Part of a series that offers mainly linguistic and anthropological research and teaching/learning material on a region of great cultural and strategic interest and importance in the post-Soviet era.

Part of a series that offers mainly linguistic and anthropological research and teaching/learning material on a region of great cultural and strategic interest and importance in the post-Soviet era.

Examines the ideas and organization of new Islamic, Hindu and other movements. Considers the creation of new traditions and ethnicities in these movements as well as the key themes of liberation central to many of them, such as purity and pollution. Bhatt also looks at the relationship between right wing and progressive social movements.

With its systematic coverage of different groups, this book demonstrates how similar trends of ethnic formation are affecting all parts of Nepal. Yet, within the boundaries of a single culturally diverse state, very different forms of ethnicity have emerged.
" This is a truly thematic collection with a well-defined focus on the important contemporary topics of ethnic identity and nationalism. The importance of the theme is self-evident in a world attempting to come to grips with such problems in virtually all modern states. Anyone with an interest in contemporary Nepal should study this volume."
Nepal is the only officially Hindu kingdom in the world and remains so in spite of a revolution, or people's movement, in 1990 which overthrew the partyless Panchayat regime and instituted a multiparty constitutional monarchy. Since November 1994, it has also had an elected Communist government, the first of its kind in South Asia.
This volume takes a long-term view of the various processes of ethnic and national development that have been displayed, both before and after 1990. It brings together twelve carefully chosen ethnographic and historical chapters covering all of the major ethnic groups and regions of Nepal.

Part of a series that offers mainly linguistic and anthropological research and teaching/learning material on a region of great cultural and strategic interest and importance in the post-Soviet era.

Graeme Snooks has set himself the ambitious and original task of exploring the driving force of global change over the past 2 million years. The book outlines and explains the biological development of life, going on to develop a fully dynamic model, not just of genetic change, but of the broader process of life on earth. Snooks also provides a critical review of current interpretations about the course of history and the forces driving it. Finally, he develops an entirely new interpretation of the dynamics of human society, arguing that the rise and fall of societies is an outcome of the development and exhaustion of these strategies.
This dynamic strategy model is employed to discuss likely future outcomes for society. Controversially, Snooks argues that far from leading to ecological destruction, growth--including technological change--is both natural and necessary. "The Dynamic Society" demonstrates that dynamism, not stasis, is the essential condition of human society, as it is of life.

In this book Graeme Snooks has set himself the highly ambitious task of exploring the driving force of global change over the past 2 million years. The author also employs his dynamic strategy model to discuss future outcomes for human society, controversially arguing that far from leading to ecological destruction, growth-inducing technological change is both necessary and liberating. Ultimately, the book demonstrates that dynamism, not stasis, is the essential condition of human society, as it is of life.

Are humans unique? This simple question, at the very heart of the hybrid field of biological anthropology, poses one of the false of dichotomies--with a stereotypical humanist answering in the affirmative and a stereotypical scientist answering in the negative.

The "study "of human biology is different from the study of the biology of other species. In the simplest terms, people's lives and welfare may depend upon it, in a sense that they may not depend on the study of other scientific subjects. Where science is used to validate ideas--four out of five scientists preferring a brand of cigarettes or toothpaste--there is a tendency to accept the judgment as authoritative without asking the kinds of questions we might ask of other citizens' pronouncements.

In "Human Biodiversity, "Marks has attempted to distill from a centuries-long debate what has been learned and remains to be learned about the biological differences within and among human groups. His is the first such attempt by an anthropologist in years, for genetics has undermined the fundamental assumptions of racial taxonomy. The history of those assumptions from Linnaeus to the recent past--the history of other, more useful assumptions that derive from Buffon and have reemerged to account for genetic variation--are the poles of Marks's exploration.

This text provides discussions of ethnic politics in Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, offering an interpretation of the nature of ethnic consciouness and the causes of ethnic tensions. Ethnic consciousness is defined in terms of a psychological and political ideology that is, predominantly, influenced by the attitude and policy of the state. This idea is developed through an examination of the influence that theoretical ideas - such as neo-patrimonialism, corporatism, ethnocracy, internal colonialism and class - have had upon the various regimes in the countries above. The book explores how the influence of these different theories and conceptualizations of the state, resulted in a variety of manifestations of political ethnicity.

The International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry holds a major conference every four years. This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the fourth such event, held at the World Congress on Youth, Leisure and Physical Activity in Brussels. It represents state-of-the-art research in the field of physical development and physical performance with contributions from the UK, Europe, South America, USA and Canada. The papers are divided into four sections covering body composition and growth; physical activity, health and fitness; performance and anthropometry; and growth and performance.

Situated at the intersection of natural science and philosophy, Our Genes explores historical practices, investigates current trends, and imagines future work in genetic research to answer persistent, political questions about human diversity. Readers are guided through fascinating thought experiments, complex measures and metrics, fundamental evolutionary patterns, and in-depth treatment of exciting case studies. The work culminates in a philosophical rationale, based on scientific evidence, for a moderate position about the explanatory power of genes that is often left unarticulated. Simply put, human evolutionary genomics - our genes - can tell us much about who we are as individuals and as collectives. However, while they convey scientific certainty in the popular imagination, genes cannot answer some of our most important questions. Alternating between an up-close and a zoomed-out focus on genes and genomes, individuals and collectives, species and populations, Our Genes argues that the answers we seek point to rich, necessary work ahead.

Walter E. Roth's 1897 study of the Aborigines of North-West-Central Queensland was among the first of its kind in Australia, and established his international reputation as a leading anthropologist and ethnologist. Roth, a physician who was later appointed 'protector of Aboriginals' by the government, gained the confidence and trust of the Aboriginal people among whom he lived, and tried to stop the exploitation and injustice they suffered, in the face of fierce political opposition. His book provides a fascinating and closely observed account of the Aborigines' traditional way of life, including their language, kinship and customs. It describes social organisation, food, tools and weapons, personal decoration, travel and trade, birth and death, and even cannibalism. Containing over 430 illustrations and a glossary summarising key vocabulary, this thoroughly-researched book is widely recognised as a valuable and enduring anthropological record.

'Every South African has a stake in a peaceful and prosperous South Africa.' The SA Tribes programme is one of the most comprehensive research studies carried out in South Africa's history. Nearly 15,000 South Africans were interviewed during the period 1997-2001. From the poorest Xhosa-speakers in the Eastern Cape to wealthy Sandton executives, representatives from every strata of this country's diverse populace have been questioned. The resultant assessment is as thought-provoking as it is groundbreaking. UCT professor Steve Burgess has worked closely with learned colleagues from all over the world - and has enjoyed extensive support from leading research companies Markinor and Gallup - to put together this authoritative and insightful portrait of the Rainbow Nation as it heads towards its 10th anniversary. Although initially conceived as a tool for marketers seeking to understand the changing demographics of the new South Africa, SA Tribes has become required reading for anyone determined to understand the social and political geography of the country. SA Tribes contends that understanding and embracing our social identities, rather than dwelling on racial differences, is key to a successful society in South Africa. Thanks to the SA Tribes study we are now better placed than ever to know and understand our neighbours.

This work describes the beliefs, customs and traditions of this tribe from the Ekat district.

Tooth enamel and dentin are the most studied hard tissues used to explore hominin evolution, life history, diet, health, and culture. Surprisingly, cementum (the interface between the alveolar bone and the root dentin) remains the least studied dental tissue even though its unique growth, which is continuous throughout life, has been acknowledged since the 1950s. This interdisciplinary volume presents state-of-the-art studies in cementum analysis and its broad interpretative potential in anthropology. The first section focuses on cementum biology; the second section presents optimized multi-species and standardized protocols to estimate age and season at death precisely. The final section highlights innovative applications in zooarchaeology, paleodemography, bioarchaeology, paleoanthropology, and forensic anthropology, demonstrating how cementochronology can profoundly affect anthropological theories. With a wealth of illustrations of cementum histology and accompanying online resources, this book provides the perfect toolkit for scholars interested in studying past and current human and animal populations.

In this daring exploration of the history, nature, and ultimate meaning of racism, Dinesh D'Souza breaks the accepted boundaries of discourse about race in our country. When published in hardcover, D'Souza's opinion and comments stirred much controversy. In a new Foreword presented here, he responds to critics on all sides of the political spectrum.

History through material culture is a unique, step-by-step guide for students and researchers who wish to use objects as historical sources. Responding to the significant, scholarly interest in historical material culture studies, this book makes clear how students and researchers ready to use these rich material sources can make important, valuable and original contributions to history. Written by two experienced museum practitioners and historians, the book recognises the theoretical and practical challenges of this approach and offers clear advice on methods to get the best out of material culture research. With a focus on the early modern and modern periods, this volume draws on examples from across the world and demonstrates how to use material culture to answer a range of enquiries, including social, economic, gender, cultural and global history. -- .

In his seminal work "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, " Samuel Huntington argued provocatively and presciently that with the end of the cold war, "civilizations" were replacing ideologies as the new fault lines in international politics.

Now in his controversial new work, "Who Are We?, " Huntington focuses on an identity crisis closer to home as he examines the impact other civilizations and their values are having on our own country.

America was founded by British settlers who brought with them a distinct culture, says Huntington, including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of immigrants that later came to the United States gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, our national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of primarily Hispanic immigrants and challenged by issues such as bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American elites.

September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism and a renewal of American identity, but already there are signs that this revival is fading. Huntington argues the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans. Timely and thought-provoking, "Who Are We?" is an important book that is certain to shape our national conversation about who we are.

First published in 1890 in a run of just 200 copies, anthropologist Henry Ling Roth's The Aborigines of Tasmania provides a comprehensive account of native Tasmanians' life and culture. Roth, writing in the wake of the Tasmanian Aborigines' extinction, produces 'an approach to absolute completeness' that relies on the accounts of the explorers, colonisers, and anthropologists who preceded him. His work covers an exhaustive range of detail, from the Tasmanians' mannerisms to their psychology, origin, and language. Compiling his predecessors' observations and arguments, Roth often sets opinions in opposition to highlight the lack of consensus amongst those who encountered the Tasmanians. Roth's book is additionally valuable for the 'vocabularies' included in his appendices. The 1899 edition (225 copies) revises and expands the first, adding photographs to the first edition's illustrations as well as new appendices. It made an innovative and lasting contribution to an established research tradition.

James Dawson first published Australian Aborigines in 1881, after deciding that his careful description of the tribes, languages, customs, and characteristics of the indigenous peoples of the western district of Victoria was too bulky for its originally intended publication in a newspaper. Essentially a field-inspired anthropological account of the dwindling Aboriginal population, written before the emergence of anthropology as a formal discipline, Dawson's book draws on his daughter's ability to speak the local languages and attempts a balanced description of a culture he considered ill-used and under-appreciated by white settlers. Minute details about clothing, tools, settlement and beliefs combine to depict a complex society that possessed highly ritualised customs deserving of respect. Dawson also included an extensive vocabulary of words in three indigenous languages that he hoped would facilitate further cross-cultural understanding. His work provides valuable source material for modern researchers in anthropology and linguistics.

The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity is a comprehensive collection of the most significant articles to appear in this field. It presents the major ideas and approaches in this branch of sociology and covers the main themes in European debates as well as race-related questions in North America.Topics covered are: theories of racial and ethnicity division including rational choice, sociobiology and class approaches; the sociology of race, nationalism and colonialism; migration and ethnicity; the nature and causes of prejudice and racial discrimination; inter-ethnic conflict; racialisation and ethnic identity; race and social class in urban areas; multiculturalism and the problem of the political integration of immigrants.

The Circassians have a long history forged in the crucible of their homeland in the mountains and valleys of the Northwest Caucasus. Of the many peoples of the Caucasus, they are notable for their wide and vociferous diaspora, particularly in Turkey and the Middle East. After living for many centuries in comparative obscurity under the shadow of Russia, the Circassians staged a minor comeback after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As was the case with other regions in the Caucasus, this rebirth into nationhood was swiftly stifled, yet today's Circassian territories have been rediscovered as a cultural and political focus for Circassians globally. This book provides an in-depth description by an insider' of the ancient beliefs, customs and traditions of a remarkable people - offering insights into a fascinating world, much of which has until now remained unknown. This complex universe is unlocked in the hope of spurring more interest in the unique culture of the Circassians.

This is the first study of a transhumant cattle-raising community in Spain. Transhumance is the seasonal moving of livestock to another region. This book shows the social and economic factors upon which the continued vitality of this mountain village is based: the use of communal summer pastures; the transhumant groups which walk the cattle to the winter pastures over the mountains; and the system of taking turns for many tasks within the village. The book analyses the sharp divisions between the more rigid organization of life within the village, and the organization of life outside the village in the transhumant group which goes to the winter pastures in Extramadura.

The Political System of the Anuak of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

This is an unusual excursion into American Indian culture history by a British social anthropologist. It examines theories of the development of different Pueblo social structures, with particular attention to Eggan. From a detailed re-analysis of the evidence and a consideration of material from the Eastern Keresan Pueblo of Cochiti, based on his own fieldwork, Dr Fox concludes that the theory that all Pueblos were derived from a common base is no longer tenable, and that a diversity of origins is more probable. Apart from its contribution to Amerindian studies, the book is of particular interest as an approach to modern culture history by a social anthropologist.