This book investigates the pronounced enthusiasm that many traditions display for codes of ethics characterised by a multitude of rules. Recent anthropological interest in ethics and historical explorations of 'self-fashioning' have led to extensive study of the virtuous self, but existing scholarship tends to pass over the kind of morality that involves legalistic reasoning. Rules and ethics corrects that omission by demonstrating the importance of rules in everyday moral life in a variety of contexts. In a nutshell, it argues that legalistic moral rules are not necessarily an obstruction to a rounded ethical self, but can be an integral part of it. An extended introduction first sets out the theoretical basis for studies of ethical systems that are characterised by detailed rules. This is followed by a series of empirical studies of rule-oriented moral traditions in a comparative perspective. -- .

This book offers an interpretation of Yoruba people's affective responses to an adult Yoruba male with a 'deviant' hairstyle. The work, which views hairstyles as a form of symbolic communicative signal that encodes messages that are perceived and interpreted within a culture, provides an ontological and epistemological interpretation of Yoruba beliefs regarding dreadlocks with real-life illustrations of their treatment of an adult male with what they term irun were (insane person's hairdo). Based on experiential observations as well as socio-cultural and linguistic analyses, the book explores the dynamism of Yoruba worldview regarding head-hair within contemporary belief systems and discusses some of the factors that assure its continuity. It concludes with a cross-cultural comparison of the perceptions of dreadlocks, especially between Nigerian Yoruba people an d African American Yoruba practitioners.

As Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, Sir Edward Reed (1830 1906) oversaw the final move from wooden to ironclad ships. Upon resigning from the Navy in 1870 he designed warships for Germany, Chile, Brazil and Japan, and was invited to Japan in 1879 to advise its government on plans to strengthen its navy. Eleven years after the restoration of the monarchy, the country was embarking on a period of rapid industrial and military development. Published in 1880, and part history, part travel narrative, Reed's book gives a fascinating insight into Japan during a key period in her history and is an informal yet informed assessment of its people, customs, history and geography. Volume 1 covers the geography and history of Japan, including its mythology and the origins of its religions. It concludes with a valuable assessment by Reed of the political, social and industrial reforms and developments that he witnessed.

The wedding ritual of the ancient Romans provides a crucial key to understanding their remarkable civilization. The intriguing ceremony represented the starting point of a Roman family as well as a Roman girl's transition to womanhood. This is the first book-length examination of Roman wedding ritual. Drawing on literary, legal, historical, antiquarian, and artistic evidence of Roman nuptials from the end of the Republic through the early Empire (from ca. 200 BC to AD 200), Karen Hersch shows how the Roman wedding expressed the ideals and norms of an ancient people. Her book is an invaluable tool for Roman social historians interested in how ideas of gender, law, religion, and tradition are interwoven into the wedding ceremony of every culture.

In some respects, the contrasts of Christmas are what make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a time of generosity, kindness and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday. This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas' origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true "reason for the season" has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ. Chapters chronicle how Christmas's magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Don't just see the sights get to know the people. The people of this land of white summer nights and pristine lakes are famous for their sisu, a form of enterprising stoicism. They are survivors: if you were stranded on a desert island, your ideal companion would be a Finn. Before you knew it, the sauna would be ready, fishhooks positioned, a fire burning, and any edible berries picked and prepared for eating. Shaped by the harsh physical beauty around them, the Finns can be melancholy, yet have a great sense of humor. Their music is often in the minor key, but they love to dance, sing, and perform. They cherish their traditions, from name days to near-pagan rituals, yet they are great innovators. Culture Smart! Finland describes the historical, geographical, and cultural influences that have shaped the Finnish psyche, and guides you through the working and social lives of the Finns today, offering you a deeper, more rewarding experience of this beautiful land. Have a more meaningful and successful time abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on values, attitudes, customs, and daily life will help you make the most of your visit, while tips on etiquette and communication will help you navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.

Male Circumcision in Japan offers an analysis of the surgical procedure based on extensive ethnographic investigation, and is framed within historical and current global debates to highlight the significance of the Japanese case.

Don't just see the sights get to know the people. Indonesia, stretching across three time zones and situated on one of the world s great maritime trade routes, has a rich and varied culture. Culture Smart! Indonesia describes the many different cultural backgrounds that make up this rainbow nation, helping you to better understand the values that underpin its diverse society. It reveals how modern Indonesians view themselves and go about their daily lives, and gives advice on how to navigate unfamiliar situations. Armed with essential cultural information and tips on effective communication, readers are better placed to have a more meaningful and successful experience in this fascinating country. Have a more meaningful and successful time abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on values, attitudes, customs, and daily life will help you make the most of your visit, while tips on etiquette and communication will help you navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.

Until very recently, no society had seen marriage as anything other than a conjugal partnership: a male-female union. What Is Marriage? identifies and defends the reasons for this historic consensus and shows why redefining civil marriage as something other than the conjugal union of husband and wife is a mistake. Originally published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, this book's core argument quickly became the year's most widely read essay on the most prominent scholarly network in the social sciences. Since then, it has been cited and debated by scholars and activists throughout the world as the most formidable defense of the tradition ever written. Now revamped, expanded, and vastly enhanced, What Is Marriage? stands poised to meet its moment as few books of this generation have. Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, and Robert P. George offer a devastating critique of the idea that equality requires redefining marriage. They show why both sides must first answer the question of what marriage really is. They defend the principle that marriage, as a comprehensive union of mind and body ordered to family life, unites a man and a woman as husband and wife, and they document the social value of applying this principle in law. Most compellingly, they show that those who embrace same-sex civil marriage leave no firm ground-none-for not recognizing every relationship describable in polite English, including polyamorous sexual unions, and that enshrining their view would further erode the norms of marriage, and hence the common good. Finally, What Is Marriage? decisively answers common objections: that the historic view is rooted in bigotry, like laws forbidding interracial marriage; that it is callous to people's needs; that it can't show the harm of recognizing same-sex couplings or the point of recognizing infertile ones; and that it treats a mere "social construct" as if it were natural or an unreasoned religious view as if it were rational.

Rock Criticism from the Beginning is a wide-ranging exploration of the rise and development of rock criticism in Britain and the United States from the 1960s to the present. It chronicles the evolution of a new form of journalism, and the course by which writing on rock was transformed into a respected field of cultural production. The authors explore the establishment of magazines from Crawdaddy! and Rolling Stone to The Source, and from Melody Maker and New Musical Express to The Wire, while investigating the careers of well-known music critics like Robert Christgau, Greil Marcus, and Lester Bangs in the U.S., and Nik Cohn, Paul Morley, and Jon Savage in the U.K., to name just a few. While much has been written on the history of rock, this Bourdieu-inspired book is the first to offer a look at the coming of age of rock journalism, and the critics that opened up a whole new kind of discourse on popular music.

A critical and cutting-edge examination of modern prison labor The United States is home to the most expansive prison system on Earth. In addition to holding nearly a quarter of the world's legal captives, this nation puts them to work. Close to two-thirds of those held in U.S. state prisons hold some sort of job while incarcerated. For these imprisoned people, the carceral institution is not only a place of punishment, but a workplace as well. Yet, very little is known about the world of work behind bars. In order to illuminate the "black box" that is modern prison labor, this book marshals 18 months of ethnographic observations within one of America's medium-security prisons as well as 82 interviews with currently-incarcerated men and the institutional staff members tasked with overseeing them. Pulling together these accounts, it paints a picture of daily labors on the inside, showing that not all prison jobs are the same, nor are all imprisoned workers treated equally. While some find value and purpose in higher-paying, more desirable jobs, others struggle against monotony and hardship in lower-paying, deskilled work assignments. The result is a stratified prison employment system in which race, ethnicity, nationality, and social class help determine one's position in the labor hierarchy and, as a result, their experiences of incarceration and ability to prepare for release. Through insightful first-hand perspectives and rich ethnographic detail, Orange-Collar Labor takes the reader inside the prison workplace, illustrating the formal prison economy as well as the informal black market on which many rely to survive. Highlighting moments of struggle and suffering, as well as hard work, cooperation, resistance, and dignity in harsh environments, it documents the lives of America's working prisoners so often obscured from view.

Few thorough ethnographic studies on Central Indian tribal communities exist, and the elaborate discussion on the cultural meanings of Indian food systems ignores these societies altogether. Food epitomizes the social for the Gadaba of Odisha. Feeding, sharing, and devouring refer to locally distinguished ritual domains, to different types of social relationships and alimentary ritual processes. In investigating the complex paths of ritual practices, this study aims to understand the interrelated fields of cosmology, social order, and economy of an Indian highland community.

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.

The phenomenon of "Cultural Reverse" (????) emerged in the 1980s after China's reform and opening up. In this era of rapid social change, the older generation started to learn from the younger generation across many fields, in a way that is markedly similar to the biological phenomenon of "The old crow that keeps barking, fed by their children" from ancient Chinese poetry. In this book, the author discusses this new academic concept and other aspects of Chinese intergenerational relations. In the first volume, the author explains some popular social science theories about generations, traces the history of Chinese intergenerational relationships, and, through focus group interviews with 77 families in mainland China, comprehensively discusses the younger generation's values, attitudes, behavior patterns, and the ways in which they differ from their ancestors'. The book will be a valuable resource for scholars of Chinese sociology, and also general readers interested in contemporary Chinese society.

On the History of Rock Music follows the development of rock music from its origins up to the present time. It focuses on the relationship between the sound, improvisations and rhythms in particular styles, and gives specific attention to the development of rhythm. The beat-offbeat principle, polyrhythms and polymetrics are fundamental to rock rhythm patterns, which serve as archetypes for specific rhythms. An archetype is a prototype, a model, or an innate experience of a species. Using more than 250 score examples, the author identifies the characteristic rhythmic patterns in rock styles, ranging from rock and roll, hard rock and punk rock to alternative rock, indie rock and grind core.

The monarchs of seventeenth-century Europe put a surprisingly high priority on the abolition of dueling, seeing its eradication as an important step from barbarism toward a rational state monopoly on justice. But it was one thing to ban dueling and another to stop it. Duelists continued to kill each other with swords or pistols in significant numbers deep into the nineteenth century. In 1883 Maupassant called dueling "the last of our unreasonable customs." As a dramatic and forbidden ritual from another age, the duel retained a powerful hold on the public mind and, in particular, the literary imagination. Many of the greatest names in Western literature wrote about or even fought in duels, among them Corneille, Moliere, Richardson, Rousseau, Pushkin, Dickens, Hugo, Dumas, Twain, Conrad, Chekhov, and Mann. As John Leigh explains, the duel was a gift as a plot device. But writers also sought to discover in duels something more fundamental about human conflict and how we face our fears of humiliation, pain, and death. The duel was, for some, a social cause, a scourge to be mocked or lamented; yet even its critics could be seduced by its risk and glamour. Some conservatives defended dueling by arguing that the man of noble bearing who cared less about living than living with honor was everything that the contemporary bourgeois was not. The literary history of the duel, as Touche makes clear, illuminates the tensions that attended the birth of the modern world.

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.

From ancient times to the present, taboos have affected our societies, as demonstrated in this encyclopedia full of unusual information from around the world. The topic of taboos has rarely been discussed in any comprehensive way in recent years, as though the word itself has become taboo in our efforts to dispel the myth of the irrationality of supposedly 'primitive' cultures. The Encyclopedia of Taboos is a mine of unusual information from around the world, including a comprehensive analysis of individual taboos from the ancient world to the present day, covering both well- and lesser-known examples. The A-Z articles cover the topics naturally associated with the concept of taboo-incest, cannibalism, pollution, food, art, dress, sex, and death-and also the foremost writers on the subject, including Sigmund Freud, Mary Douglas, Edmund Leach, Franz Steiner, and Frederick Barth. 150 A-Z entries including separate entries on the foremost writers on the subject, including Sigmund Freud, Mary Douglas, Edmund Leach, Franz Steiner, and Frederick Barth Includes an introduction and bibliography