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.

There is a growing interest in studies that document the relationship between science and medicine - as ideas, practices, technologies and outcomes - across cultural, national, geographic terrain. Tibetan medicine is not only known as a scholarly medical tradition among other Asian medical systems, with many centuries of technological, clinical, and pharmacological innovation; it also survives today as a complex medical resource across many Asian nations - from India and Bhutan to Mongolia, Tibet (TAR) and China, Buryatia - as well as in Western Europe and the Americas. The contributions to this volume explore, in equal measure, the impacts of western science and biomedicine on Tibetan grounds - i.e., among Tibetans across China, the Himalaya and exile communities as well as in relation to globalized Tibetan medicine - and the ways that local practices change how such "science" gets done, and how this continually hybridized medical knowledge is transmitted and put into practice. As such, this volume contributes to explorations into the bi-directional flows of medical knowledge and practice.

Whiteness is a collection of outstanding essays that employs a range of approaches to understanding whiteness a communication phenomenon. Contributors use analyses of media representations, social scientific data, poststructuralist theoretical discussions, and post-colonial critiques of whiteness. Included as well are discussions of some of the ways whiteness is enacted through commemorations, white antiracist rhetoric, pedagogy, and personal narratives that highlight the cultural politics of whiteness. Thomas K. Nakayama and Judith N. Martin conclude with specific claims out white identity and about the ways multi-methodological approaches to communication offer new insights into research. Both timely and intriguing, this collection of articles will further our understanding of intercultural communication.

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.

Essential Computational Modeling for the Human Body presents key contributions selected from the volume in the Handbook of Numerical Analysis: Computational Modeling for the Human Body Vol. 12 (2005).

Computational (Mathematical) Modeling is used by scientists and researchers with various applications in chemical, biological, behavioral, environmental sciences, etc. This guide presents essential research techniques for analysis and essential concrete examples of computational models, while supplying a wide range of commonly used methods and applications, followed by various numerical simulations.

Provides various viewpoints of methods and applications are available for researchers to chose and experiment with; Numerical analysis and open problems useful for experimentation; Computational Models useful for surgery simulations;

Designed to provoke controversy, the papers in this volume concentrate on two main themes: the study of myth and totemism. Starting with an English translation of La Geste d'Asdiwal, which is widely considered to be the most brilliant of all of Levi-Strauss's shorter expositions of his technique of myth analysis, the volume also contains criticism of this essay. The second part of the volume discusses how far Levi-Strauss's treatment of totemism as a system of category formation can be correlated with the facts that an ethnographer encounters in the field. First published in 1967.

"Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book...Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you." --Bill Gates A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this "stimulating and important book" (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber. Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when we don't sleep. Compared to the other basic drives in life--eating, drinking, and reproducing--the purpose of sleep remained elusive. An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming. Within the brain, sleep enriches our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming mollifies painful memories and creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge to inspire creativity. Walker answers important questions about sleep: how do caffeine and alcohol affect sleep? What really happens during REM sleep? Why do our sleep patterns change across a lifetime? How do common sleep aids affect us and can they do long-term damage? Charting cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and synthesizing decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels; regulate hormones; prevent cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes; slow the effects of aging; increase longevity; enhance the education and lifespan of our children, and boost the efficiency, success, and productivity of our businesses. Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book.

While there is talk of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, old and new challenges bedevil the world - climate change, nutrition, and health poverty being at the top of the list. In seeking solutions to these and other problems which afflict the modern era, it is worthwhile to look into our collective past, to the traditions and knowledges of our ancestors. Such knowledge continues to exist in many parts of the world, though now marginalized by homogenous, Eurocentric ontolology and epistemology. This book presents a compilation of reviews, case studies, and primary research attempting to locate the utility of traditional and Indigenous Knowledges in an increasingly complex world. It assembles chapter authors from across the world to tackle topics ranging from traditional knowledge-based innovations and commercialization, traditional medicine systems as practiced around the world, ethnoveterinary practices, and food innovation to traditional governance and leadership systems, among others. This book is an important resource for policymakers; scholars and researchers of cultural studies, leadership, governance, ethnobotany, anthropology, plant genetic resources and technology innovation; and readers interested in the history of knowledge and culture, as well as cultural activists and political scientists. Features: Unique combination of social science and anthropological aspects with natural science perspectives Includes summaries aimed at policymakers to immediately see what would be relevant to their work Combines case studies illuminating important lessons learned with reviews and primary data Multidisciplinary in the scope of the topics tackled and assemblage of contributors Global footprint with contributions from Africa, Europe, North America, Asia, and the West Indies David R. Katerere, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa Wendy Applequist, William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, Missouri Oluwaseyi M. Aboyade, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa and Nutritica SA, The Innovation Hub, Pretoria, South Africa Chamunorwa Togo, The Innovation Hub, Pretoria, South Africa

The Archaeology of Human Bones provides an up to date account of the analysis of human skeletal remains from archaeological sites, introducing students to the anatomy of bones and teeth and the nature of the burial record. Drawing from studies around the world, this book illustrates how the scientific study of human remains can shed light upon important archaeological and historical questions. This new edition reflects the latest developments in scientific techniques and their application to burial archaeology. Current scientific methods are explained, alongside a critical consideration of their strengths and weaknesses. The book has also been thoroughly revised to reflect changes in the ways in which scientific studies of human remains have influenced our understanding of the past, and has been updated to reflect developments in ethical debates that surround the treatment of human remains. There is now a separate chapter devoted to archaeological fieldwork on burial grounds, and the chapters on DNA and ethics have been completely rewritten. This edition of The Archaeology of Human Bones provides not only a more up to date but also a more comprehensive overview of this crucial area of archaeology. Written in a clear style with technical jargon kept to a minimum, it continues to be a key work for archaeology students.

Until the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, the prevailing theory on 'the species question' was that humans were made up of five separate species, created at different times and in different places. This view - known as the 'polygenic theory' - was particularly favoured by naturalists of the early nineteenth-century 'American School' as it provided a scientific justification for slavery. Darwin's Origin demolished this view. This work fills a gap in recent studies on the history of race and science. Focusing on both the classification systems of human variety and the development of science as the arbiter of truth, Brown looks at the rise of the emerging sciences of life and society - biology and sociology - as well as the debate surrounding slavery and abolition.

Microbiota are a promising and fascinating subject in biology because they integrate the microbial communities in humans, animals, plants, and the environment. In humans, microbiota are associated with the gut, skin, and genital, oral, and respiratory organs. The plant microbial community is referred to as "holobiont," and it is influential in the maintenance and health of plants, which themselves play a role in animal health and the environment. The contents of Microbiome-Host Interactions cover all areas as well as new research trends in the fields of plant, animal, human, and environmental microbiome interactions. The book covers microbiota in polar soil environments, in health and disease, in Caenorhabditis elegans, and in agroecosystems, as well as in rice root and actinorhizal root nodules, speleothems, and marine shallow-water hydrothermal vents. Moreover, this book provides comprehensive accounts of advanced next-generation DNA sequencing, metagenomic techniques, high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing, and understanding nucleic acid sequence data from fungal, algal, viral, bacterial, cyanobacterial, actinobacterial, and archaeal communities using QIIME software (Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology). FEATURES Summarizes recent insight in microbiota and host interactions in distinct habitats, including Antarctic, hydrothermal vents, speleothems, oral, skin, gut, feces, reproductive tract, soil, root, root nodules, forests, and mangroves Illustrates the high-throughput amplicon sequencing, computational techniques involved in the microbiota analysis, downstream analysis and visualization, and multivariate analysis commonly used for microbiome analysis Describes probiotics and prebiotics in the composition of the gut microbiota, skin microbiome impact in dermatologic disease prevention, and microbial communities in the reproductive tract of humans and animals Presents information in a reachable way for students, teachers, researchers, microbiologists, computational biologists, and other professionals who are interested in strengthening or enlarging their knowledge about microbiome analysis with next-generation DNA sequencing in the different branches of the sciences

What is it like to have lived with bulimia for most of your life? To have a mother who is retarded? To fight a health insurance company in order to survive breast cancer? Carolyn Ellis and Arthur P. Bochner have assembled innovative pieces which tackle these and other difficult questions, enlarging the space to practice ethnographic writing as the stories are told through memoirs, poetry, photography, and other creative forms usually associated with the arts. The authors demonstrate how ethnographic data can be converted into memorable experiences that readers can use in the classroom and everyday life.

Ever since Darwin and "The Descent of Man," the existence of humans has been attributed to our intelligence and adaptability. But in "Catching Fire," renowned primatologist Richard Wrangham presents a startling alternative: our evolutionary success is the result of cooking. In a groundbreaking theory of our origins, Wrangham shows that the shift from raw to cooked foods was the key factor in human evolution. When our ancestors adapted to using fire, humanity began. Once our hominid ancestors began cooking their food, the human digestive tract shrank and the brain grew. Time once spent chewing tough raw food could be sued instead to hunt and to tend camp. Cooking became the basis for pair bonding and marriage, created the household, and even led to a sexual division of labor. Tracing the contemporary implications of our ancestors' diets, "Catching Fire" sheds new light on how we came to be the social, intelligent, and sexual species we are today. A pathbreaking new theory of human evolution, "Catching Fire" will provoke controversy and fascinate anyone interested in our ancient origins--or in our modern eating habits.

Postmodernism is often presented as a theory of liberation that promotes pluralism and gives representation to the marginalized peoples of the non-West and Other cultures. This book offers an examination of postmodernism from a non-Western perspective. It argues that the claims of postmodernism are a sham. By making a systematic assessment of the main spheres of postmodernism - from philosophy, art and architecture to film, television, pop music and consumer lifestyles and new age religions - it sets out to reveal that, contrary to commonly-held notions, postmodernism in fact operates to further marginalize the non-West and confound its aspirations. In this outspoken testimony it is asserted that, while there is superficial reference to the Other, the people of the non-West are actually redundant in the postmodern present and irrelevent to its future. The book offers ways in which the non-West can counter the postmodern assault and survive with their histories, identities and cultures intact.

Dwellers of Memory is an ethnographic study of how urban youth in Colombia came to be at the intersection of multiple forms of political, drug-related, and territorial violence in a country undergoing forty years of internal armed conflict. It examines the ways in which youth in the city of Medellin reconfigure their lives and, cultural worlds in the face of widespread violence. This violence has transgressed familiar boundaries and destroyed basic social supports and networks of trust. This volume attempts to map and understand its patterns and flows.

The author explores how Medellin's youth locate themselves and make, sense of violence through contradictory and shifting memory practices. The violence has not completely taken over their cultural worlds or their subjectivities. Practices of remembering and forgetting are key methods by which these youth rework their identities and make sense of the impact of violence on their lives. While the experience of violence is rooted in urban space and urban youth, the memory dwellers use a sense of place, oral histories of death, and narratives of fear as survival strategies for inhabiting violent neighborhoods. The book also examines fissures in memory, the contradictory constructions of young people's subjective selves, and practices of gendered violence and terror. All have and continue to pose risks to the historical memory and cultural survival of the residents of Medellin.

Dwellers of Memory offers an alternative ethnographic approach to the study of memory and violence, one that calls into question whether the, role of the ethnographer of violence is to be a mere witness of terror, or to oppose it by writing against it. It will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists, and students of, ethnography.

This collection brings together three generations of medical anthropologists working at European universities to reflect on past, current and future directions of the field. Medical anthropology emerged on an international playing ground, and while other recently compiled anthologies emphasize North American developments, this volume highlights substantial ethnographic and theoretical studies undertaken in Europe. The first four chapters trace the beginnings of medical anthropology back into the two formative decades between the 1950s-1970s in Italy, German-speaking Europe, the Netherlands, France and the UK, supported by four brief vignettes on current developments. Three core themes that emerged within this field in Europe - the practice of care, the body politic and psycho-sensorial dimensions of healing - are first presented in synopsis and then separately discussed by three leading medical anthropologists Susan Whyte, Giovanni Pizza and Rene Devisch, complemented by the work of three early career researchers. The chapters aim to highlight how very diverse (and sometimes overlooked) European developments within this rapidly growing field have been, and continue to be. This book will spur reflection on medical anthropology's potential for future scholarship and practice, by students and established scholars alike. This book was originally published as a special issue of Anthropology and Medicine.

This book explores the experiences of Muslims in the United States as they interact with the health care system during serious illness and end-of-life care. It shifts "actively dying" from a medical phrase used to describe patients who are expected to pass away soon or who exhibit signs of impending death, to a theoretical framework to analyze how end-of-life care, particularly within a hospital, shapes the ways that patients, families, and providers understand Islam and think of themselves as Muslim. Using the dying body as the main object of analysis, the volume shows that religious identities of Muslim patients, loved ones, and caregivers are not only created when living, but also through the physical process of dying and through death. Based on ethnographic and qualitative research carried out mainly in the Washington, D.C. region, this volume will be of interest to scholars in anthropology, sociology, public health, gerontology, and religious studies.

Harry Baker and Rosalind Ridley have done an admirable job in assem bling this collection of articles that describe the methodology frequently used to study a group of CNS illnesses often referred to as the "prion diseases." Research on prions and the disorders that they cause has progressed relatively rapidly over the last decade since the discovery of the prion protein (PrP) that allowed the application of modem molecular biological and genetic tools. The power of these techniques is awesome and their use in deciphering the once mysterious prion diseases has brought a wealth of new information. Although prions are unprecedented pathogens, appearing to consist only of PrPSc molecules, the diseases that they cause are no less remarkable. The prion diseases in animals include scrapie of sheep and goats as well as "mad cow" disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). In the United King dom, the epidemic of BSE has heightened public awareness of this previously obscure group of diseases such that any work in the field is likely to stir up interest in the media and become a subject of public debate. It has been diffi cult for British investigators to work on prion diseases without being involved in these controversies. As such, several chapters have been included that deal with political and social issues surrounding prion diseases. The human prion diseases present an equally fascinating saga in which these CNS degenerations present as genetic, sporadic, and infectious illnesses."

Ancestral Diets and Nutrition supplies dietary advice based on the study of prehuman and human populations worldwide over the last two million years. This thorough, accessible book uses prehistory and history as a laboratory for testing the health effects of various foods. It examines all food groups by drawing evidence from skeletons and their teeth, middens, and coprolites along with written records where they exist to determine peoples' health and diet. Fully illustrated and grounded in extensive research, this book enhances knowledge about diet, nutrition, and health. It appeals to practitioners in medicine, nutrition, anthropology, biology, chemistry, economics, and history, and those seeking a clear explanation of what humans have eaten across the ages and what we should eat now. Features: Sixteen chapters examine fat, sweeteners, grains, roots and tubers, fruits, vegetables, and animal and plant sources of protein. Integrates information about diet, nutrition, and health from ancient, medieval, modern and current sources, drawing from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Provides comprehensive coverage based on the study of several hundred sources and the provision of over 2,000 footnotes. Presents practical information to help shape readers' next meal through recommendations of what to eat and what to avoid.

Just who are 'the Malays'? This provocative study poses the question and considers how and why the answers have changed over time, and from one region to another. Anthony Milner develops a sustained argument about ethnicity and identity in an historical, 'Malay' context. "The Malays" is a comprehensive examination of the origins and development of Malay identity, ethnicity, and consciousness over the past five centuries.
Covers the political, economic, and cultural development of the Malays
Explores the Malay presence in Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, as well as the modern Malay show-state of Malaysia
Offers diplomatic speculation about ways Malay ethnicity will develop and be challenged in the future

Modern treatments of Rome have projected in highly emotive terms the perceived problems, or the aspirations, of the present: "race-mixture" has been blamed for the collapse of the Roman empire; more recently, Rome and Roman society have been depicted as "multicultural." Moving beyond these and beyond more traditional, juridical approaches to Roman identity, Emma Dench focuses on ancient modes of thinking about selves and relationships with other peoples, including descent-myths, history, and ethnographies. She explores the relative importance of sometimes closely interconnected categories of blood descent, language, culture and clothes, and territoriality. Rome's creation of a distinctive imperial shape is understood in the context of the broader ancient Mediterranean world within which the Romans self-consciously situated themselves, and whose modes of thought they appropriated and transformed.

Drawing upon anthropological studies that document culturally specific ways of perceiving ethic Others in Greece and Cyprus, this book explores the cultural boundaries of the categories Greek and Turk, and compares views on what it means to be one of these ethnic groups or both. The contributors examine the opinions of diverse social groups, such as ordinary middle-class citizens, intellectuals, army officers, children, villagers, refugees from Asia Minor, and Greek-and-Turkisj-Cypriots. They also investigate the local attitudes to international politics and highlight the contextual as opposed to immutable and essentialist meaning of evaluations about nations, such as Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, and their citizens.

When Greeks think about Turks carefully unpacks the cultural meaning of popular metaphors, stereotypes and versions of history as these are articulated in the context of discussions about the Turks in Greece. It sets the template for understanding how local perceptions of resemblance and difference provide a conceptual framework for defining and negotiating ethnic identity at the local, national and international level. It sheds valuable light on the politics of identity-making and the constitution of nationalism in Greece and Cyprus.

This book was previously published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

In "Body Parts," E. Richard Gold examines whether the body and materials derived from it -- such as human organs and DNA -- should be thought of as market commodities and subject to property law. Analyzing a series of court decisions concerning property rights, Gold explores whether the language and assumptions of property law can help society determine who has rights to human biological materials.

Gold observes that the commercial opportunities unleashed by advances in biotechnology present a challenge to the ways that society has traditionally valued the human body and human health. In a balanced discussion of both commercial and individual perspectives, Gold asserts the need to understand human biological materials within the context of human values, rather than economic interests.

This perceptive book will be welcomed by scholars and other professionals engaged in questions regarding bioethics, applied ethics, the philosophy of value, and property and intellectual property rights. Given the international aspects of both intellectual property law and biotechnology, this book will be of interest throughout the world and especially valuable in common-law (most English-speaking) countries.

Duane Champagne has assembled a volume of top scholarship reflecting the complexity and diversity of Native American cultural life. Introductions to each topical section provide background and integrated analyses of the issues at hand. The informative and critical studies that follow offer experiences and perspectives from a variety of Native settings. Topics include identity, gender, the powwow, mass media, health and environmental issues. This book and its companion volume, Contemporary Native American Political Issues, edited by Troy R. Johnson, are ideal teaching tools for instructors in Native American studies, ethnic studies, and anthropology, and important resources for anyone working in or with Native communities.

Ethnographies Revisited provides first-hand accounts of how leading qualitative researchers crafted key theoretical concepts found in their major book-length ethnographies. Great ethnographic research lies not in the rigid execution of prescribed methodological procedures, but on the unrelenting cultivation of theoretical ideas. These contributors focus squarely on this neglected topic, providing reflexive accounts of how research decisions were made in light of emerging theoretical questions.

The continuous generation of creative concepts is arguably the most important skill in developing powerful results in field research, since the originality of the ideas produced is how the study is ultimately judged. Yet, this topic is often taken for granted, treated rigidly and artificially, or is entirely absent from existing qualitative research manuals. In contrast, this volume offers candid insights of how leading ethnographers generated their initial questions, chose their research sites, made theoretical and methodological adjustments, and oriented their research to maximize the conceptual payoff, leading to such successful research contributions. This provides a fresh approach to the topic of qualitative research, by linking practical decisions in the field to the dynamic features of theory in the making, told through the first-hand experiences of some of the best ethnographers in our field.