To those still accustomed to seeing social order depicted in classes, strata, central groups, or institutions, and who measure and classify the social world according to "centers" and "margins," modern society presents itself as ambiguous and unmanageable. This is not unprecedented. Human societies often discover themselves in situations in which the traditional grids of order and stratification lose their value and fail to serve as guideposts for individuals. In The Order of Rituals, Hans-Georg Soeffner aims to answer the question: Through what efforts of order and orientation are loosely organized societies like ours held together? Soeffner focuses on symbolic forms of self-presentation that bring focus and clarity to our lives, such as emblems, fashions, styles, and symbols. As these replace old orders of classes or strata, there is a further consequence. Economically, culturally, and ethnically "mixed" societies not only return to specific visible forms of presentation, but also present themselves and their worldviews as a public stage of life-styles, attitudes, and demeanor. Soeffner asserts that society preserves certain continuously handed-down forms of action and ritual as specific symbolic forms over a long period of time. The Order of Rituals describes these symbols and routines of everyday life in fascinating detail, coupled with thoughtful analysis. Sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers will all benefit immensely from this book.

Infibulation is the most extreme form of female circumcision. It plays an important role in the Islamic societies of northeastern Africa. Until now, the social significance and function of this practice has been poorly understood. This has been no less true of Western commentators who have condemned the practice than of relevant governments that have attempted to curb it. In Infibulation, Esther K. Hicks analyzes female circumcision as a cultural trait embedded in a historically traditional milieu and shows why it cannot be treated in isolation as a single issue destined for elimination. In its brief history it has been recognized as a pioneering piece of research with enormous consequences.

As Hicks demonstrates, much of the popular resistance to official efforts to eradicate infibulation has actually come from women. Circumcision constitutes a rite of passage for female children. It initiates them into womanhood and makes them eligible for marriage. Often, this is the only positive status position available to women in traditional Islamic societies. Hicks points out that although female circumcision predates the introduction of Islam into the region, the religious culture has successfully codified infibulation into the structural nexus of marriage, family, and social honor at all socioeconomic levels.

This text contains descriptions of the Japanese enthronement ceremonies. It covers the rituals, costumes, offerings, equipment, music, seating plans and buildings in which the ceremonies are held, giving their present function and past history. It examines the underlying importance of the rites.

May Edel's The Chiga of Uganda is in the grand tradition of Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, and Leslie Spier. Written at a time when older ways were menaced by contact with other cultures, Edel's effort was part of a descriptive urgency that aimed to capture the past before the past disappeared. And that past should be viewed from the perspective of the people themselves, by students going into the field to observe, question, and report. This book is an enlarged and amplified edition of The Chiga of Western Uganda published in 1957 by the Oxford University Press for the International African Institute. It is enlarged by a major section on material culture hitherto unpublished.

The Chiga of Uganda provides a special insight into a culture at that time (1933) still intact under the British protectorate. It is for the most part a picture of life as it was then still being lived. Where significant changes were already taking place, the various changes are discussed in the contexts in which they seemed relevant--in social structure, kinship, marriage, economics, social control, religion, and education.

What makes this edition unique is the new segment on material culture. This delves into Chiga patterns of food supply and preparation, horticulture, fire and heating, water supplies, cattle raising, hunting, fishing, and problems related to shelter, clothing, and hygiene. Two new special sections deal with tools and utensils, and, no less important, the physical skills and motor habits of the people. Edel's concrete yet wide-ranging descriptions provide an irreplaceable insight into a people and a culture at a unique point in world and colonial history.

The new introduction, written by Abraham Edel, provides a special sort of insight, drawing heavily upon the correspondence that May Edel wrote at the time. The introduction shows how the clouds of war and Nazism in Europe at the time were already changing the character and context of anthropology no less than every other area of human endeavor. A final new aspect of The Chiga of Uganda is May Edel's last reflections focusing on African tribalism, which turns out to be not all that different from ethnic and national rivalries in the Western world. This book will be indispensable to anthropologists, Africanists, and historians.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding region in 2005, the city debated whether to press on with Mardi Gras or cancel the parades. Ultimately, they decided to proceed. New Orleans's recovery certainly has resulted from a complex of factors, but the city's unique cultural life-perhaps its greatest capital-has been instrumental in bringing the city back from the brink of extinction. Voicing a civic fervor, local writer Chris Rose spoke for the importance of Carnival when he argued to carry on with the celebration of Mardi Gras following Katrina: "We are still New Orleans. We are the soul of America. We embody the triumph of the human spirit. Hell, we ARE Mardi Gras."" Since 2006, a number of new Mardi Gras practices have gained prominence. The new parade organizations or krewes, as they are called, interpret and revise the city's Carnival traditions but bring innovative practices to Mardi Gras. The history of each parade reveals the convergence of race, class, age, and gender dynamics in these new Carnival organizations. Downtown Mardi Gras: New Carnival Practices in Post-Katrina New Orleans examines six unique, offbeat, Downtown celebrations. Using ethnography, folklore, cultural, and performance studies, the authors analyze new Mardi Gras's connection to traditional Mardi Gras. The narrative of each krewe's development is fascinating and unique, illustrating participants' shared desire to contribute to New Orleans's rich and vibrant culture.

This book, first published in 1917, investigates the rites and beliefs of people who had remained in a 'primitive' state of culture throughout the ages. Special attention was paid to the ritual and mythology of the Aborigines of Australia, in what was then some of the first studies of their beliefs.

Despite the fact that more than 80% of cultures practice varying degrees of arranged marriage, scholars have thus far concentrated exclusively on American and European cultures from choice marriages, not yet fully exploring the psychology of arranged marriages. India is a prominent South Asian nation that continues to retain the historical tradition of arranged marriages in the 21st century. This book therefore provides a timely addition to marital research as it offers a comprehensive and systematic psychological examination on Indian arranged marriages. This book explores the role of individual, interactional, contextual, and cultural factors in predicting marital satisfaction in individuals who were in arranged marriages and living in India. The discussion is drawn from a survey collecting data from individuals married through the arranged marriage system in India. In light of this empirical study, the book considers the cross-cultural applicability of Western findings and proposes some key methodological and clinical considerations for examining marital relationships in Indian arranged marriages. Providing useful, much-needed scholarly insight on arranged marriages and widening the research conceptualization of marriage, this book will be of particular interest to scholars of Social Psychology, Sociology, Marital and Cross-cultural studies.

This volume, originally published in 1889 with this edition published in 1912, contains Carpenter's famous essays on civilisation and his theory that it is a disease of mankind that must be cured. Papers included in this collection discuss the rampant ill-health suffered by society as well as criticisms of modern science to support this theory whilst also analysing what the future holds for science, ideas of morality and traditions and customs. This title will be of interest to students of sociology.

Europeans constitute twelve and a half percent of the world's population but consume fifty percent of the recorded world production of alchohol. The role of alcohol-- sometimes social, sometimes ceremonial--plays a significant role in the cultural, religious and social identities of these countries. The majority of studies on alcohol have ignored the importance of cultural variation.
In "Alcohol, Gender and Culture," the contributors show how different groups define the proper use of alcohol, how state policies may affect drinking behavior, highlighting how beverages and combustibles must be seen in relation to each other. From this it is shown how important socio-cultural distinctions are made between and within ethnic groups, socio-economic groups, genders and religious ideologies. What one drinks, how one drinks, with whom, and where all influence not only how alcoholic substances are perceived, but how social relations are experienced as well.
"Alcohol, Gender and Culture" presents material from Greece, Spain, France, Hungary, Sweden and Ireland to show how the social construction of drinking may provide an analytical tool with which to approach different socio-cultural groups. The contributors demonstrate how any cultural group can be compared to another through its attitudes to alcohol. "Alcohol, Gender and Culture" is an invaluable reading for students and scholars of anthropology, cultural history and gender studies.

"Meat" is a broad-ranging and provocative study of the human passion for meat. It aims to intrigue anyone who has ever wondered why meat is important to us: why we eat some animals but not others; why vegetarianism is increasing; why we aren't cannibals; and how meat is associated with environmental destruction. Nick Fiddes argues that meat's primary cultural importance is founded on its vividly representing to us the domination we have sought over nature - not as individuals, but as members of a society which has historically placed great value on that power. The book draws on original research and analyzes academic work, trade journals, advertisements, the popular press, fiction and film. It is extensively illustrated by quotes from conversations with farmers, butchers, vegetarian campaigners, and members of the general public. Placing Western preferences in a historical and cross-cultural context, the book questions the rationality of much that we take for granted, and explains many inconsistencies and incongruities in our behaviour. It is a penetrating and original discussion of our "natural" everyday world. This book should be of interest to those in the fields of anthropology

White South Africans have continued to enjoy the lion's share Africa's land and riches since the end of statutory apartheid. With the recent threat of land expropriation without compensation, many believe that the racial order itself is about to be undone. It is in these dying moments of the myth of the "Rainbow Nation" that White Belongings: Race, Land, and Property in Post-Apartheid South Africa deepens ongoing critical deconstruction of the role of whiteness in maintaining racial order. The book analyses white discourse at a time of increasing stridency and defensiveness, arguing that the protection of white entitlement and cultural connection to the land are intimately interwoven. To show this, Scott Burnett uses detailed discourse analysis of campaigns aimed at preventing rhino poaching, stopping fracking in the Karoo, and advocating for the existence of a poverty "crisis." These social and traditional media texts reveal how whites hold on to their "belongings" in everyday talk. The author mobilizes key strategies such as asserting ecological indigeneity, promoting enclave entrepreneurialism, and reproducing the rationality of market liberalism. White Belongings goes beyond the preoccupation with identity in whiteness studies to elaborate how specific subject roles and institutions are motivated and rationalized in hegemonic discursive regimes.

This groundbreaking book offers the first full analysis of the long-neglected and controversial subject of female infanticide in China. Although infanticide and child abandonment were worldwide phenomena from antiquity down to the nineteenth century when massive numbers of children were still being abandoned in Europe, China was unique in targeting girls almost exclusively. Yet despite its persistence for two thousand years, little has been published on a practice that is deeply sensitive within China and little understood by outsiders. Drawing on little-known Chinese documents and illustrations, noted historian D. E. Mungello describes the causes and continuation of female infanticide since 1650 despite efforts by Confucian moralists, Buddhist teachings, government officials, and even imperial edicts to stop the practice. The arrival of Christian missionaries led to foreign involvement as well, with Catholic priests baptizing abandoned and dying infants in Nanjing and Beijing beginning in the early 1600s. Mission efforts peaked in the nineteenth century when the European-based Society of the Holy Childhood urged Catholic children to contribute their pennies to help neglected children in China. However, most of the infant victims were drowned at birth in the privacy of their homes, thereby escaping the scrutiny of the law and the public. Mungello brings this secretive practice to light with a nuanced and balanced analysis of the cultural, economic, and social causes of early infanticide and its contemporary manifestation in sex-selected abortion as a result of the government's one-child policy. Presenting female infanticide as a human rather than a distinctly Chinese problem, he estimates the tragic loss of girls in the millions.

Routledge is proud to be re-issuing this landmark series in association with the International African Institute. The series, originally published between 1950 and 1977, collected ethnographic information on the peoples of Africa, using all available sources: archives, memoirs and reports as well as anthropological research which, in 1945, had only just begun. Concise, critical and (for its time) accurate, the Ethnographic Survey contains sections as follows: Physical Environment Linguistic Data Demography History & Traditions of Origin Nomenclature Grouping Cultural Features: Religion, Witchcraft, Birth, Initiation, Burial Social & Political Organization: Kinship, Marriage, Inheritance, Slavery, Land Tenure, Warfare & Justice Economy & Trade Domestic Architecture Each of the 50 volumes will be available to buy individually, and these are organized into regional sub-groups: East Central Africa, North-Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, West Central Africa, Western Africa, and Central Africa Belgian Congo. The volumes are supplemented with maps, available to view on routledge.com or available as a pdf from the publishers.

Routledge is proud to be re-issuing this landmark series in association with the International African Institute. The series, published between 1950 and 1977, brings together a wealth of previously un-co-ordinated material on the ethnic groupings and social conditions of African peoples. Concise, critical and (for its time) accurate, the Ethnographic Survey contains sections as follows: Physical Environment Linguistic Data Demography History & Traditions of Origin Nomenclature Grouping Cultural Features: Religion, Witchcraft, Birth, Initiation, Burial Social & Political Organization: Kinship, Marriage, Inheritance, Slavery, Land Tenure, Warfare & Justice Economy & Trade Domestic Architecture Each of the 50 volumes will be available to buy individually, and these are organized into regional sub-groups: East Central Africa, North-Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, West Central Africa, Western Africa, and Central Africa Belgian Congo. The volumes are supplemented with maps, available to view on routledge.com or available as a pdf from the publishers.

How is it that, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is still possible for males and females to be denied their inherent right to keep all the body parts with which they were born?

Circumcision is a cultural phenomenon that affects 15.3 million children and young adults annually. In terms of gender, 13.3 millions boys and 2 million girls are subjected to the involuntary removal of part or all of their external sex organs every year. Few people, however, ask why such practices persist or how modern societies can tolerate this inherent violation of human rights. The problem of female circumcision is being addressed on an international level, while male circumcision remains a subject many academics are reluctant to fully or impartially examine. This book explores the problem of male and female circumcision in modern society from religious, anthropological, psychological, medical, legal, and ethical perspectives.

Bodily Integrity and the Politics of Circumcision: Culture, Controversy, and Change illuminates the vulnerability of human society to medical, economic, and historical pressures. It provides a much-needed, thoughtful, and detailed analysis of the devastating impact of circumcision on bodily integrity and human rights, and it provides hope for change.

The culmination of over three decades of investigation into traumatic processes, Repetition and Trauma is the late Max Stern's pioneering reconceptualization of trauma in the light of recent insights into the physiology and psychology of stress and the "teleonomic" character of human evolution in developing defenses against shock. As such, it is a highly original attempt to reformulate certain basic tenets of psychoanalysis with the findings of modern biology in general and neurobiology in particular. At the core of Stern's effort is the integration of laboratory research into sleep and dreaming so as to clarify the meaning of pavor nocturnus. In concluding that these night terrors represent "a defense against stress caused by threatening nightmares," he exploits, though he interpretively departs from, the laboratory research on dreams conducted by Charles Fisher and others in the 1960s. From his understanding of pavor nocturnus as a compulsion to repeat in the service of overcoming a developmental failure to attribute meaning to states of tension, Stern enlarges his inquiry to the phenomena of repetitive dreams in general. In a brilliant reconstruction of Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle, he suggests that Freud was correct in attributing the repetitive phenomena of traumatic dreams to forces operating beyond the pleasure principle, but holds that these phenomena can be best illumined in terms of Freud's conception of mastery and Stern's own notion of "reparative mastery."

First published in 2007. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Founded in 1961, Studia Hibernica is devoted to the study of the Irish language and its literature, Irish history and archaeology, Irish folklore and place names, and related subjects. Its aim is to present the research of scholars in these fields of Irish studies and so to bring them within easy reach of each other and the wider public. It endeavours to provide in each issue a proportion of articles, such as surveys of periods or theme in history or literature, which will be of general interest. A long review section is a special feature of the journal and all new publications within its scope are there reviewed by competent authorities.

Singapore is a land of immigrants. Although the Chinese are by far the largest ethnic group, it is more of a salad bowl than a melting pot-although a common identity has emerged since independence in 1965. With no natural resources, the newly independent state invested in education and trade, and today this sleek, air-conditioned nation is a global financial centre that makes much of the West seem third-rate. Singaporeans are hardworking, goal-oriented individuals-modern individuals who love coloUr, shopping, and are proud of being high-maintenance and competitive. Yet behind this consumerist facade is a deep respect for family and hierarchy, political passivity, and a fear of losing face. Culture Smart! Singapore describes how locals interact with each other and with outsiders, and it tells travelers what to expect and how to behave.

This volume, originally published in 1889 with this edition published in 1912, contains Carpenter's famous essays on civilisation and his theory that it is a disease of mankind that must be cured. Papers included in this collection discuss the rampant ill-health suffered by society as well as criticisms of modern science to support this theory whilst also analysing what the future holds for science, ideas of morality and traditions and customs. This title will be of interest to students of sociology.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Horses with riders trailed by foot processionals, silver bands and pipe bands, furling medieval banners, lavish costumes, and singers and actors--the "Common Riding" is an elaborate, little-studied ritual phenomenon of the border towns of Scotland. In this vividly written and insightful analysis, Gwen Kennedy Neville uses this civic ceremony as a window for glimpsing the process of ritual, symbol, and experience in the development of the concept of "the town" in Western culture.
Based on extensive fieldwork in the town of Selkirk, The Mother Town looks at the Common Riding in detail, uncovering pre-Reformation symbolism and pageantry--often medieval and Catholic--in a region that has been Protestant for over four hundred years. Neville shows how the ceremony is a model of the way civic ritual serves to construct a system of towns which gives rise to the modern world. Further, she contends that these civic rituals create a ceremonial setting in which the contradictions between tradition and modernity can be temporarily resolved and where past and present live side by side.
Neville offers a provocative and illuminating study of how the ritual of Common Riding makes a dramatic statement about local strife, communal independence, and Protestantism in the towns of the Scottish Borders.