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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Human biology & related topics
The Ojibwe of Anishinaabe are a native American people who were taught by 19th-century missionaries to sing evangelical hymns translated into the native language both as a means of worship and as a tool for eradicating the "indianness" of the native people. Rather than Americanizing the people, however, these songs have become emblematic of Anishinaabe identity. In this book, Michael McNally uses the Ojiwbe's hymn-singing as a lens to examine how this native American people has creatively drawn on the resources of ritual to negotiate identity and survival within the structures of colonialism. Drawing on both archival research and fieldwork, he traces the historical development of ritualized singing and how this distinctive practice has come into play at various moments in Ojiwbe history. This important study re-examines the contested nature of "tradition," arguing that despite its origins hymn-singing has now become "traditional" through the agency of today's elders, who have asserted their role as cultural critics on the reservation through their singing.
This book discusses the European Union's approach to governance reform in its development assistance relationships with various groups of developing countries. A group of expert authors outline the general features of the position on governance taken by the EU, which is currently the major multilateral donor of development assistance, and discuss the implementation of EU policies in a set of cases: the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Southeastern Europe, Central Asia, the Euro-Mediterranean, Latin America and fragile states. The contributions to the book argue that the EU's position on governance reform, particularly since the adoption of the European Consensus on Development in 2005, has had distinctly neoliberal overtones. The EU's governance-related strategies have been instrumental to deepening market-based reform in aid-receiving countries. Policies on state-building adopted by the EU reflect mainly the interests of and ideas embraced by the EU and its member states. To an important extent, the rhetoric accompanying EU policies does not match with the political and social dynamics inherent in governance structures on the ground in many of its aid-recipient partner countries. This book was published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.
"Campbell's book makes for good reasoning.... One ends the book a better informed person."
This is the first historical study of indigenous Australian masculinity. Using the reactions of eighteenth-century western explorers to Aboriginal men, Konishi argues that these encounters were not as negative as has been thought.
It has become received wisdom that our world is doomed, that we live in the End of Days. Bleak predictions by psychics and scientists alike portend extreme weather, droughts, famines and floods that will overtake humanity within the century, or sooner. If not global warming, then supervolcanoes, meteoric impacts, nuclear war, bioterrorism, or natural plagues will get us. But whatever happens, Michael Hanlon believes that humankind will go on...and on. The shape of things to come will be strange, and somewhat terrifying, but will very likely seem banal to the people who inhabit it in the future. Humankind may be thrown back to the Stone Age on hundreds of occasions and may come close to extinction. But recovery will follow--each time more rapidly than the last. The world of 10,000 years hence, let alone 100,000,000 years hence, will be strange and almost unrecognizable. But no matter how battered and re-born, it will still be "our" world, populated by "us" through eternity.
The purpose of this rich and innovatively presented ethnography is to explore mobility, sense of place and time on the British Columbia coast. On the basis of almost 400 interviews with ferry passengers and over 250 ferry journeys, the author narrates and reflects on the performance of travel and on the consequences of ferry-dependence on island and coastal communities. Ferry Tales inaugurates a new series entitled Innovative Ethnographies for Routledge (innovativeethnographies.net). The purpose of this hypermedia book series is to use digital technologies to capture a richer, multimodal view of social life than was otherwise done in the classic, print-based tradition of ethnography, while maintaining the traditional strengths of classic, ethnographic analysis. Visit the book's website at ferrytales.innovativeethnographies.net
This book examines the idea of a fundamental entitlement to health and healthcare from a human rights perspective. The volume is based on a particular conceptual reasoning that balances critical thinking and pragmatism in the context of a universal right to health. Thus, the primary focus of the book is the relationship or contrast between rights-based discourse/jurisprudential arguments and real-life healthcare contexts. The work sets out the constraints that are imposed on a universal right to health by practical realities such as economic hardship in countries, lack of appropriate governance, and lack of support for the implementation of this right through appropriate resource allocation. It queries the degree to which the existence of this legally enshrined right and its application in instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) can be more than an ephemeral aspiration but can, actually, sustain, promote, and instil good practice. It further asks if social reality and the inequalities that present themselves therein impede the implementation of laudable human rights, particularly within marginalised communities and cadres of people. It deliberates on what states and global bodies do, or could do, in practical terms to ensure that such rights are moved beyond the aspirational and become attainable and implementable. Divided into three parts, the first analyses the notion of a universal inalienable right to health(care) from jurisprudential, anthropological, legal, and ethical perspectives. The second part considers the translation of international human rights norms into specific jurisdictional healthcare contexts. With a global perspective it includes countries with very different legal, economic, and social contexts. Finally, the third part summarises the lessons learnt and provides a pathway for future action. The book will be an invaluable resource for students, academics, and policymakers working in the areas of health law and policy, and international human rights law.
The purpose of this rich and innovatively presented ethnography is to explore mobility, sense of place and time on the British Columbia coast. On the basis of almost 400 interviews with ferry passengers and over 250 ferry journeys, the author narrates and reflects on the performance of travel and on the consequences of ferry-dependence on island and coastal communities. Ferry Tales inaugurates a new series entitled Innovative Ethnographies for Routledge (innovativeethnographies.net). The purpose of this hypermedia book series is to use digital technologies to capture a richer, multimodal view of social life than was otherwise done in the classic, print-based tradition of ethnography, while maintaining the traditional strengths of classic, ethnographic analysis. Visit the book's website at ferrytales.innovativeethnographies.net
Whether the goals of research are applied or more abstract, team research has been an important aspect of ethnography. In Doing Team Ethnography, the latest volume in the Qualitative Research Methods series, authors Ken Erickson and Donald Stull examine the myriad of challenges and opportunities in doing team ethnography. From setting goals and putting together a team, to observing, sharing, and collaborating on a finished product, Doing Team Ethnography provides clear and practical advice to researchers at any level or in any discipline.
Early Human Behaviour in a Global Context will be of use to students and professionals who are interested in prehistory, Paleolithic archaeology, and paleoanthropology. Those interested in our ancestors and their place in the natural world will also benefit from the information presented in this book. Chapters focus on: * the nature of archaeological evidence * stone tool technology * subsistence practices * settlement distributions.
Time, Tradition and Society in Greek Archaeology is an innovative volume which examines the relevance of archaeological theory to classical archaeology. It offers a wideranging overview of classical archaeology, from the Bronze Age to the Classical period and from mainland Greece to Cyprus. Within this framework Spencer examines many of the issues which have become important in the study of archaeology in recent years - time, the `past', gender, ideology, social structure and group identity. The papers in this collection cover such diverse topics as the rural landscape, classical art and scientific methodologies. Over the last century the study of classical archaeology has been orthodox and static. The essays in this collection examine it in the light of current theoretical archaeology and anthropology, making it more relevant and valuable to the study of archaeology in the 1990s. This is a diverse and topical collection, of great value to classicists, ancient historians, anthropologists and everyone interested in new approaches to archaeology.
This proceedings volume describes the current state of research dealing with biological shape analysis. The quantitative analysis of the shape of biological organisms represents a challenge that has now seen breakthroughs with new methodologies such as elliptical Fourier analysis, quantitative trait loci analysis (QTLs), thin plate splines, etc. The volume also illustrates the diversity of disciplines that are actively involved in the characterization and analysis of the biological shape. Some of the papers deal with the need to relate the underlying genome responsible for the actual observed characteristics of form. Moreover, many of the papers focus on the relationship of the shape to the processes that determine the biological form, an issue of major continuing concern in biology.This volume brings together for the second time practitioners from a variety of disciplines who have been concerned with the necessity of applying new methods to the analysis of biological shape. Previous methodologies based on the conventional metrical approach (distances, angles and ratios), have not been able to adequately capture - in quantitative terms - the subtleties and complexities of biological form due to its irregularity. This volume represents an initial attempt to quantitatively characterize the biological form in both two- and three-dimensions, as it is actually perceived.There is no volume available that deals with the subject matter of these Proceedings. The papers represent, as in the first proceedings, a unique look at: (1) new methodologies developed and used quantitatively describe the biological form; (2) the need to relate the observed biological shape to the underlying processes that determine the shape; and (3) the tremendous diversity of disciplines actively involved in the characterization and analysis of biological shapes. These range from physical anthropology, anatomy, genetics, botany, entomology, forensics, to applied mathematics, etc.
When Communities Assess their AIDS Epidemics is a detailed ethnographic description of the AIDS epidemic in ten U.S. cities and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Employing a rapid ethnographic assessment methodology, cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific have implemented Project RARE (Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation) efforts. These RARE projects examine the moving edge of the AIDS epidemic through descriptions of high-risk sites and identifications of segments of the populations at greatest risk. Utilizing a series of focus groups and street interviews, local field research teams gain an insider's perspective on HIV risk within social contexts. Dr. Benjamin P. Bowser, Dr. Ernest Quimby, and Dr. Merrill Singer have compiled these critical studies that analyze current conditions, challenges, and recommendations encountered by RARE. When Communities Assess their AIDS Epidemics is a powerful and engaging text that will appeal to those interested in public health and anthropology.
This book provides an ethno-historical study of the trade system in Ladakh (India), a busy entrepot for Silk Route trade between Central and South Asia. Previously a part of global networks, Ladakh became an isolated border area as national boundaries were defined and enforced in the mid-20th century. As trade with Central Asia ended, social life in Ladakh was irrevocably altered. The author's research combines anthropological, historical, and archaeological methods of investigation, using data from primary documents, ethnographic interviews and participation-observation fieldwork. The result is a cultural history of South and Central Asia, detailing the social lives of historical Ladakhi traders and identifying their community as a cosmopolitan social group. The relationship between the historical narratives and the modern ethnographic context illustrates how social issues in modern communities are related to those of the past. It is demonstrated that this relationship depends on both memories, narratives about the past constructed within present social contexts, and legacies, ways in which the past continues to shape present social interactions. This book will be of particular interest to anthropologists, historians and specialists in South and Central Asian studies, as well as those interested in historical archaeology, science, sociology, political science and economics.
This book examines the concept of adaptation in four major fields in the human sciences. Genetic aspects are first considered through an examination of the human genes which have so far been identified as conferring survival value in particular environmental circumstances. The drift versus selection argument is also fully reviewed. The second contribution concerns the physiological changes which occur when individuals move from one environment to another. In the past, most attention has been given to the mechanisms of these changes, but here the focus is on the effects. The third contribution is directed at the analysis of behaviour - especially social behaviour. The application of kin selection and reciprocal attraction theories to humans is explored and the value of these approaches explained, whether the behaviour has a genetic basis or not. The final essay deals with the relevance of the adaptation concept to the social sciences and especially to social anthropology. It demonstrates that an ecological approach to understanding the nature and structure of human societies demands attention to adaptation.Reprinted in paperback for the first time and with a new foreword, this book, which serves as an excellent teaching text, clearly shows how attempts at integration in each of these various fields can benefit the study of human evolution, social structure and organization from all perspectives.
'Intensely moving, vital and artful' - Guardian 'A dizzying ride . . . both timely and beguiling' - Sunday Times At a moment in which basic rights are once again in danger, Olivia Laing conducts an ambitious investigation into the body and its discontents, using the life of the renegade psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich to chart a daring course through the long struggle for bodily freedom, from gay rights and sexual liberation to feminism and the civil rights movement. Drawing on her own experiences in protest and travelling from Weimar Berlin to the prisons of McCarthy-era America, Laing grapples with some of the most significant and complicated figures of the past century, among them Nina Simone, Sigmund Freud, Susan Sontag and Malcolm X. Everybody is a crucial examination of the forces arranged against freedom and a celebration of how ordinary human bodies can resist oppression and reshape the world. Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 'An ambitious, absorbing achievement that will make your brain hum' - Evening Standard 'Laing's gift for weaving big ideas together with lyrical prose sets her alongside the likes of Arundhati Roy, John Berger and James Baldwin. In other words, she is among the most significant voices of our time.' - Financial Times
With "race" being discredited as a rallying cry for populist movements because of the atrocities committed in its name during World War II, "culture" has been adopted by right-wing groups instead, but used in the same exclusionary manner as racism was. This volume examines the essentialism, which is implicit in racial theories and reemerges in the ideological use of cultural identity in new rightist movements, and presents case studies from different parts of the world where researchers were confronted with racism and worked out ways of coping with it.
Comprehensive selection of 126 myths, including sacred stories, animal myths, local legends, wonder stories, historical traditions and miscellaneous myths and legends. Also, extensive background on Cherokee history, notes on the myths, parallels between Cherokee and other myths, much more. 20 maps and illustrations.
The Arakmbut are an indigenous people who live in the Madre de Dios region of the southeastern Peruvian rain forest. Since their first encounters with missionaries in the 1950s,they have shown resilience and a determination to affirm their identity in the face of many difficulties. During the last fifteen years, Arakmbut survival has been under threat from a goldrush that has attracted hundreds of colonists onto their territories. This trilogy of books traces the ways in which the Arakmbut overcome the dangers that surround them: their mythology and cultural strength; their social flexibility; and their capacity to incorporate non-indigenous concepts and activities into their defence strategies. Each area is punctuated by the constant presence of the invisible spirit, which provides a seamless theme connecting the books to each other. The death of a shaman in 1980 had an enormous spiritual and political consequences for one of the Arakmbut communities, resulting in a shift in its social organization from comparative hierarchy to a more egalitarian system. The author uses this case as an illustration to challenge the idea that indigenous peoples live in fossilized, static worlds. He shows that political activities in conjunction with shamanic communication with the spirit world provide the impetus and context for change. Buy all three volumes for 20% discount
This ground-breaking book challenges us to re-think ourselves as techno-sapiens-a new species we are creating as we continually co-evolve ourselves with our technologies. While some of its chapters are imaginary, they are all empirically grounded in ethnography and richly theorized from diverse disciplines. The authors go far beyond a techno-optimism vs. techno-pessimism stance, stretching our thinking about birthing techno-sapiens to consider not only how our cyborgian reproductive lives are constrained and/or enabled by technology but are also about emotions and spirit. The world of reproductive health care and particularly that of genetic engineering is developing exponentially, and current challenges are vastly different from those of a decade ago. The book is provocative, intended to generate debate, ideas, and future research and to influence ethical policy and practice in human techno-reproduction. It will be of interest across the social sciences and humanities, for reproductive scholars, bioethicists, techno-scientists, and those involved in the development and delivery of maternity services.
This ground-breaking book challenges us to re-think ourselves as techno-sapiens-a new species we are creating as we continually co-evolve ourselves with our technologies. While some of its chapters are imaginary, they are all empirically grounded in ethnography and richly theorized from diverse disciplines. The authors go far beyond a techno-optimism vs. techno-pessimism stance, stretching our thinking about birthing techno-sapiens to consider not only how our cyborgian reproductive lives are constrained and/or enabled by technology but are also about emotions and spirit. The world of reproductive health care and particularly that of genetic engineering is developing exponentially, and current challenges are vastly different from those of a decade ago. The book is provocative, intended to generate debate, ideas, and future research and to influence ethical policy and practice in human techno-reproduction. It will be of interest across the social sciences and humanities, for reproductive scholars, bioethicists, techno-scientists, and those involved in the development and delivery of maternity services.
Advances in our ability to analyse information from skeletal remains and subsequent developments in the field of forensic anthropology make it possible to identify more victims of homicides, mass-fatality disasters, and genocide. Summarizing the vast collection of international literature that has developed over the past decade, Forensic Anthropology: 2000 to 2010 explores critical themes fundamental to this evolving topic. A superior supplemental text for any physical anthropology or archaeology class, this volume provides an ideal starting point for advanced exploration and more detailed analysis of select areas. Each chapter presents an overview of the theme under discussion, identifies present trends in research, and suggests areas in which future research could be developed. Topics discussed include: Age determination in juveniles and adults Sex, race, and ancestry determination Stature determination Dental and facial identification Skeletal trauma and bone pathology Taphonomy and comparative osteology Identification from soft tissues Heavily referenced, each chapter contains extensive bibliographies that facilitate further study. The scope of the book's coverage and the careful presentation of meticulous research make it an essential resource for those seeking deeper exploration of this growing field.
This book examines disability in post-war Sierra Leone. Its protagonists are polio-disabled people living in the nation's capital of Freetown, organizing themselves as best as they can in a state without welfare. There is little concrete support for people with disabilities in a country where the government is struggling with the competing requirements of the international community, demanding - in exchange for its support - good standards of democracy and the maintenance of a free market economy. To what extent is the Human Rights framework of the disability movement effective in protecting the polio-disabled and what are the limitations of this framework? Diana Szanto's detailed ethnography reveals, through many real-life examples, the vulnerability of disabled people living in the intersections of poverty, informality and disability activism. At the same time, it also tells about the many ways the polio-disabled community is transforming vulnerability into strength. |
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