In his captivating study of faith and class, John Hayes examines the ways folk religion in the early twentieth century allowed the South's poor - both white and black - to listen, borrow, and learn from each other about what it meant to live as Christians in a world of severe struggle. Beneath the well-documented religious forms of the New South, people caught in the region's poverty crafted a distinct folk Christianity that spoke from the margins of capitalist development, giving voice to modern phenomena like alienation and disenchantment. Through haunting songs of Death, mystical tales of conversion, grassroots sacramental displays, and an ethic of neighborliness, impoverished folk Christians looked for the sacred in their midst and affirmed the value of this life in this world. From Tom Watson and W. E. B. Du Bois over a century ago to political commentators today, many have ruminated on how despite material commonalities, the poor of the South have been perennially divided by racism. Through his excavation of a folk Christianity of the poor, which fused strands of African and European tradition into a new synthesis, John Hayes recovers a historically contingent moment of interracial exchange generated in hardship.

The issue of patronage-clientelism has long been of interest in the social sciences. Based on long-term ethnographic research in southern Italy, this book examines the concept and practice of raccomandazione: the omnipresent social institution of using connections to get things done. Viewing the practice both from an indigenous perspective - as a morally ambivalent social fact - and considering it in light of the power relations that position southern Italy within the nesting relations of global Norths and Souths, it builds on and extends past scholarship to consider the nature of patronage in a contemporary society and its relationship to corruption.

All societies have their own customs and beliefs surrounding death. In the West, traditional ways of mourning are disappearing, and although Western science has had a major impact on how people die, it has taught us little about the way to die or to grieve. Many whose work brings them into contact with the dying and the bereaved from Western and other cultures are at a loss to know how to offer appropriate and sensitive support. Death and Bereavement Across Cultures 2nd Edition is a handbook which meets the needs of doctors, nurses, social workers, hospital chaplains, counsellors and volunteers caring for patients with life-threatening illness and their families before and after bereavement. It is a practical guide explaining the religious and other differences commonly met with in multi-cultural societies when someone is dying or bereaved. In doing so readers may be surprised to find how much we can learn from other cultures about our own attitudes and assumptions about death. Written by international experts in the field the book: Describes the rituals and beliefs of major world religions; Explains their psychological and historical context; Shows how customs are changed by contact with the West; Considers the implications for the future The second edition includes new chapters that: explore how members of the health care professions perform roles formerly conducted by priests and shamans can cross the cultural gaps between different cultures and religions; consider the relevance of attitudes and assumptions about death for our understanding of religious and nationalist extremism and its consequences; discuss the Buddhist, Islamic and Christian ways of death. Death raises questions which science cannot answer. Whatever our personal beliefs we can all gain from learning how others view these ultimate problems. This book explores the richness of mourning traditions around the world with the aim of increasing the sensitivity and understanding which we all bring to the issue of death and bereavement.

Text extracted from opening pages of book: THE ELDER EDDA AND ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN DRAMA CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, MANAGER LONDON: FETTER LANE, E. G. 4 NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO. BOMBAY \ CALCUTTA LMACMILLAN AND co., Lm MADRAS j TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Fig. i. Plate from a helmet found at Vcntlel in Uppland. Fig. 2. Bronze plate from Torsluncla, Oland, Sweden. Fig. j. Bronze plate from Torshmda, Olund, Sweden, AND ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN DRAMA BY BERTHA S. PHILLPOTTS, O. B. E., Lirr. D. Formerly Pfeiflfer Student of Girton College, Cambridge Late Lady Carlisle Research Fellow, Somerville College, Oxford Principal of Westfield College ( University of London) Author of Kindred and Clan CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1920 PREFACE THIS book was begun in the spring of 1914, and only two chapters were unwritten in March 1916. In adding these two chapters in 1920 I have endeavoured to bring the rest of the book up to date, but the occupations of the intervening years left little time to keep abreast of the advances of scholarship, and the endeavour has not been wholly successful. My task has not been lightened by the loss of a note-book and some pages of the MS. through causes connected with the war, and I am conscious that there is much to apologise for. But it seemed better to publish the book as it is, with all its imperfections, than to wait for the uncertain hour when I could attempt an elaborate revision and expansion. My aim is simply to place before scholars a theory of the dramatic origin of the older Eddie poems. I shall be satisfied if I have made clear the grounds which have forced me to formulatethe theory: should there be any truth in it, others, better fitted than I, will work it out in all its many bearings on history, religion and literature. The dedication intimates that this book is my gift to Somer villc College, In a more fundamental sense it is the gift of Somerville College to me. It is the product of my tenure of the Lady Carlisle Research Fellowship, and the central idea of the book occurred to me while I was trying to present a rational picture of early Scandinavian literature to the College Literary and Philosophical Society. The idea struck root in favourable soil Miss Pope, Tutor in Modern Languages at Somerville, was working at a theory of the genesis of the Old French epic: Pro fessor Gilbert Murray, Vice-President of the College, was always ready to stimulate and illumine discussion on the relation of epic and drama: Miss Spens of Lady Margaret Hall was writing her book on Shakespeare's indebtedness to folk-drama, Moreover I think that the air of Oxford was friendly to the growth of a theory viii PREFACE like mine, and gave me courage to act on the belief that a clear understanding of the form of primitive Scandinavian literature was an essential preliminary to an understanding of primitive Scandinavian history. It was only after I had written the first part of the book an attempt to solve a literary problem on purely literary lines that I was able to realise the significance of the heroic poems of the Edda as a source for Scandinavian history and religion from the sixth century onwards. Since the theories put forward have a direct bearing on the problem of Greek tragedy, and may also be of interest to mediaevalists, I have assumed that some of my readers maybe unacquainted with Old Norse, and have accordingly given my quotations in English, adding the original in the notes wherever there is any doubt as to the reading. I had originally planned to give translations of the more important poems in an appendix, but joyfully abandoned the project on finding that there is some hope that the poet and scholar who has made Greek tragedy live in English dress may do a similar service to the heroic poems of the Edda. In the meantime readers may be referred to the trans lations in Vigfiisson and Powell's Corpus Poetmim Borc

Tongan barkcloth, made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree, still features lavishly in Polynesian ceremonies all over the world. Yet despite the attention paid to this textile by anthropologists and art historians alike, little is known about its history. Providing a unique insight into Polynesian material culture, this book explores barkcloth's rich cultural history, and argues that its manufacture, decoration and use are vehicles of creativity and female agency. Based on twelve years of extensive ethnographic and archival research, the book uncovers stories of ceremony, gender, the senses, religion and nationhood, from the 17th century up to the present-day. Placing the materiality of textiles at the heart of Tongan culture, Veys reveals not only how barkcloth was and continues to be made, but also how it defines what it means to be Tongan. Extending the study to explore the place of barkcloth in the European imagination, she examines international museum collections of Tongan barkcloth, from the UK and Italy to Switzerland and the USA, addressing the bias of the European 'gaze' and challenging traditional gendered understandings of the cloth. A nuanced narrative of past and present barkcloth manufacture, designs and use, Unwrapping Tongan Barkcloth demonstrates the importance of the textile to both historical and contemporary Polynesian culture.

Baring-Gould's eye-opening history of lycanthropy - the werewolf curse - delves deep into the lore, unearthing various historical cases, several of which date back to Ancient or Medieval times. The concept of a human transforming into a wolf has ancient origins, with several Greek and Roman authors such as Virgil, Ovid, Herodotus and Pliny raising the concept in their poetry and other writings. Rumors of sorcery that could induce a human to change was attributed to magicians in far off places such as Scythia, and such beliefs were widely held. Later, the Norse civilization's mythology introduced lycanthropy and other kinds of transformation. Humans as wolves, bears, birds and other beasts were said to appear in the northern wilds; the Norse God Odin took the form of a bird on regular occasions. Berserker warriors would clad themselves in wolf skins; Bj rn, son of Ulfheoin, was famed for his ability to shift between human and wolf forms.

This is the first book to introduce readers to the crux of ethnic fashion. Covering all aspects, it addresses the significance of sustainability (including culture) and ethnic fashion in the apparel industry. It also highlights concepts and case studies pertaining to ethnic fashion.

By analysing the folk stories and personal narratives of a cross-section of Palestinians, Sirhan offers a detailed study of how content and sociolinguistic variables affect a narrator's language use and linguistic behaviour. This book will be of interest to anyone engaged with narrative discourse, gender discourse, Arabic studies and linguistics.

Shoes are an integral part of Jewish material culture. Although they appear in some of the most foundational biblical stories, they are generally regarded as no more than lowly, albeit essential, accessories.

"Jews and Shoes" takes a fresh look at the makings and meanings of shoes, cobblers, and barefootedness in Jewish experience. The book shows how shoes convey theological, social, and economic concepts, and as such are intriguing subjects for inquiry within a wide range of cultural, artistic, and historic contexts.The book's multidisciplinary approach encompasses a wide range of contributions from disciplines as diverse as fashion, visual culture, history, anthropology, Bible and Talmud, and performance studies. "Jews and Shoes" will appeal to students, scholars and general readers alike who are interested to find out more about the practical and symbolic significance of shoes in Jewish culture since antiquity.

Domestic Violence Laws in the United States and India is a comparative study of the domestic violence laws in India and the United States, seeking to illuminate the critical issues of intimate partner violence through the lenses of these two societies.

This book will explore the childbirth process through globally diverse perspectives in order to offer a broader context with which to think about birth. We will address multiple rituals and management models surrounding the labor and birth process from communities across the globe.

Labor and birth are biocultural events that are managed in countless ways. We are particularly interested in the notion of power. Who controls the pregnancy and the birth? Is it the hospital, the doctor, or the in-laws, and in which cultures does the mother have the control? These decisions, regarding place of birth, position, who receives the baby and even how the mother may or may not behave during the actual delivery, are all part of the different ways that birth is conducted.

One chapter of the book will be devoted to midwives and other birth attendants. There will also be chapters on the Evolution of Birth, on Women's Birth Narratives, and on Child Spacing and Breastfeeding.

This book will bring together global research conducted by professional anthropologists, midwives and doctors who work closely with the individuals from the cultures they are writing about, offering a unique perspective direct from the cultural group.

Lipsi is a small Greek island in the southeast Aegean Sea. There, the local oral tradition weaves the island's history from the mythical Calypso to this day, relating stories of people from a distant past and of those who are still leaving their mark, until the day they become memories and stories as well. This eternal time of an endless repetition, as perceived by today's inhabitants, is projected onto space making a narrative landscape through material constructions, collective bodily movements, and supernatural apparitions. The result of long-term ethnographic fieldwork, this book refers to the community of Lipsi as an example of the correlations between popular cosmologies, official religion, and the development of a symbolic landscape, along with the formation of collective identities and representations in the context of a "cultural and social experience of the world."

This is an authoritative guide to contemporary debates and issues in the sociology of religion providing a clear examination of classical secularization and the post-secularization paradigm. "Secularization and Its Discontents" provides an illuminating overview of major current debates in the sociology of religion, exploring changing patterns of religious practice in the West during the past 150 years. Examining classical secularization theory as well as modified versions that allow for difference between national and social contexts, Rob Warner also explores the proposed post-secularization paradigm, as well as its close offshoot, rational choice theory. Possibilities for a spiritual revolution and the feminisation of religion are scrutinised, and also theories of the durability of conservative religion. The author goes on to develop a new interpretation of resilient religion from an analysis of 21st century trends in religious participation. These are categorised as entrepreneurial and experiential-therapeutic, before the volume finally focuses upon individual identity construction through autonomous religious consumption. This book provides a clear and penetrating overview of theoretical frameworks and develops a new theoretical synthesis derived from fresh examination of empirical data, and will be of interest to academics and students in religious studies, practical theology and the sociology of religion.