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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Human biology & related topics

Globalisation and Japanese Organisational Culture - An Ethnography of a Japanese Corporation in France (Hardcover): Mitchell... Globalisation and Japanese Organisational Culture - An Ethnography of a Japanese Corporation in France (Hardcover)
Mitchell Sedgwick
R4,630 Discovery Miles 46 300 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Globalisation - the global movement, and control, of products, capital, technologies, persons and images - increasingly takes place through the work of organisations, perhaps the most powerful of which are multinational corporations. Based in an ethnographic analysis of cross-cultural social interactions in everyday workplace practices at a subsidiary of an elite, Japanese consumer electronics multinational in France, this book intimately examines, and theorises, contemporary global dynamics. Japanese corporate 'know-how' is described not simply as the combination of technological innovation riding on financial 'clout' but as a reflection of Japanese social relations, powerfully expressed in Japanese organisational dynamics. The book details how Japanese organisational power does and does not adapt in overseas settings: how Japanese managers and engineers negotiate conflicts between their understanding of appropriate practices with those of local, non-Japanese staff - in this case, French managers and engineers - who hold their own distinctive cultural and organisational inclinations in the workplace. The book argues that the insights provided by the intimate study of persons interacting within and across organisations is crucial to a fulsome understanding of globalisation. This is assisted, further, by a grounded examination of how 'networks'- as social constructions - are both expanded and bounded, a move which assists in collapsing the common reliance on micro and macro levels of analysis in considering global phenomena. The book poses important theoretical and methodological challenges for organisational studies as well as for analysis of the forces of globalisation by anthropologists and other social scientists.

The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals (Paperback): G.W Dimbleby The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals (Paperback)
G.W Dimbleby
R1,760 Discovery Miles 17 600 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The domestication of plants and animals was one of the greatest steps forward taken by mankind. Although it was first achieved long ago, we still need to know what led to it and how, and even when, it took place. Only when we have this understanding will we be able to appreciate fully the important social and economic consequences of this step. Even more important, an understanding of this achievement is basic to any insight into modern man's relationship to his habitat. In the last decade or two a change in methods of investigating these events has taken place, due to the mutual realization by archaeologists and natural scientists that each held part of the key and neither alone had the whole. Inevitably, perhaps, the floodgate that was opened has resulted in a spate of new knowledge, which is scattered in the form of specialist reports in diverse journals.

This volume results from presentations at the Institute of Archaeology, London University, discussing the domestication and exploitation of plants and animals. Workers in the archaeological, anthropological, and biological fields attempted to bridge the gap between their respective disciplines through personal contact and discussion. Modern techniques and the result of their application to the classical problems of domestication, selection, and spread of cereals and of cattle were discussed, but so were comparable problems in plants and animals not previously considered in this context.

Although there were differing opinions on taxonomic classification, the editors have standardized and simplified the usage throughout this book. In particular, they have omitted references to authorities and adopted the binomial classification for both botanical and zoological names. They followed this procedure in all cases except where sub-specific differences are discussed and also standardized orthography of sites.

"Peter J. Ucko" is professor emeritus of archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. His research interests include the history of archaeology, prehistoric art and images, and interpretation of archaeological collections and site displays.

"G. W. Dimbleby" (1917-2000) was Chair of Human Environment at the Institute of Archaeology, London University. He was the founding editor of the "Journal of Archeological Science." Throughout his life he served on important committees such as Science-based Archaeology Committee of the Science Research Council and the Committee for Rescue Archaeology of the Ancient Monuments Board of England.

Cosmos, Gods and Madmen - Frameworks in the Anthropologies of Medicine (Paperback): Roland Littlewood, Rebecca Lynch Cosmos, Gods and Madmen - Frameworks in the Anthropologies of Medicine (Paperback)
Roland Littlewood, Rebecca Lynch
R888 Discovery Miles 8 880 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The social anthropology of sickness and health has always been concerned with religious cosmologies: how societies make sense of such issues as prediction and control of misfortune and fate; the malevolence of others; the benevolence (or otherwise) of the mystical world; local understanding and explanations of the natural and ultra-human worlds. This volume presents differing categorizations and conflicts that occur as people seek to make sense of suffering and their experiences. Cosmologies, whether incorporating the divine or as purely secular, lead us to interpret human action and the human constitution, its ills and its healing and, in particular, ways which determine and limit our very possibilities.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach - Race and Natural History, 1750-1850 (Paperback): Nicolaas Rupke, Gerhard Lauer Johann Friedrich Blumenbach - Race and Natural History, 1750-1850 (Paperback)
Nicolaas Rupke, Gerhard Lauer
R1,412 Discovery Miles 14 120 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The major significance of the German naturalist-physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) as a topic of historical study is the fact that he was one of the first anthropologists to investigate humankind as part of natural history. Moreover, Blumenbach was, and continues to be, a central figure in debates about race and racism. How exactly did Blumenbach define race and races? What were his scientific criteria? And which cultural values did he bring to bear on his scheme? Little historical work has been done on Blumenbach's fundamental, influential race work. From his own time till today, several different pronouncements have been made by either followers or opponents, some accusing Blumenbach of being the fountainhead of scientific racism. By contrast, across early nineteenth-century Europe, not least in France, Blumenbach was lionized as an anti-racist whose work supported the unity of humankind and the abolition of slavery. This collection of essays considers how, with Blumenbach and those around him, the study of natural history and, by extension, that of science came to dominate the Western discourse of race.

Diagnosis Narratives and the Healing Ritual in Western Medicine (Paperback): James Meza Diagnosis Narratives and the Healing Ritual in Western Medicine (Paperback)
James Meza
R1,410 Discovery Miles 14 100 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The dominance of "illness narratives" in narrative healing studies has tended to mean that the focus centers around the healing of the individual. Meza proposes that this emphasis is misplaced and the true focus of cultural healing should lie in managing the disruption of disease and death (cultural or biological) to the individual's relationship with society. By explicating narrative theory through the lens of cognitive anthropology, Meza reframes the epistemology of narrative and healing, moving it from relativism to a philosophical perspective of pragmatic realism. Using a novel combination of narrative theory and cognitive anthropology to represent the ethnographic data, Meza's ethnography is a valuable contribution in a field where ethnographic records related to medical clinical encounters are scarce. The book will be of interest to scholars of medical anthropology and those interested in narrative history and narrative medicine.

Depression in Kerala - Ayurveda and Mental Health Care in 21st-Century India (Paperback): Claudia Lang Depression in Kerala - Ayurveda and Mental Health Care in 21st-Century India (Paperback)
Claudia Lang
R1,420 Discovery Miles 14 200 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

This book examines depression as a widely diagnosed and treated common mental disorder in India and offers a significant ethnographic study of the application of a traditional Indian medical system (Ayurveda) to the very modern problem of depression. Based on over a year of fieldwork, it investigates the Ayurvedic response to the burden of depression in the Indian state of Kerala as one of the key processes of the local appropriation or glocalization of depression. More broadly, Lang considers: What happens with the category of depression when it leaves the West and travels to South Asia? How is depression appropriated in a South Asian society characterized by medical pluralism? She explores on the level of ideas, institutions and materialities how depression interacts with and changes local worlds, clinical practice and knowledge and subjectivities. As depression travels from 'the West' to South India, its ontology, Lang argues, multiplies and thus leads to what she calls 'depression multiple'.

Bedouin Century - Education and Development among the Negev Tribes in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover): Aref Abu-Rabia Bedouin Century - Education and Development among the Negev Tribes in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)
Aref Abu-Rabia
R3,016 Discovery Miles 30 160 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The Bedouin in the Negev region have undergone a remarkable change of life style in the course of the 20th century: within a few generations they changed from being nomads to an almost sedentary and highly educated population. The author, who is a Bedouin himself and has worked in the Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture as Superintendent of the Bedouin Educational Schools in the Negev for many years, offers the first in-depth study of the development of Bedouin society, using the educational system as his focus. Aref Abu-Rabia teaches in the Department of Middle East Studies at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates (Paperback): Russell Tuttle The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates (Paperback)
Russell Tuttle
R1,659 Discovery Miles 16 590 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

These original contributions on the evolution of primates and the techniques for studying the subject cover an enormous range of material and incorporate the work of specialists from many different fields, showing the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to problems of primate morphology and phylogeny. Collectively, they demonstrate the concerns and methods of leading contemporary workers in this and related fields. Each contributor shows his way of attacking fundamental problems of evolutionary primatology.The range of findings in this book include new clues to the evolution of the middle ear and the subsistence behavior of early primates, a persuasive critique of the Smith-Jones hypothesis that many features of primate cranial morphology are adaptations to the special vicissitudes of arboreal habitation, the remarkable association of relative muscle mass in the hands and feet of catarrhine primates with the particularities of prehensile behaviors, the wealth of behavioral data that may be obtained by the concentrated study of certain primates in the vicinity of waterholes, the striking differences between inferences about the same behavioral phenomena that are based on long-term as opposed to short-term observations of one primate social group, and the strategy of sophisticated mathematical techniques for elucidating biomechanical, evolutionary, and behavioral problems.Each chapter conveys the status and progress of research in these and other particular areas of special interest, pointing the way toward further clarification of the functional biology and phylogeny of primates through the application of relatively new techniques or the comprehensive employment of available methods. No attempt is made to smooth over controversial points of view, or to endorse a single uniform model of primate evolution. This work will be an important reference for evolutionary and physical anthropologists, evolutionary biologists, comparative morphologists, human anatomists, behavioralists, and students of evolution.

Pleistocene Mammals of Europe (Paperback, New edition): Bj orn Kurt en Pleistocene Mammals of Europe (Paperback, New edition)
Bj orn Kurt en
R1,508 Discovery Miles 15 080 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of all the Pleistocene species in Europe, classified according to modern taxonomic principles. For each species there is a description of its descent and migration history, its range, and its mode of life.

The first version of this book was a semi popular paperback in the Swedish Aldus series. The present edition is completely rewritten and greatly expanded, but retains the non-technical approach to make the story accessible to readers with varying backgrounds. The first part of the book is an outline of the Pleistocene history of Europe, with its climatic changes and succession of mammalian faunas. In the second part are listed all the species of Mammalia known from the Pleistocene and Postglacial of Europe, with the evolution, range in time and space, and mode of life set down for each species, as far as known. The final part is an evaluation of the story in terms of evolution and palaeogeography.

The author begins with a description of the floral and faunal succession in Europe, from the Villafranchian period, when climatic changes were moderate, to the increasing temperature oscillations of the later Pleistocene, with its recurrent faunal revolutions. Against this background Kurten then deals with the whole range of the mammalian species, and his account is fully illustrated by reconstructions and text figures showing skeletal and odontological characters. The book concludes with an analysis of the material available for this study, which throws fresh light on several aspects of zoogeography, evolution, and ecology.

This is the most complete account of the mammalian species of Europe yet to appear, and will be of great value to all paleontologists.

"Bjrn Kurtun" (1924-1988) was lecturer in palaeontology at the University of Helsinki. He is well known for his studies of the Pleistocene carnivores and of human evolution. He was a recipient of Unesco's Kalinga Award. Some of his most famous publications include "On the Variation and Population Dynamics of Fossil and Recent Mammal Populations" and "Pleistocene Mammals of North America."

The Chosen Species - The Long March of Human Evolution (Paperback, English ed): J.L. Arsuaga, Ignacio Martinez The Chosen Species - The Long March of Human Evolution (Paperback, English ed)
J.L. Arsuaga, Ignacio Martinez
R1,144 Discovery Miles 11 440 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

This engaging book tells the story of human evolution, asking if man is indeed the "chosen species" or merely an evolutionary accident.
Written by world-renowned paleoanthropologists who are co-directors of the excavations at Atapuerca---a World Heritage Site and Europe's oldest known burial site---where a new human species, "homo antecessor," was discovered
Discusses various hypotheses of human evolution, drawing conclusions from verifiable facts and well-founded argument
Offers a compelling narrative written for nonspecialists and students of human evolution
Includes over 60 illustrations
Sold over 100,000 copies in the original Spanish-language edition

Biosocialities, Genetics and the Social Sciences - Making Biologies and Identities (Hardcover, New): Sahra Gibbon, Carlos Novas Biosocialities, Genetics and the Social Sciences - Making Biologies and Identities (Hardcover, New)
Sahra Gibbon, Carlos Novas
R4,175 Discovery Miles 41 750 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Biosocialities, Genetics and the Social Sciences explores the social, cultural and economic transformations that result from innovations in genomic knowledge and technology.

This pioneering collection uses Paul Rabinow's concept of biosociality to chart the shifts in social relations and in ideas about nature, biology and identity brought about by developments in biomedicine. Based on new empirical research, it contains chapters on genomic research into embryonic stem cell therapy, breast cancer, autism, Parkinson's and IVF treatment, as well as on the expectations and education surrounding genomic research.

It covers four main themes:

  • Novel modes of identity and identification, such as genetic citizenship.
  • The role of institutions, ranging from disease advocacy organizations and voluntary organizations to the state
  • The production of biological knowledge, novel life-forms, and technologies
  • The generation of wealth and commercial interests in biology.

Including an afterword by Paul Rabinow and case studies focusing on the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, India and Israel, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of the new genetics and the social sciences - particularly medical sociologists, medical anthropologists and those involved with science and technology studies.

Biosocialities, Genetics and the Social Sciences - Making Biologies and Identities (Paperback, New): Sahra Gibbon, Carlos Novas Biosocialities, Genetics and the Social Sciences - Making Biologies and Identities (Paperback, New)
Sahra Gibbon, Carlos Novas
R1,371 Discovery Miles 13 710 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Biosocialities, Genetics and the Social Sciences explores the social, cultural and economic transformations that result from innovations in genomic knowledge and technology. This pioneering collection uses Paul Rabinow's concept of biosociality to chart the shifts in social relations and ideas about nature, biology and identity brought about by developments in biomedicine. Based on new empirical research, it contains chapters on genomic research into embryonic stem cell therapy, breast cancer, autism, Parkinson's and IVF treatment, as well as on the expectations and education surrounding genomic research. It covers four main themes: novel modes of identity and identification, such as genetic citizenship the role of institutions, ranging from disease advocacy organizations and voluntary organizations to the state the production of biological knowledge, novel life-forms, and technologies the generation of wealth and commercial interests in biology. Including an afterword by Paul Rabinow and case studies on the UK, US, Canada, Germany, India and Israel, this book is key reading for students and researchers of the new genetics and the social sciences - particularly medical sociologists, medical anthropologists and those involved with science and technology studies.

Classification and Human Evolution (Paperback, New Ed): Sherwood L. Washburn Classification and Human Evolution (Paperback, New Ed)
Sherwood L. Washburn
R1,148 R826 Discovery Miles 8 260 Save R322 (28%) Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The names given to the variety of man-like fossils known to scientists should reflect no more than scientific views of the nature of human evolution. However, often in the past these names have also reflected confusion regarding the basic principles of scientific nomenclature; and the matter has been further complicated by the many new finds of recent decades. It is the unique purpose of this book to clarify the present state of knowledge regarding the main lines of human evolution by expressing what is known (and what is surmised) about them in appropriate taxonomic language.

The papers in this volume were prepared by the world's leading authorities on the subject, and were revised in the light of discussions at a remarkable conference held in Austria in 1962 under the auspices of the Wenner-Gren Foundation. The authors review first the meaning of taxonomic statements as such, and then consider the substance of our present knowledge regarding the number and characteristics of species among living and extinct primates, including man and his ancestors. They also examine the relationship of behavior changes and selection pressures in evolutionary sequences.

Ample illustrations, bibliographies and an index enhance the permanent reference value of the book, which will undoubtedly prove to be among the fundamental paleoanthropological works of our time.

Sherwood L. Washburn (1911-2000) was professor of physical anthropology in the University of California at Berkeley. He was the recipient of the Huxley Medal in 1967 and the American Anthropological Association Distinguished Service Award in 1983.

The Genetic Lottery - Why DNA Matters for Social Equality (Hardcover): Kathryn Paige Harden The Genetic Lottery - Why DNA Matters for Social Equality (Hardcover)
Kathryn Paige Harden
R702 Discovery Miles 7 020 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

A provocative and timely case for how the science of genetics can help create a more just and equal society In recent years, scientists like Kathryn Paige Harden have shown that DNA makes us different, in our personalities and in our health-and in ways that matter for educational and economic success in our current society. In The Genetic Lottery, Harden introduces readers to the latest genetic science, dismantling dangerous ideas about racial superiority and challenging us to grapple with what equality really means in a world where people are born different. Weaving together personal stories with scientific evidence, Harden shows why our refusal to recognize the power of DNA perpetuates the myth of meritocracy, and argues that we must acknowledge the role of genetic luck if we are ever to create a fair society. Reclaiming genetic science from the legacy of eugenics, this groundbreaking book offers a bold new vision of society where everyone thrives, regardless of how one fares in the genetic lottery.

Inventing Irish America - Generation, Class and Ethnic Identity in a New England City (Hardcover): Timothy J. Meagher Inventing Irish America - Generation, Class and Ethnic Identity in a New England City (Hardcover)
Timothy J. Meagher
R1,204 Discovery Miles 12 040 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

An analysis of the Irish community of city of Worcester, Massachusetts around the turn of the 20th century. The author reveals how an ethnic group can endure and yet change when its first American-born generation takes control of its destiny.

Frameworks for Dating Fossil Man (Paperback): Kenneth P. Oakley Frameworks for Dating Fossil Man (Paperback)
Kenneth P. Oakley
R1,516 Discovery Miles 15 160 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

This is the first book to appear which correlates within a single volume the relevant data for both archeological and geological dating of human fossil remains. The author was trained both as a geologist and as a prehistorian, and has written this book first to meet the needs of archeologists wishing to learn the stratigraphical frameworks now applied to Quaternary deposits, and second to meet the needs of geologists requiring to know the terminology of Paleolithic and Mesolithic cultures.

In this book the author makes use of the results obtained from the latest dating techniques, both relative and absolute. Charts give the latest radiocarbon datings of Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites and cultures in Europe, the Near East and Africa. In an appendix all the most important human fossil remains are listed by name, with dates of discovery, stratigraphical and cultural datings, and absolute ages where known.

When this book was first released "Science" magazine called it "A most significant milestone for the study of early man . . . brings together for the first time the results obtained from the relative and absolute dating techniques in use today . . . The book presents this evidence with a clarity that makes it indispensable to all concerned with the research and teaching of paleoanthropology." While the "American Anthropologist" commented "Kenneth Oakley's book is a splendid and unique contribution to the temporal aspect of paleoanthropological studies."

"Kenneth Oakley" (1911-1981) was best known for his work in relative dating with fossils. He graduated from University College in Geology and Anthropology, and worked for the British Museum. He had an international reputation in his field and was particularly well known for his part in exposing the Piltdown fraud. His publications include "Man the Tool-Maker," and over 100 papers, many of them on analytical methods of dating bones, particularly the fluorine-dating method.

The Human Cost of African Migrations (Hardcover): Toyin Falola, Niyi Afolabi The Human Cost of African Migrations (Hardcover)
Toyin Falola, Niyi Afolabi
R4,637 Discovery Miles 46 370 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

In an era of globalization, population growth, and displacements, migration is now a fact of life in a constantly shifting economic and political world order. This book contributes to the discourse on the beneficiaries, benefactors, and the casualties of African displacement. While the few existing studies have emphasized economic motivation as the primary factor triggering African migration, this volume treats a range of issues: economic, socio-political, pedagogical, developmental, and cultural. Organized with a multidisciplinary thrust in mind, this book argues that any discussion of African migration, whether internal or external, must be conceived as only one aspect of a more complex, organic, and global patterning of "flux and reflux" necessitated by constantly shifting dynamics of world socio-economic, cultural, and political order.

Reframing Dutch Culture - Between Otherness and Authenticity (Hardcover, New Ed): Peter Jan Margry Reframing Dutch Culture - Between Otherness and Authenticity (Hardcover, New Ed)
Peter Jan Margry; Herman Roodenburg
R4,641 Discovery Miles 46 410 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Dutch society has undergone radical changes in recent years, due to complex political, social and ethnic developments. Reframing Dutch Culture examines issues of nationality, ethnicity, culture and identity in The Netherlands from an ethnological perspective, linking past traditions and notions of identity with more recent transformations. Weaving in a range of fascinating case studies, contributors provide an interdisciplinary analysis of these changes. The developments are related to wider European and global transformation processes, highlighting the contribution of Dutch ethnology to the international debate. This timely collection provides a fascinating and insightful window on modern Dutch society.

Representing Others - Translation, Ethnography and Museum (Paperback): Kate Sturge Representing Others - Translation, Ethnography and Museum (Paperback)
Kate Sturge
R1,315 Discovery Miles 13 150 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Cultural anthropology has always been dependent on translation as a textual practice, and it has often used 'translation' as a metaphor to describe ethnography's processes of interpretation and cross-cultural comparison. Questions of intelligibility and representation are central to both translation studies and ethnographic writing - as are the dilemmas of cultural distance or proximity, exoticism or appropriation. Similarly, recent work in museum studies discusses problems of representation that are raised by ethnographic museums as multimedia 'translations'.However, as yet there has been remarkably little interdisciplinary exchange: neither has translation studies kept up with the sophistication of anthropology's investigations of meaning, representation and 'culture' itself, nor have anthropology and museum studies often looked to translation studies for analyses of language difference or concrete methods of tracing translation practices. This book opens up an exciting field of study to translation scholars and suggests possible avenues of cross-disciplinary collaboration. Kate Sturge teaches Translation Studies and German at Aston University, Birmingham, UK.

The Meaning of Race - Race, History and Culture in Western Society (Hardcover): Kenan Malik The Meaning of Race - Race, History and Culture in Western Society (Hardcover)
Kenan Malik
R4,936 Discovery Miles 49 360 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Kenan Malik has done the almost impossible: written a clear and dispassionate book about a murky and passionate subject. He shows how the old errors and lies about race, class and genes have been reborn wearing a new disguise. If you believed The Bell Curve, this book will change your mind.' - Professor Steve Jones, author, The Language of The Genes and In the Blood; Illuminating, often provocative, and always stimulating, The Meaning of Race reveals how central race is to our ways of thinking and doing, so central that we do not often recognise it as such.' - Marek Kohn, author, The Race Gallery; Kenan Malik's exploration of the race question' is timely and incisive. Read it and be challenged.' - A Sivanandan, editor, Race and Class;In The Meaning of Race, Kenan Malik throws new light on the nature and origins of ideas of racial difference. He reconstructs the evolution of the modern discourse of race and investigates its meaning in contemporary society. Arguing that the concept of 'race' is a means through which Western society has come to understand the relationship between humanity, society and nature, the book re-examines the relationship between Enlightenment thought and ra

Carnival and Other Christian Festivals - Folk Theology and Folk Performance (Paperback, New): Max Harris Carnival and Other Christian Festivals - Folk Theology and Folk Performance (Paperback, New)
Max Harris
R723 Discovery Miles 7 230 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

"Dr. Harris has preempted a field almost unto himself: the study of contemporary festivals that have their origins in tradition, history, and the great religious celebrations of the past.... [This book] represents a masterful achievement." -- Milla Cozart Riggio, James J. Goodwin Professor of English, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut

With a riotous mix of saints and devils, street theater and dancing, and music and fireworks, Christian festivals are some of the most lively and colorful spectacles that occur in Spain and its former European and American possessions. That these folk celebrations, with roots reaching back to medieval times, remain vibrant in the high-tech culture of the twenty-first century strongly suggests that they also provide an indispensable vehicle for expressing hopes, fears, and desires that people can articulate in no other way.

In this book, Max Harris explores and develops principles for understanding the folk theology underlying patronal saints' day festivals, feasts of Corpus Christi, and Carnivals through a series of vivid, first-hand accounts of these festivities throughout Spain and in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad, Bolivia, and Belgium. Paying close attention to the signs encoded in folk performances, he finds in these festivals a folk theology of social justice that-- however obscured by official rhetoric, by distracting theories of archaic origin, or by the performers' own need to mask their resistance to authority-- is often in articulate and complex dialogue with the power structures that surround it. This discovery sheds important new light on the meanings of religious festivals celebrated from Belgium to Peru and onthe sophisticated theatrical performances they embody.

Evolutionary Perspectives on Environmental Problems (Paperback): Iver Mysterud Evolutionary Perspectives on Environmental Problems (Paperback)
Iver Mysterud
R1,576 Discovery Miles 15 760 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The twenty-first century presents an increasing number of environmental problems, including toxic pollution, global warming, destruction of tropical forests, extinction of biological diversity, and depletion of natural resources. These environmental problems are generally due to human behavior, namely over-consumption of resources and overpopulation. Designing effective policies to address these problems requires a deep understanding of human behavior as well as ecology. This in turn requires considerations of human nature, and the evolutionary "design" of the human mind.
Evolutionary research on human behavior has profound implications for the environmental sciences. The aim of this collection is to bring together a variety of chapters that show how and why. Part 1, "Human Nature and Resource Conservation," addresses environmental problems from different evolutionary perspectives. Part 2, "The Ecological Noble Savage Hypothesis," examines the notion that our environmental problems are due to Western culture, and that our ancestors and people in indigenous societies lived in harmony with nature until the corrupting influences of Western culture. Part 3, "The Tragedy of the Commons," explores the conservation of common-pool or open-access natural resources, such as fisheries, forests, grazing lands, freshwater, and clean air. Part 4, "The Evolution of Discounting and Conspicuous Consumption," looks at the problem of explaining why people are so ecologically short-sighted and why people in developed countries consume so many resources. Part 5, "Overpopulation and Fertility Declines," addresses the evolution of human reproductive decisions. Part 6, "Biophilia," aims to explain why people cherish nature as well as destroy it.
The goal of this volume is to introduce environmental thinkers to evolutionary perspectives on human behavior, and the new interdisciplinary sciences of evolutionary psychology and behavioral ecology. This reader aims to help bridge the artificial division between the biological and social sciences, and provide a synthesis between evolutionary sciences of human behavior and environmental sciences.
Dustin J. Penn is director, Konrad Lorenz Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. Iver Mysterud is biologist and researcher at the Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Norway.

Discipline and the Other Body - Correction, Corporeality, Colonialism (Paperback): Anupama Rao, Steven Pierce Discipline and the Other Body - Correction, Corporeality, Colonialism (Paperback)
Anupama Rao, Steven Pierce
R906 Discovery Miles 9 060 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Discipline and the Other Body reveals the intimate relationship between violence and difference underlying modern governmental power and the human rights discourses that critique it. The comparative essays brought together in this collection show how, in using physical violence to discipline and control colonial subjects, governments repeatedly found themselves enmeshed in a fundamental paradox: Colonialism was about the management of difference-the "civilized" ruling the "uncivilized"-but colonial violence seemed to many the antithesis of civility, threatening to undermine the very distinction that validated its use. Violation of the bodies of colonial subjects regularly generated scandals, and eventually led to humanitarian initiatives, ultimately changing conceptions of "the human" and helping to constitute modern forms of human rights discourse. Colonial violence and discipline also played a crucial role in hardening modern categories of difference-race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and religion.The contributors, who include both historians and anthropologists, address instances of colonial violence from the early modern period to the twentieth century and from Asia to Africa to North America. They consider diverse topics, from the interactions of race, law, and violence in colonial Louisiana to British attempts to regulate sex and marriage in the Indian army in the early nineteenth century. They examine the political dilemmas raised by the extensive use of torture in colonial India and the ways that British colonizers flogged Nigerians based on beliefs that different ethnic and religious affiliations corresponded to different degrees of social evolution and levels of susceptibility to physical pain. An essay on how contemporary Sufi healers deploy bodily violence to maintain sexual and religious hierarchies in postcolonial northern Nigeria makes it clear that the state is not the only enforcer of disciplinary regimes based on ideas of difference. Contributors. Laura Bear, Yvette Christianse, Shannon Lee Dawdy, Dorothy Ko, Isaac Land, Susan O'Brien, Douglas M. Peers, Steven Pierce, Anupama Rao, Kerry Ward

Mixed Towns, Trapped Communities - Historical Narratives, Spatial Dynamics, Gender Relations and Cultural Encounters in... Mixed Towns, Trapped Communities - Historical Narratives, Spatial Dynamics, Gender Relations and Cultural Encounters in Palestinian-Israeli Towns (Hardcover, New Ed)
Dan Rabinowitz; Daniel Monterescu
R4,645 Discovery Miles 46 450 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Modern urban spaces are, by definition, mixed socio-spatial configurations. In many ways, their enduring success and vitality lie in the richness of their ethnic texture and ongoing exchange of economic goods, cultural practices, political ideas and social movements. This mixture, however, is rarely harmonious and has often led to violent conflict over land and identity. Focusing on mixed towns in Israel/Palestine, this insightful volume theorizes the relationship between modernity and nationalism and the social dynamics which engender and characterize the growth of urban spaces and the emergence therein of inter-communal relations. For more than a century, Arabs and Jews have been interacting in the workplaces, residential areas, commercial enterprises, cultural arenas and political theatres of mixed towns. Defying prevailing Manichean oppositions, these towns both exemplify and resist the forces of nationalist segregation. In this interdisciplinary volume, a new generation of Israeli and Palestinian scholars come together to explore ways in which these towns have been perceived as utopian or dystopian and whether they are best conceptualized as divided, dual or colonial. Identifying ethnically mixed towns as a historically specific analytic category, this volume calls for further research, comparison and debate.

Evolutionary Perspectives on Environmental Problems (Hardcover, Illustrated Ed): Iver Mysterud Evolutionary Perspectives on Environmental Problems (Hardcover, Illustrated Ed)
Iver Mysterud
R4,485 Discovery Miles 44 850 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The twenty-first century presents an increasing number of environmental problems, including toxic pollution, global warming, destruction of tropical forests, extinction of biological diversity, and depletion of natural resources. These environmental problems are generally due to human behavior, namely over-consumption of resources and overpopulation. Designing effective policies to address these problems requires a deep understanding of human behavior as well as ecology. This in turn requires considerations of human nature, and the evolutionary "design" of the human mind.
Evolutionary research on human behavior has profound implications for the environmental sciences. The aim of this collection is to bring together a variety of chapters that show how and why. Part 1, "Human Nature and Resource Conservation," addresses environmental problems from different evolutionary perspectives. Part 2, "The Ecological Noble Savage Hypothesis," examines the notion that our environmental problems are due to Western culture, and that our ancestors and people in indigenous societies lived in harmony with nature until the corrupting influences of Western culture. Part 3, "The Tragedy of the Commons," explores the conservation of common-pool or open-access natural resources, such as fisheries, forests, grazing lands, freshwater, and clean air. Part 4, "The Evolution of Discounting and Conspicuous Consumption," looks at the problem of explaining why people are so ecologically short-sighted and why people in developed countries consume so many resources. Part 5, "Overpopulation and Fertility Declines," addresses the evolution of human reproductive decisions. Part 6, "Biophilia," aims to explain why people cherish nature as well as destroy it.
The goal of this volume is to introduce environmental thinkers to evolutionary perspectives on human behavior, and the new interdisciplinary sciences of evolutionary psychology and behavioral ecology. This reader aims to help bridge the artificial division between the biological and social sciences, and provide a synthesis between evolutionary sciences of human behavior and environmental sciences.
Dustin J. Penn is director, Konrad Lorenz Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. Iver Mysterud is biologist and researcher at the Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Norway.

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