), Hannah Arendt, and Philip Rahv.

"The Survival of a Counterculture" is a lively, engaging look into the ways communards, or people who live in communes, maintain, modify, use, and otherwise live with their convictions while they attempt to get through the problems of everyday life. Communal families shape their norms to the circumstances they live with, just as on a larger scale nations and major institutions also shape their ideologies to the pressures of circumstance they feel. With a new introduction by the author that brings his work up to date, this volume raises important questions regarding sociological theory.

This intercultural communication text reader brings together the many dimensions of ethnic and cultural identity and shows how they are communicated in everyday life. Introducing and applying key concepts, theories, and approaches_from empirical to ethnographic_a wide variety of essays look at the experiences of African Americans, Asians, Asian Americans, Latino/as, and Native Americans, as well as many cultural groups. The authors also explore issues such as gender, race, class, spirituality, alternative lifestyles, and inter- and intra-ethnic identity. Sites of analysis range from movies and photo albums to beauty salons and Deadhead concerts.

First published in 1939 by Routledge, this classic ethnography portrays the aboriginal woman as she really is - a complex social personality with her own prerogatives, duties, problems, beliefs, rituals and point of view. This groundbreaking and enduring study was researched in North-West Australia between 1935 and 1936 and was written by a woman who truly pioneered the study of gender in anthropology

Exploring sensitive issues often hidden to outsiders, this engaging study traces the transformation and economic development of a south China village during the first tumultuous decade of reform. Drawing on a wealth of intimate detail, Ku explores the new sense of risk and mood of insecurity experienced in the post-reform era in Ku Village, a typical hamlet beyond the margins of richer suburban areas or fertile farmland. Villagers' dissatisfaction revolves around three key issues: the rising cost of living, mounting agricultural expenses, and the forcible implementation of birth-control quotas. Faced with these daunting problems, villagers have developed an array of strategies. Their weapons include resisting policies they consider unreasonable by disregarding fees, evading taxes, and ignoring strict family planning regulations; challenging the rationale of official policies and the legitimacy of the local government and its officials; and reestablishing clan associations to supercede local Party authority. Using lively everyday narratives and compelling personal stories, Ku argues that rural people are not in fact powerless and passive; instead they have their own moral system that informs their everyday family lives, work, and political activities. Their code embodies concepts of fairness and justice, a concrete definition of the relationship between the state and its citizens, an understanding of the boundaries and responsibilities of each party, and a clear notion of what constitutes good and bad government and officials. On the basis of these principles, they may challenge existing policies and deny the authority of officials and the government, thereby legitimizing their acts of self-defense. Through his richly realized ethnography, Ku shows the reader a world of memorable, fully realized individuals striving to control their fate in an often arbitrary world.

Contents:
1 Introduction, 2 An Ethnographic Gaze: Scenes in the Anthropological Life of Timothy Asch, 3 Man, A Course of Study: Situating Tim Asch's Pedagogy and Ethnographic Films, 4 At the Beginning: Tim Asch in the Early Sixties,5 Efforts and Events in a Long Collaboration: Working with Tim Asch on Ethnographic Films on Roti in Eastern Indonesia, 6 From Event to Ethnography: Film-making and Ethnographic Research in Tana 'Ai Flores (Eastern Indonesia), 7 The Consequences of Conation: Pedagogy and the Inductive Films of an Ethical Film-maker, 8 Producing Culture: Shifting Representations of Social Theory in the Films of Tim Asch, 9 Subjects, Images, Voices: Representing Gender in Ethnographic Film, 10 Timothy Asch, the Rise of Visual Anthropology, and the Human Studies Film Archive, 11 Tim Asch, Otherness and Film Reception, 12 What Really Happened: A Reassessment of The Ax Fight, 13 The Ax Fight on CD-ROM, 14 Person, Event, and the Location of the Cinematic Subject in Timothy Asch's Films on Indonesia

Social anthropology is, in the classic definition, dedicated to the study of distant civilizations in their traditional and contemporary forms. But there is a larger aspiration: the comparative study of all human societies in the light of those challengingly unfamiliar beliefs and customs that expose our own ethnocentric limitations and put us in our place within the wider gamut of the world's civilizations. Thematically guided by social setting and cultural expression of identity, Social and Cultural Anthropology in Perspective is a dynamic and highly acclaimed introduction to the field of social anthropology, which also examines its links with cultural anthropology. A challenging new introduction critically surveys the latest trends, pointing to weaknesses as well as strengths.

Presented in a clear, lively, and entertaining fashion, this volume offers a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to social anthropology for use by teachers and students. Skillfully weaving together theory and ethnographic data, author Ioan M. Lewis advocates an eclectic approach to anthropology. He combines the strengths of British structural-functionalism with the leading ideas of Marx, Freud, and Levi-Strauss while utilizing the methods of historians, political scientists, and psychologists. One of Lewis' particular concerns is to reveal how insights from "traditional" cultures illuminate what we take for granted in contemporary industrial and post-industrial society. He also shows how, in the pluralist world in which we live, those who study "other" cultures ultimately learn about themselves. Social anthropology is thus shown to be as relevant today as it has been in the past.

What does it mean to be white? This remains the question at large in the continued effort to examine how white racial identity is constructed and how systems of white privilege operate in everyday life. White Out brings together the original work of leading scholars across the disciplines of sociology, philosophy, history and anthropology to give readers an important and cutting-edge study of "whiteness".
This landmark collection moves beyond the personal narratives and surface discussions that have dominated the first generation of whiteness studies and brings discussion towards an actual structural analysis of racism. The essays cover such topics as the philosophy of whiteness; the belief in color blindness; the effects of white privilege; and the possibility for anti-racism. Collected together, these essays provide both a critical analysis and a path for future directions for the field.

Recent research suggests that ethnic boundaries are permeable, and that ethnic identities are overlapping. This is particularly true when cultures come into direct contact, as with the Egyptian conquest of Nubia in the second millennium BC. Professor Smith uses Nubia as a case study to explore the nature of ethnic identity. By using the tools of anthropology, he examines the ancient Egyptian construction of ethnic identities with its stark contrast between civilized Egyptians and barbaric foreigners - those who made up the 'Wretched Kush' of the title.

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Caribbean Transnational Experience "examines today's vibrant and creative trans-Atlantic Caribbean community. Harry Goulbourne advances three central arguments: first, the concepts of Diaspora and of Caribbean Diaspora are problematic; second, the African Diaspora and its variant Caribbean Diaspora are integral parts of the wider Atlantic world making it disingenuous to speak of the West and the rest where Caribbeans in the Atlantic are concerned. Third, Goulbourne insists that meaningful discussions about these aspects of the modern world must be empirically validated while being theoretically informed.
Unlike much cultural and literary studies, "Caribbean Transnational Experience" makes a plea for verifiable evidence to inform academic and popular discussions about the exciting experiences of Caribbeans across the Atlantic. Chapters explore questions of definition and theory, the common Atlantic heritage and fate, social and economic contexts of Caribbean transnationality, Africa, the USA and the Caribbean in popular discourses in Britain, transnationality of families and the propensity for Caribbean-born and their offspring to return to the Caribbean from the mother country. "Caribbean Transnational Experience" concludes with a speculative discussion about possible future directions of what is increasingly being described as the Caribbean Diaspora.

Recent research suggests that ethnic boundaries are permeable, and that ethnic identities are overlapping. This is particularly true when cultures come into direct contact, as with the Egyptian conquest of Nubia in the second millennium BC. Professor Smith uses Nubia as a case study to explore the nature of ethnic identity. By using the tools of anthropology, he examines the ancient Egyptian construction of ethnic identities with its stark contrast between civilized Egyptians and barbaric foreigners - those who made up the 'Wretched Kush' of the title.

This book, together with "Latino Language and Literacy in Ethnolinguistic Chicago," documents how the future in a globalizing world is not only increasingly multilingual, but that diversity in language use (within one language and across languages) will always be with us. Most of the chapters in "Ethnolinguistic Chicago" are based on ethnographic studies of language, though several provide historical narratives as well. As a whole, this book offers a richly diverse set of portraits whose central themes emerged inductively from the research process and the communities themselves. All chapters emphasize language use as centrally related to ethnic, class, or gender identities. As such, this volume will interest anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, historians, educators and educational researchers, and others whose concerns require an understanding of "ground-level" phenomena relevant to contemporary social issues.

Universities have become important sources of patronage and professional artistic preparation. With the growing academization of art instruction, young artists are increasingly socialized in bureaucratic settings, and mature artists find themselves working as organizational employees in an academic setting. As these artists lose the social marginality and independence associated with an earlier, more individual aesthetic production, much cultural mythology about work in the arts becomes obsolete.
This classic ethnography, based on fieldwork and interviews carried out at the California Institute of the Arts in the 1980s, analyzes the day-to-day life of an organization devoted to work in the arts. It charts the rise and demise of a particular academic art "scene," an occupational utopian community that recruited its members by promising them an ideal work setting. Now available in paperback, it offers insight into the worlds of art and education, and how they interact in particular settings. The nature of career experience in the arts, in particular its temporal structure, makes these occupations particularly receptive to utopian thought. The occupational utopia that served as a recruitment myth for the particular organization under scrutiny is examined for what it reveals about the otherwise unexpressed impulses of the work world.
"One of those rare works that so strikingly captures enduring social truths that its appeal will be as great for the general reader as the specialist."--Michael Useem, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
" A] signal contribution to the relatively recent but growing field of the sociology of art. It will be widely discussed for a very long time as a work of extraordinary and extraordinarily attractive talent."--Kurt H. Wolff, Brandeis University
"A major original work both in sociology of the arts and in sociology of education. Her analysis goes far beyond any similar interpretations of art education or of the art world. It is a lasting contribution to sociology and should become a classic."--Maurice R. Stein, Jacob S. Potofsky, Brandeis University
Judith Adler is professor of sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. She holds a Ph.D. from Brandeis University, and she has been published in "Society, Social Research, Issues in Criminology, Theory and Society," and "The American Journal of Sociology."

Going Native or Going Naive? is a critical analysis of an esoteric-Indian movement, called white shamanism. This movement, originating from the 1980's New Age boom, redefines the phenomenon of playing Indian. For white shamans and their followers, Indianness turns into a signifier for cultural cloning. By generating a neo-primitivistic bias, white shamanism utilizes esoteric reconceptualizations of ethnicity and identity. In Going Native or Going Naive?, a retrospective view on psychohistorical and sociopolitical implications of Indianness and (ig)noble savage metaphors should clarify the prefix neo within postmodern adaptations of primitivism. The appropriation of an Indian simulacrum by white shamans as well as white shamanic disciplines connotes a subtle, yet hazardous form of ethnocentrism. Transcending mere market trends and profit margins, white shamanism epitomizes synthetic/cybernetic acculturations. Through investigating the white shamanic matrix, Going Native or Going Naive? is intended to make these synthesizing processes more transparent.

Key Themes in Qualitative Research is an attempt by three well-respected ethnographic researchers to present a balanced view of qualitative methodology and research. The book is structured around classic texts, written by methodological pioneers, which comprise the basic foundation of modern qualitative research. The authors examine key premises in these texts, such as intimacy, advocacy, and validity, and how they may be supported, redesigned, or made problematic in today's field. This allows for a critical analysis of Old Guard vs. Avant-Garde ideas and provides for the reader a guide to wade through the proliferation of texts and theories available since the postmodern turn. While not designed as a primer in qualitative research methods, anyone with modest experience in the field should find this book extremely useful.

"This study represents an attempt to provide the kind of book that I wish could have been placed in my hands when I first began to work amongst the Santals," says the author in his Preface. Based on material gathered during his 11-year residence amongst the Santal people, this is a pioneering anthropological study of one of the largest tribal peoples of India, whose homeland is based around the area north east of the Ganges. A proud and self reliant people who once rioted against the corruption of British tax officials in colonial India, they have retained their own language and independent religion. Culshaw explores every aspect of their culture, from their perception of themselves, and their interaction with their neighbours, to the intricacies of their art, both verbal and visual. The inclusion of diagrams of Santal instruments, and translations of their poetry and song, combined with the careful descriptions of the importance of both ceremonial and celebratory dance, animates the description of these people and accentuates the diversity and richness of their beliefs. The reader is taken on a journey of discovery, through the most important episodes in life, including birth, marriage and death, to encourage understanding of the customs and practices of these dignified people. Elements of everyday life, such as the manner in which the tribe is structured, and the impact of natural events that are so important to an agricultural community, are contrasted with their belief system, myths, legends and religion. Covering their history, their relationships with other ethnic groups, their social organisation and daily lives, their customs and religious beliefs, their art and folklore, and the impact of the Christian missions on their way of life, this wide-ranging account provides an excellent introduction to a fascinating culture, and deserves to be acknowledged as one of the most important books on this subject. Includes a glossary of Santali words and kinship terms.

The Arab countries and the Arab Middle East have been projected as homogeneous and united social and political entities. Yet beneath the surface, ethnic tensions and conflicts simmer. Some of these conflicts are well known and the issues arising therefrom are part of the regular diet of news. Other tensions involving ethnic minorities and ethnic diasporas are less well known. But they are no less problematic for regional actors. Particularly so since they are not only influenced by global developments, but they also significantly influence political, economic, cultural and ideological regional and intrastate developments. ... The purpose of this book is to highlight the factors, forces, and circumstances that affect inter-communal relations in the region, and point toward strategies and circumstances that promote or hinder coexistence and integration, or antagonism. By studying diasporas in the Middle East in terms of their significant regional factors in relation to the Middle Eastern diaspora worldwide, this book makes an important and unique contribution to linking the study of Middle Eastern diasporas to the general new field of diasporic studies.

Can a state empower its citizens by classifying them? Or do reservation policies reinforce the very categories they are meant to eradicate? Indian reservation policies on government jobs, legislative seats and university admissions for disadvantaged groups, like affirmative action policies elsewhere, are based on the premise that recognizing group distinctions in society is necessary to subvert these distinctions. Yet the official identification of eligible groups has unintended side-effects on identity politics. Bridging theories which emphasize the fluidity of identities and those which highlight the utility of group-based mobilizations and policies, this book exposes didactic enforcement of categorizations, while recognizing the social and political gains facilitated by group-based strategies.

eBook available with sample pages: 020340193X

When, in 1935, Margaret Mead was asked by a member of the interdisciplinary committee of the Social Science Research Council to prepare a survey of several cultures for publication, she ended up creating a model for future ethnological survey texts, as well as furthering the understanding of cultural relativism in anthropological studies. The result of her work, "Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples," is fascinating. The essays do not purport to be source materials on the peoples being studied, but rather have been assembled as "interpretative" statements, meant to provide a background for planning future research in this field in our own society.
In many respects, this volume is a pioneer effort in anthropological literature. It remains firmly part of the genre of cooperative research, or "interdisciplinary research," though at the time of its original publication that phrase had yet to be coined. Additionally, this work is more theoretical in nature than a faithful anthropological record, as all the essays were written in New York City, on a low budget, and without fieldwork. The significance of these studies lies in the fact that "Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples" was the first attempt to think about the very complex problems of cultural character and social structure, coupled with a meticulous execution of comparative study. This work will be of great interest to anthropologists, cultural theorists, and students of interdisciplinary research.
The distinguished contributors include: Margaret Mead, the editor of this volume, who authored "The Arapesh of New Guinea," "The Manus of the Admiralty Islands," and "The Samoans"; Jeannette Mirsky, who contributed "The Eskimo of Greenland" and "The Dakota"; Ruth Landes, who wrote "The Ojibwa of Canada"; May Mandelbaum Edel, author of "The Bachiga of East Africa"; Irving Goldman, who contributed "The Ifugao of the Philippine Islands," "The Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island," "The Zuni of New Mexico," and "The Bathonga of South Africa"; Buell Quain, who penned "The Iriquois"; and Bernard Mishkin, author of "The Maori of New Zealand."
Margaret Mead (1901-1978) was associated with the American Museum of Natural History in New York for over fifty years, becoming Curator of Ethnology in 1964. She taught at Columbia University and the New School for Social Research as well as a number of other universities, and served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Anthropological Association. Among her many books is "Continuities in Cultural Evolution," available from Transaction Publishers.

Franz Boas, the major founding figure of anthropology as a discipline in America, came to the United States from Germany in 1886. This volume in the acclaimed History of Anthropology series is the first to explore fully the extent and significance of Boas' roots in the German intellectual tradition and late-19th century German anthropology. Boas' own early essay ""The Study of Geography"", reprinted in this volume, suggests his profound debt to the Herderian tradition of ""Volksgeist"" and ""Nationalcharakter"" - an intellectual lineage Matti Bunzl traces from Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt through Ritter, Ratzel, Waitz and Bastian to Boas. Benoit Massin painstakingly reconstructs another powerful influence on Boas, that of Rudolf Virchow, the leading physical anthropologist in Germany in the days before the discipline took its extreme racialist turn in that country. Drawing on letters from Boas' adolescence and early manhood, Julia Liss shows how the intellectual and cultural forces that formed his mature anthropological viewpoint figured clearly in his own ""Bildung"". Shifting the focus from Germany to the United States, essays by Ira Jacknis, Judith Berman and Thomas Buckley treat certain problematic aspects of the ""Volksgeist"" tradition, viewed as an attempt to constitute for each Native American group a permanent archive of cultural material free of contamination by European categories. Suzanne Marchand's essay on the political implications of German Near Eastern archaeology provides a distant counterpoint to the colonial situation of Boasian ethnography in America. Recovering the important but little understood Germanic influences on Boasian ethnography, this volume offers a new perspective on the historical development of American anthropology.

Building upon a theoretical framework of democratic exclusion as a tool of public policy, Rebecca Kook uses sources as diverse as postage stamps and public festivals to unravel the 'logic' of democratic identity. She makes the provocative argument that membership in democracies is inherently exclusionary, and that national exclusion is a tacit requirement for successfully democratic regimes. Moving from a discussion of the political and legal construction of national identity to the particular experiences of the African American minority in the United States and the Palestinian minority in Israel, Kook raises serious questions about the potential for real democracy in societies plagued by complex racial and ethnic divides and social, economic, and political inequality.

Building upon a theoretical framework of democratic exclusion as a tool of public policy, Rebecca Kook uses sources as diverse as postage stamps and public festivals to unravel the 'logic' of democratic identity. She makes the provocative argument that membership in democracies is inherently exclusionary, and that national exclusion is a tacit requirement for successfully democratic regimes. Moving from a discussion of the political and legal construction of national identity to the particular experiences of the African American minority in the United States and the Palestinian minority in Israel, Kook raises serious questions about the potential for real democracy in societies plagued by complex racial and ethnic divides and social, economic, and political inequality.

Teachers in low-income communities face serious impediments to effective teaching and learning. Through a unique blend of research and field experience, this book seeks to overcome the lack of communication and mutal understanding between teachers and students in urban schools. June Gordon provides nine case studies with insights as to how educators in urban settings may begin to understand the complexity of their students' lives, engaging those same students in the process of this discovery. Beyond the Classroom Walls provides inspiration and assistance to urban educators, concerned community members, or parents wishing to transform the way they view their community and the profession of teaching.

Teachers in low-income communities face serious impediments to effective teaching and learning. Through a unique blend of research and field experience, this book seeks to overcome the lack of communication and mutal understanding between teachers and students in urban schools. June Gordon provides nine case studies with insights as to how educators in urban settings may begin to understand the complexity of their students' lives, engaging those same students in the process of this discovery. Beyond the Classroom Walls provides inspiration and assistance to urban educators, concerned community members, or parents wishing to transform the way they view their community and the profession of teaching.