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The tradition of intensive fieldwork by a single anthropologist in
one area has been challenged by new emphasis on studying historical
patterns, wider regions, and global networks. Some anthropologists
have started their careers from the new vantage point, amidst a
chorus of claims for innovative methodologies. Others have lived
through these changes of perspective and are able to reflect on
them, while re-evaluating the place of fieldwork within the broader
aims of general anthropology. This book explores these
transformations of world view and approach as they have been
experienced by anthropological colleagues, a number of whom began
their work very much in the earlier tradition. They cover
experiences of field research in Africa, Papua New Guinea, South
America, Central and South Asia, Europe, the Middle East,
Indonesia, Japan and China. Constant through the chapters is a
distinctively qualitative empirical approach, once associated with
the village but now being developed in relation to large-scale or
dispersed communities.
Marcel Mauss, successor of Emile Durkheim and one-time teacher of
Claude Levi-Strauss, continues to inspire social scientists across
various disciplines. Only selected texts of Mauss's work have been
translated into English, but of these, some, as for instance his
"Essay on the Gift," have proved of key significance for the
development of anthropology internationally. Recently and starting
in France, the interest in Mauss's work has increased noticeably as
witnessed by several reassessments of its relevance to current
social theory. This collection of original essays is the first to
introduce the English-language reader to the current re-evaluation
of his ideas in continental Europe. Themes include the
post-structuralist appraisal of "exchange", the anthropology of the
body, practical techniques, gesture systems, the notions of
substance, materiality, and the social person. There are fresh
insights into comparative politics and history, modern forms of
charity, and new readings of some political and historical aspects
of Mauss's work that bear on the analysis of regions such as Africa
and the Middle East, relatively neglected by the Durkheimian school
and by structuralism. This volume is a timely tribute to mark the
centenary of Mauss' early work and confirms the continuing
relevance of his ideas.
"Each of the essays in this volume deals with various facets of his
work, and all of them should be read." . American Anthropologist
"This book offers a unique insight into the influence of one of the
discipline's most important theorists. James and Allen are
thoughtful editors . . . their respect produces the best form of
criticism in fourteen essays by British, and other European,
anthropologists . . . This is intriguing and stimulating reading .
. . Mauss's work receives careful attention in this book which is
helpful, incisive, and broadly significant to anthropology." . JRAI
Marcel Mauss, successor of Emile Durkheim and one-time teacher of
Claude Levi-Strauss, continues to inspire social scientists across
various disciplines. Only selected texts of Mauss's work have been
translated into English, but of these, some, as for instance his
"Essay on the Gift," have proved of key significance for the
development of anthropology internationally. Wendy James has taught
at the University of Khartoum and has research experience in the
Sudan and Ethiopia. She is currently Professor of Social
Anthropology at the University of Oxford. After studying classics
and medicine N. J. Allen qualified in Social Anthropology at
Oxford, undertaking fieldwork in Nepal. He is currently Reader in
the Social Anthropology of South Asia at the University of Oxford.
The tradition of intensive fieldwork by a single anthropologist
in one area has been challenged by new emphasis on studying
historical patterns, wider regions, and global networks. Some
anthropologists have started their careers from the new vantage
point, amidst a chorus of claims for innovative methodologies.
Others have lived through these changes of perspective and are able
to reflect on them, while re-evaluating the place of fieldwork
within the broader aims of general anthropology. This book explores
these transformations of world view and approach as they have been
experienced by anthropological colleagues, a number of whom began
their work very much in the earlier tradition. They cover
experiences of field research in Africa, Papua New Guinea, South
America, Central and South Asia, Europe, the Middle East,
Indonesia, Japan and China. Constant through the chapters is a
distinctively qualitative empirical approach, once associated with
the village but now being developed in relation to large-scale or
dispersed communities.
Paul Dresch has been working both on Yemeni history and the
ethnography of the Arab Gulf. He taught at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, before being appointed Lecturer in the
Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of
Oxford. Wendy James has taught at the Universities of Khartoum,
Aarhus, and Bergen, and has research experience in the Sudan and
Ethiopia. She has published on the history and anthropology of
North East Africa and on general topics in religion and politics.
She is currently Professor of Social Anthropology at the University
of Oxford. David Parkin has carried out field research in East
Africa since 1962, much of it while at the School of Oriental and
African Studies, London University. Current research interests
include Islam, medical anthropology, socio-material prosthesis, and
cross-cultural rhetorics. He is the Director of the Institute of
Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oxford.
Although the world population faces movement, mixing and displacement on a larger scale than ever before, the result has not been a collapse of boundaries but an increase in the rise of new forms of ethnic, cultural and religious identity. Those based in the highly developed countries can extend global influence through wealth and sophisticated technology. The Pursuit of Certainty presents original case studies which explore the effect anthropology's inherited tradition of tolerance and cross-cultural understanding has on the new pursuits of truth. Several chapters focus on the rise of new certainties while others examine notions of diversity providing a critical perspective on the new religious movements and current popular orthodoxies relating to society and culture.
The peoples of the world are now facing movement, mixing and
displacement on a larger scale than ever before. We are witness to
the rise of new forms of ethnic, cultural and religious identity.
Those based in the highly developed countries can extend global
influence through wealth and sophisticated technology. Anthropology
has inherited a tradition of tolerance and cross-cultural
understanding: what light can it throw on the new pursuit of truth?
With contributions from leading anthropologists from Germany, the
US, Canada, Australia, Malaysia and Britain, "The Pursuit of
Certainty" presents a dozen original case studies which explore
this theme.
This book demonstrates anthropology's relevance to the
contemporary world and its turbulence providing a critical
perspective on the new religious movements and current popular
orthodoxies about society and culture. Complementing the text-led
approaches of history or theology, each chapter offers insights
from patient investigative fieldwork, illustrating the way the new
ideologies interact with each other and with older ideas in the
actual practices of communities.
Apart from anthropologists, this volume will attract special
attention from students of comparative religion, as well as from
ethnic studies.
A homecoming snares a young woman in a dangerous tangle of lies,
secrets, and bad blood in this gripping novel by the bestselling
author of An Accusation. Running from a bad relationship,
journalist Jo Sharpe heads home to Arthurville, the
drought-stricken town she turned her back on years earlier. While
some things have changed-her relationship with her ailing,
crotchety father, her new job at the community newspaper-Jo finds
that her return has rekindled the grief and uncertainty she
experienced during her childhood following the inexplicable
disappearance of her mother and baby sister. Returning to
Arthurville has its unexpected pleasures, though, as Jo happily
reconnects with old friends and makes a few new ones. But she can't
let go of her search for answers to that long-ago mystery. And as
she keeps investigating, the splash she's making begins to ripple
outward-far beyond the disappearance of her mother and sister. Jo
is determined to dig as deep as it takes to get answers. But it's
not long before she realises that someone among the familiar faces
doesn't want her picking through the debris of the past. And
they'll go to any lengths to silence the little bird before she
sings the truth.
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The Sudan Handbook (Paperback)
John Ryle Et Al; Contributions by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Omer Egemi, Philip Winter, …
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R559
Discovery Miles 5 590
Save R59 (10%)
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A compact and useable introduction to the understanding of
contemporary Sudan, and a convenient reference work. The Sudan
Handbook, based on the Rift Valley Institute's successful Sudan
Field Course, is an authoritative and accessible introduction to
Sudan, vividly written and edited by leading Sudanese and
international specialists. The handbook offers a concise
introduction to all aspects of the country, rooted in a broad
historical account of the development of the Sudanese state. It
consists of eighteen self-contained, cross-referenced chapters,
covering essential topics in the geography, history, sociology,
culture and politics of the country, written by outstanding
Sudanese scholars and recognized international experts. It includes
numerous purpose-drawn maps and diagrams,glossaries of key terms,
capsule biographies of key figures, a chronology and a
bibliography. John Ryle, Rift Valley Institute and Division of
Social Sciences, Bard College, USA; Justin Willis, Department of
History, Durham University, UK and former Director of the British
Institute in Eastern Africa; Suliman Baldo, International Center
for Transitional Justice, New York, International Crisis Group; Jok
Madut Jok, Department of History, LoyolaMarymount University, USA.
Published in association with the Rift Valley Institute
This book explores the relevance of classical ideas in the
anthropology of time tothe way we understand history, participate
in the events around us, and experienceour lives. Time is not just
an abstract principle we live by or a local cultural construct: it
is shaped, punctuated, organized, and suffered in complex ways by
real people negotiating their lives and relations with others.
Space may be opened up for politics, violence or revolutionary
change within the framework of ceremonial markers of social time:
holy days, festivals and carnivals. People create and recreate
patterns in the way they imagine the past, present and future at
such moments, through material objects, language, symbolic action
and bodily experience. The rhythms of social life, including
periodic episodes of sacred or special time, interact with
'historical events' in strange ways. They are fundamental not only
to the human condition but to the making andremembering of history,
as well as to what we recognize as the unexpected or abnormal. The
Qualities of Time brings anthropologists and archaeologists
together in a new conversation about the 'patterns' of our
understanding and experience of time. The authors reflect on how we
should interpret evidence about the distant past, andhow far the
structuring of social time is a human universal. They also consider
whether anthropology itself has been so oriented to the present it
has still to develop ways of dealing with temporality. The
interactions of time-structures, ceremonials, and specific
historical events, including violence inspired by the millennium,
are interrogated. The experience of individuals who feel the times
are for them 'out of joint' is also examined. By combining
socio-cultural, philosophical and historical approaches,
thisthought-provoking book moves anthropological debates about
time's qualities wellbeyond existing studies.This book explores the
relevance of classical ideas in the anthropology of time toth
This book explores the relevance of classical ideas in the
anthropology of time tothe way we understand history, participate
in the events around us, and experienceour lives. Time is not just
an abstract principle we live by or a local cultural construct: it
is shaped, punctuated, organized, and suffered in complex ways by
real people negotiating their lives and relations with others.
Space may be opened up for politics, violence or revolutionary
change within the framework of ceremonial markers of social time:
holy days, festivals and carnivals. People create and recreate
patterns in the way they imagine the past, present and future at
such moments, through material objects, language, symbolic action
and bodily experience. The rhythms of social life, including
periodic episodes of sacred or special time, interact with
'historical events' in strange ways. They are fundamental not only
to the human condition but to the making andremembering of history,
as well as to what we recognize as the unexpected or abnormal. The
Qualities of Time brings anthropologists and archaeologists
together in a new conversation about the 'patterns' of our
understanding and experience of time. The authors reflect on how we
should interpret evidence about the distant past, andhow far the
structuring of social time is a human universal. They also consider
whether anthropology itself has been so oriented to the present it
has still to develop ways of dealing with temporality. The
interactions of time-structures, ceremonials, and specific
historical events, including violence inspired by the millennium,
are interrogated. The experience of individuals who feel the times
are for them 'out of joint' is also examined. By combining
socio-cultural, philosophical and historical approaches,
thisthought-provoking book moves anthropological debates about
time's qualities wellbeyond existing studies.This book explores the
relevance of classical ideas in the anthropology of time toth
Australian-born journalist Wendy James returns to her homeland and
looks at it anew. She travels to all seven states, discovering
unique wildlife and natural wonders, and the extraordinary art and
heritage of the country's Aboriginal population. But she does not
shirk the problems that the 'lucky country' faces.
Clarion Review Dr. James's relevant and useful research on women in
leadership roles is thoroughly supported. The Gap: A Scholarly
Perspective of Executive Women, by Dr. Wendy James, is a detailed
research study that examines how women experience the intersection
of career, marriage, and family. This topic is incredibly relevant:
as the number of women in leadership roles grows, so too does the
interest in understanding the effects of their professional
success. Dr. James examines previous research theories (such as
spillover theory) and societal patterns (such as the rise of
dual-income families), and she examines interviewees' responses
through these lenses. Dr. James shares six themes about executive
women's lives that were revealed through her research, one being
that careers have a positive influence on self, marriage, and
children. These themes overturn the "assumption of conflict" that
forms the basis for preceding theories-and make the results of the
research all the more important. The participant interview
transcripts in the appendix are the most engaging part of the text
for nonacademic readers. Executive women themselves will find the
final chapter, "Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations," most
relevant. Melissa Wuske
This book contains real stories and allusions to common fairy tales
we know from our childhood. It speaks of dreams, passions, seeking
and believing in "living happily ever after." As Freud used common
Greek tragedies as themes for basic psychological behaviors, this
is based on universally known fairy tales. It addresses
relationships, emotions, fears, sex and love in themes that apply
to women, regardless of age. The chapters are not the advice one
might receive from a neighbor, girlfriend or life coach, although
it reads as such, but is based upon years of education and
research.
A sequel to The Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia. This new
volume examines the major changes effected by the socialist regime
from the revolution of 1974 to its overthrow in 1991, and then into
the current period which has been marked by moves towards local
democracy and political devolution. North America: Ohio U Press;
Ethiopia: Addis Ababa U Press
This book completes a trilogy by the anthropologist Wendy James. It
is a case study of how the Uduk-speaking people, originally from
the Blue Nile region between the 'north' and the 'south' of Sudan,
have been caught up in and displaced by a generation of civil war.
Some have responded by defending their nation, others by joining
the armed resistance of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, and yet
others eventually finding security as international refugees in
Ethiopia, and even further afield in countries such as the USA.
Sudan's peace agreement of 2005 leaves much uncertainty for the
future of the whole country, as conflict still rages in Darfur. The
Uduk case shows how people who once lived together now try to
maintain links across borders and even continents through modern
communications, and where possible recreate their 'traditional'
forms of story-telling, music, and song.
Adapting Wittgenstein's concept of the human species as 'a
ceremonial animal', Wendy James writes vividly and readably. Her
new overview advocates a clear line of argument: that the concept
of social form is a primary key to anthropology and the human
sciences as a whole. Weaving memorable ethnographic examples into
her text, James brings together carefully selected historical
sources as well as references to current ideas in neighbouring
disciplines such as archaeology, paleoanthropology, genetics, art
and material culture, ethnomusicology, urban and development
studies, politics, economics, psychology, and religious studies.
She shows the relevance of anthropology to pressing world issues
such as migration, humanitarian politics, the new reproductive
technologies, and religious fundamentalism.
Wendy James's engaging style will appeal to specialist and
non-specialist alike. The Foreword is written by Michael J. Lambek,
Professor of Anthropology, University of Toronto.
Governance everywhere is concerned with spatial relationships.
Modern states "map" local communities, making them legible for the
purposes of control. Ethiopia has gone through several stages of
"mapping" in its imperial, revolutionary, and postrevolutionary
phases. In 1986 The Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia, a
cross-disciplinary collection edited by Don Donham and Wendy James,
opened up the study of center/periphery relations in the Ethiopian
empire until the fall of the monarchy in 1974. This new volume
examines similar themes, taking the story forward through the major
changes effected by the socialist regime from the revolution of
1974 to its overthrow in 1991, and then into the current period
that has been marked by moves toward local democracy and political
devolution. Topics include the changing fortunes of new and
historic towns and cities, the impact of the Mengistu regime's
policies of villagization and resettlement, local aspects of the
struggle against Mengistu and its aftermath, and the fate of border
regions. Special attention is given to developments since 1991: to
new local institutions and forms of autonomy, the links between the
international diasporas of Ethiopia and the fortunes of their home
areas. The collection draws on the work of established scholars as
well as a new generation of Ethiopian and international researchers
in the disciplines of anthropology, political science, history, and
geography.
Notions of the person and of the foundations of bodily and moral experience lie at the heart of this second ethnographic volume devoted to the Uduk-speaking people of Sudan. In a new introduction Wendy James explains how the Sudan-Ethiopian borderlands were overrun by war in 1987, and how all the villages described in the original edition were destroyed. Having revisited the Uduk for various UN agencies she is able to provide an indication of the way in which they have since been embroiled in the war, and how the survivors have increasingly embraced Christianity in the course of their exile. She draws on her own reports and publications written since 1988 and to the TV documentary on the Uduk and other refugees which she made with Granada in 1993. Reference is also made to other recently published work on the region and to relevant new emphases in anthropology which focus on displacement, violence, and memory.
This is the long-awaited publication of a set of writings by the
British philosopher, historian, and archaeologist R. G. Collingwood
on critical, anthropological, and cultural themes only hinted at in
his previously available work. At the centre of the book are six
chapters of a study of folktale and magic, composed by Collingwood
in the mid-1930s and intended for development into a book. Here
Collingwood applies the principles of his philosophy of history to
problems in the long-term evolution of human society and culture.
This is preceded, in Part I, by a range of contextualizing material
on such topics as the relations between music and poetry, the
nature of language, the value of Jane Austen's novels, the
philosophy of art, and the relations between aesthetic theory and
artistic practice. Part III of the volume consists of two essays,
one on the relationship between art and mechanized civilization,
and the second, written in 1931, on the collapse of human values
and civilization leading up to the catastrophe of armed conflict.
These offer a devastating analysis of the consequences that attend
the desertion of liberal principles, indeed of all politics as
such, in the ultimate self-annihilation of military conquest. The
volume opens with three substantial introductory essays by the
editors, authorities in the fields of critical and literary
history, social and cultural anthropology, and the philosophy of
history and the history of ideas; they provide their explanatory
and contextual notes to guide the reader through the texts. The
Philosophy of Enchantment brings hitherto unrecognized areas of
Collingwood's achievement to light, and demonstrates the broad
range of Collingwood's intellectual engagements, their integration,
and their relevance to current areas of debate in the fields of
philosophy, cultural studies, social and literary history, and
anthropology.
This is the long-awaited publication of a set of writings by the
British philosopher, historian, and archaeologist R.G. Collingwood
on critical, anthropological, and cultural themes only hinted at in
his previously available work. At the centre of the book are six
chapters of a study of folktale and magic, composed by Collingwood
in the mid-1930s and intended for development into a book. Here
Collingwood applies the principles of his philosophy of history to
problems in the long-term evolution of human society and culture.
This is preceded, in Part I, by a range of contextualizing material
on such topics as the relations between music and poetry, the
nature of language, the value of Jane Austen's novels, the
philosophy of art, and the relations between aesthetic theory and
artistic practice. Part III of the volume consists of two essays,
one on the relationship between art and mechanized civilization,
and the second, written in 1931, on the collapse of human values
and civilization leading up to the catastrophe of armed conflict.
These offer a devastating analysis of the consequences that attend
the desertion of liberal principles, indeed of all politics as
such, in the ultimate self-annihilation of military conquest. The
volume opens with three substantial introductory essays by the
editors, authorities in the fields of critical and literary
history, social and cultural anthropology, and the philosophy of
history and the history of ideas; they provide their explanatory
and contextual notes to guide the reader through the texts. The
Philosophy of Enchantment brings hitherto unrecognized areas of
Collingwood's achievement to light, and demonstrates the broad
range of Collingwood's intellectual engagements, their integration,
and their relevance to current areas of debate in the fields of
philosophy, cultural studies, social and literary history, and
anthropology.
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