|
|
Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > General
The year 1998 represents the hundredth anniversary of the U.S.
invasion of Puerto Rico. Since that time, the "Puerto Rican
archipelago" has come to extend from the island itself, up the
Eastern seaboard, and as far west as California and Hawai'i. Puerto
Rican Jam considers the issues unique to Puerto Rican culture and
politics, issues often encapsulated in concerns about ethnicity,
race, gender, and language. Discussions of Puerto Rican cultural
politics usually fall into one of two categories, nationalist or
colonialist. Puerto Rican Jam moves beyond this narrow dichotomy,
elaborating alternatives to dominant postcolonial theories, and
includes essays written from the perspectives of groups that are
not usually represented, such as gays and lesbians, youth, blacks,
and women. The essays propose different ways of conceptualizing the
U.S.-Puerto Rican colonial relationship, thus opening new spaces
for political, social, economic, and cultural agency for Puerto
Ricans on both the island and the continent. Among the topics
discussed are the limitations of nationalism as a transformative
and democratizing political discourse, the contradictory impact of
American colonialism, language politics, and the 1928 U.S.
congressional hearings on women's suffrage in Puerto Rico. A
groundbreaking contribution to the study of colonialism, Puerto
Rican Jam represents an important engagement with issues raised by
American expansionism in the Caribbean. Contributors: Jaime E.
Benson-Arias, U of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez; Arlene Davila, Syracuse
U; Chloe S. Georas, SUNY, Binghamton; Manuel Guzman, CUNY Graduate
Center; Gladys M. Jimenez-Munoz, SUNY, Oneonta; Agustin Lao, SUNY,
Binghamton; Yolanda Martinez-San Miguel, U of Puerto Rico; Mariano
Negron-Portillo, U of Puerto Rico; Jose Quiroga, George Washington
U; Raquel Z. Rivera, CUNY Graduate Center; Alberto Sandoval
Sanchez, Mount Holyoke College; Kelvin A. Santiago-Valles, SUNY,
Binghamton. Frances Negron-Muntaner is a doctoral candidate in
comparative literature at Rutgers University, as well as a poet and
filmmaker. Ramon Grosfoguel is assistant professor of sociology at
the State University of New York, Binghamton.
"This fascinating and most timely critical medical anthropology
study successfully binds two still emergent areas of contemporary
anthropological research in the global world: the nature and
significant impact of multinational pharmaceutical manufacturers on
human social life everywhere, and the contribution of corporations
to the fast-paced degradation of our life support system, planet
Earth. . . . Focusing on a pharmaceutically-impacted town on the
colonized island of Puerto Rico, Dietrich ably demonstrates the
value of ethnography carried out in small places in framing the
large issues facing humanity." -Merrill Singer, University of
Connecticut The production of pharmaceuticals is among the most
profitable industries on the planet. Drug companies produce
chemical substances that can save, extend, or substantially improve
the quality of human life.However, even as the companies present
themselves publicly as health and environmental stewards, their
factories are a significant source of air and water
pollution--toxic to people and the environment. In Puerto Rico, the
pharmaceutical industry is the backbone of the island's economy: in
one small town alone, there are over a dozen drug factories
representing five multinationals, the highest concentration per
capita of such factories in the world. It is a place where the
enforcement of environmental regulations and the public trust they
ensure are often violated in the name of economic development. The
Drug Company Next Door unites the concerns of critical medical
anthropology with those of political ecology, investigating the
multi-faceted role of pharmaceutical corporations as polluters,
economic providers, and social actors. Rather than simply
demonizing the drug companies, the volume explores the dynamics
involved in their interactions with the local community and
discusses the strategies used by both individuals and community
groups to deal with the consequences of pollution. The Drug Company
Next Door puts a human face on a growing set of problems for
communities around the world. Accessible and engaging, the book
encourages readers to think critically about the role of
corporations in everyday life, health, and culture.
The Environment in Anthropology presents ecology and current
environmental studies from an anthropological point of view. From
the classics to the most current scholarship, this text connects
the theory and practice in environment and anthropology, providing
readers with a strong intellectual foundation as well as offering
practical tools for solving environmental problems. Haenn, Wilk,
and Harnish pose the most urgent questions of environmental
protection: How are environmental problems mediated by cultural
values? What are the environmental effects of urbanization? When do
environmentalists' goals and actions conflict with those of
indigenous peoples? How can we assess the impact of
"environmentally correct" businesses? They also cover the
fundamental topics of population growth, large scale development,
biodiversity conservation, sustainable environmental management,
indigenous groups, consumption, and globalization. This revised
edition addresses new topics such as water, toxic waste,
neoliberalism, environmental history, environmental activism, and
REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation), and it situates anthropology in the
multi-disciplinary field of environmental research. It also offers
readers a guide for developing their own plan for environmental
action. This volume offers an introduction to the breadth of
ecological and environmental anthropology as well as to its
historical trends and current developments. Balancing landmark
essays with cutting-edge scholarship, bridging theory and practice,
and offering suggestions for further reading and new directions for
research, The Environment in Anthropology continues to provide the
ideal introduction to a burgeoning field.
From the colonial period through the mid-twentieth century,
haciendas dominated the Latin American countryside. In the
Ecuadorian Andes, Runa-- Quichua-speaking indigenous people--
worked on these large agrarian estates as virtual serfs. In
Remembering the Hacienda: Religion, Authority, and Social Change in
Highland Ecuador, Barry Lyons probes the workings of power on
haciendas and explores the hacienda's contemporary legacy.
Lyons lived for three years in a Runa village and conducted
in-depth interviews with elderly former hacienda laborers. He
combines their wrenching accounts with archival evidence to paint
an astonishing portrait of daily life on haciendas. Lyons also
develops an innovative analysis of hacienda discipline and
authority relations. Remembering the Hacienda explains the role of
religion as well as the reshaping of Runa culture and identity
under the impact of land reform and liberation theology.
This beautifully written book is a major contribution to the
understanding of social control and domination. It will be valuable
reading for a broad audience in anthropology, history, Latin
American studies, and religious studies.
Over the past four decades, the forces of economic restructuring,
globalization, and suburbanization, coupled with changes in social
policies have dimmed hopes for revitalizing minority neighborhoods
in the U.S. Community economic development offers a possible way to
improve economic and employment opportunities in minority
communities. In this authoritative collection of original essays,
contributors evaluate current programs and their prospects for
future success.Using case studies that consider communities of
African-Americans, Latinos, Asian immigrants, and Native Americans,
the book is organized around four broad topics. The Context
explores the larger demographic, economic, social, and physical
forces at work in the marginalization of minority communities.
Labor Market Development discusses the factors that shape supply
and demand and examines policies and strategies for workforce
development. Business Development focuses on opportunities and
obstacles for minority-owned businesses. Complementary Strategies
probes the connections between varied economic development
strategies, including the necessity of affordable housing and
social services.Taken together, these essays offer a comprehensive
primer for students as well as an informative overview for
professionals.
Throughout its entire history, the discipline of anthropology has
been perceived as undermining, or even discrediting, Christian
faith. Many of its most prominent theorists have been agnostics who
assumed that ethnographic findings and theories had exposed
religious beliefs to be untenable. E. B. Tylor, the founder of the
discipline in Britain, lost his faith through studying
anthropology. James Frazer saw the material that he presented in
his highly influential work, The Golden Bough, as demonstrating
that Christian thought was based on the erroneous thought patterns
of 'savages.' On the other hand, some of the most eminent
anthropologists have been Christians, including E. E.
Evans-Pritchard, Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, and Edith Turner.
Moreover, they openly presented articulate reasons for how their
religious convictions cohered with their professional work. Despite
being a major site of friction between faith and modern thought,
the relationship between anthropology and Christianity has never
before been the subject of a book-length study. In this
groundbreaking work, Timothy Larsen examines the point where doubt
and faith collide with anthropological theory and evidence.
Now in its 30th edition, the Europa International Foundation
Directory 2021 provides an unparalleled guide to the foundations,
trusts, charitable and grantmaking NGOs, and other similar
not-for-profit organizations of the world. It provides a
comprehensive picture of third sector activity on a global scale.
Users will find names and contact details for some 2,690
institutions worldwide. This new edition has been revised and
expanded to include the most comprehensive and up-to-date
information on this growing sector. Indexes allow the reader to
find organizations by area of activity (including conservation and
the environment, science and technology, education and social
welfare) and geographical region of operations (e.g. South America,
Central America and the Caribbean, Australasia, Western Europe and
North America). Contents include: A comprehensive directory section
organized by country or territory; Details of co-ordinating bodies,
and of foundations, trusts and non-profit organizations; A full
index of organizations, and indexes by main activity and by
geographical area of activity.
Innovation and creativity are two of the key characteristics
that distinguish cultural transmission from biological
transmission. This book explores a number of questions concerning
the nature and timing of the origins of human creativity. What were
the driving factors in the development of new technologies? What
caused the stasis in stone tool technological innovation in the
Early Pleistocene? Were there specific regions and episodes of
enhanced technological development, or did it occur at a steady
pace where ancestral humans lived? The authors are archaeologists
who address these questions, armed with data from ancient artefacts
such as shell beads used as jewelry, primitive musical instruments,
and sophisticated techniques required to fashion certain kinds of
stone into tools.
Providing state of art discussions that step back from the usual
archaeological publications that focus mainly on individual site
discoveries, this book presents the full picture on how and why
creativity in Middle to Late Pleistocene archeology/anthropology
evolved.
Gives a full, original and multidisciplinary perspective on how and
why creativity evolved in the Middle to Late PleistoceneEnhances
our understanding of the big leaps forward in creativity at certain
timesAssesses the intellectual creativity of "Homo erectus, H.
neanderthalensis," and "H. sapiens" via their artefacts"
|
|