Download or read book The Gebusi Lives Transformed in a Rainforest World written by Bruce Knauft and published by McGraw-Hill Education. This book was released on 2012-01-31 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written specifically for students, this ethnography provides an engaging, real-life account of the transition from a traditional to a modern culture. It uses vibrant, poignant stories and examples to connect developments among Gebusi to topics widely discussed in anthropology courses, including comparative aspect of subsistence, kinship, politics, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationalism, and applied anthropology. When first studied by Bruce Knauft, the Gebusi of Papua New Guinea conducted ritual dances and spirit séances, practiced alternative sexual customs, and endured a high rate of violence. By the late 1990s, Gebusi had converted to Christianity and actively pursued market activity, schooling, government programs, sports leagues, and disco music. By 2008, however, their public services and cash economy had deteriorated, and Gebusi relied increasingly, once again, on indigenous customs and practices. Some aspects of change, however, remained enduring. More recently, problems of economic hardship have persisted—as has the resilience of Gebusi culture. This third edition of the The Gebusi has been updated and streamlined throughout and has new material as well as “Broader Connections” sections following each chapter.
Download or read book The Gebusi written by Bruce Knauft and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2022-01-18 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This version of The Gebusi is different enough from previous editions to be not just an updated but a significantly reframed work in relation to front-burner issues in cultural anthropology. These include reflexive awareness in ethnographic writing; gender relations and the subordination of women; postcoloniality; race and ethnicity; and the challenges of government and corruption. Based on fieldwork in 2016 and 2017, this latest edition of The Gebusi blends many new developments with those of the past. Poignant descriptions and reflections by young French cofieldworker Anne-Sylvie Malbrancke complement Knauft’s main account—and provide a rich dialogue across subject position and gender in ethnographic writing. In the mix, this vibrant work powerfully documents and critically analyzes key new developments among Gebusi. As such, The Gebusi, Fifth Edition brings the book’s compelling story forward while enriching the content structure and engaged portrayals of earlier editions. In addition to online field video resources, four instructor presentations, and other study materials and resources, the book itself includes 90 photographs—all in color in the e-book edition—that dramatically convey incidents and people portrayed.
Download or read book The Gebusi written by Bruce Knauft and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most popular anthropological case studies published in the last two decades, the latest edition of The Gebusi incorporates important new fieldwork, bringing ethnographic excellence and a riveting story fully up to date. Readers are welcomed into the lives of Papua New Guinea rainforest dwellers to witness a dramatic arc of cultural change and human transformation. When Knauft first studied them, Gebusi practiced powerful spirit séances and sorcery divinations, held resplendent initiations that included distinctive sexual customs, and endured high rates of violence. Sixteen years later, he found them participating in market activity, schooling, government programs, and sports; performing their own popular music; and practicing Christianity. More recently, Gebusi have been battered by economic hardship and withdrawal of government services—but have admirably revitalized their culture and livelihood. Sustained by traditions, access to land and waterways, and a keen sense of humor and vitality, Gebusi exhibit resilience and dignity amid conditions of continuing uncertainty and change. An absorbing, well-written, and humanistic account based on profound scholarship, The Gebusi, 4/E includes end-of-chapter “Broader Connections” that link Gebusi experiences to major anthropological topics—subsistence, kinship and marriage, politics, religion, gender and sexuality, ethnicity, nationalism, modernity, and the ethics of engaged and applied anthropology. A stunning full-color photo insert accentuates Knauft’s absorbing narrative. Callouts to instructional videos recorded with Gebusi and to an extensive online image bank on the author’s website further enrich the ethnography.
Download or read book The Gebusi Lives Transformed in a Rainforest World written by Bruce Knauft and published by McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. This book was released on 2009-03-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written specifically for students, this ethnography provides an engaging, real-life account of the transition from a traditional to a modern culture. It uses vibrant personal stories and ethnographic examples to connect developments among the Gebusi of Papua New Guinea to key topics in cultural anthropology, including comparative features of subsistence, kinship, politics, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationalism, and modern development. In the early 1980s, the Gebusi conducted ritual dances and spirit seances, practiced alternative sexual customs, and endured high rate of violence. By 1998, most Gebusi had converted to Christianity and were actively engaged in market activity, disco music, sports leagues, and school. In 2008, however, public services and the cash economy had deteriorated, and people relied increasingly on their traditional customs and practices. This second edition of The Gebusi vividly portrays both the traditions and the modern challenges of Gebusi society and culture with updated content throughout and surprising new conclusions based on the author's return to the Gebusi in 2008.
Download or read book The Anthropology of Morality in Melanesia and Beyond written by John Barker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Anthropology of Morality in Melanesia and Beyond examines how Melanesians experience and deal with moral dilemmas and challenges. Taking Kenelm Burridge’s seminal work as their starting point, the contributors focus upon public situations and types of people that exemplify key ethical contradictions for members of moral communities. While returning to some classical concerns, such as the roles of big men and sorcerers, the book opens new territory with richly textured ethnographic studies and theoretical reviews that explore the interface between the values associated with indigenous village life and the ethical orientations associated with Christianity, the state, the marketplace, and other facets of ’modernity'. A major contribution to the emerging field of the anthropology of morality, the volume includes some of the most prominent scholars working in the discipline today, including Bruce Knauft, Joel Robbins, F.G. Bailey, Deborah Gewertz and Frederick Errington.
Download or read book Critically Modern written by Bruce M. Knauft and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2002-09-27 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Critically Modern makes a critical intervention in one of the great debates of the moment. It offers a variety of rich and fascinating empirical analyses of 'modern' phenomena from diverse societies, and contributes a powerful (and largely missing) voice to the growing literature on globalization and modernity outside anthropology." —Charles Piot "In these essays theory and ethnography are presented in ways that make them mutually enriching. The volume should appeal to scholars across the entire range of disciplines that deal with modernity and/or globalization." —Edward LiPuma Are there multiple ways of being "modern" in the world today? How do people in various parts of the world become modern in their own distinct ways? Does the current focus on modernity in the social sciences resurrect a series of dichotomies ("traditional" and "modern," "the West" and "the Rest," "developed" and "undeveloped") that social theorists have sought to move beyond in recent years? Or do inflections of modernity capture key features of ideology and influence in the contemporary world? Combining rich ethnographic analysis with incisive theoretical critiques, this timely volume is certain to make an important mark in anthropology and in all related fields in which modernity is a central problematic. Contributors: Donald L. Donham, Robert J. Foster, Jonathan Friedman, Ivan Karp, John D. Kelly, Bruce M. Knauft, Lisa B. Rofel, Debra A. Spitulnik, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, and Holly Wardlow.
Download or read book War Before Civilization written by Lawrence H. Keeley and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1997-12-18 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The myth of the peace-loving "noble savage" is persistent and pernicious. Indeed, for the last fifty years, most popular and scholarly works have agreed that prehistoric warfare was rare, harmless, unimportant, and, like smallpox, a disease of civilized societies alone. Prehistoric warfare, according to this view, was little more than a ritualized game, where casualties were limited and the effects of aggression relatively mild. Lawrence Keeley's groundbreaking War Before Civilization offers a devastating rebuttal to such comfortable myths and debunks the notion that warfare was introduced to primitive societies through contact with civilization (an idea he denounces as "the pacification of the past"). Building on much fascinating archeological and historical research and offering an astute comparison of warfare in civilized and prehistoric societies, from modern European states to the Plains Indians of North America, War Before Civilization convincingly demonstrates that prehistoric warfare was in fact more deadly, more frequent, and more ruthless than modern war. To support this point, Keeley provides a wide-ranging look at warfare and brutality in the prehistoric world. He reveals, for instance, that prehistorical tactics favoring raids and ambushes, as opposed to formal battles, often yielded a high death-rate; that adult males falling into the hands of their enemies were almost universally killed; and that surprise raids seldom spared even women and children. Keeley cites evidence of ancient massacres in many areas of the world, including the discovery in South Dakota of a prehistoric mass grave containing the remains of over 500 scalped and mutilated men, women, and children (a slaughter that took place a century and a half before the arrival of Columbus). In addition, Keeley surveys the prevalence of looting, destruction, and trophy-taking in all kinds of warfare and again finds little moral distinction between ancient warriors and civilized armies. Finally, and perhaps most controversially, he examines the evidence of cannibalism among some preliterate peoples. Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times). But he also goes beyond grisly facts to address the larger moral and philosophical issues raised by his work. What are the causes of war? Are human beings inherently violent? How can we ensure peace in our own time? Challenging some of our most dearly held beliefs, Keeley's conclusions are bound to stir controversy.
Download or read book Origins of Altruism and Cooperation written by Robert W. Sussman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-08-02 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about the evolution and nature of cooperation and altruism in social-living animals, focusing especially on non-human primates and on humans. Although cooperation and altruism are often thought of as ways to attenuate competition and aggression within groups, or are related to the action of “selfish genes”, there is increasing evidence that these behaviors are the result of biological mechanisms that have developed through natural selection in group-living species. This evidence leads to the conclusion that cooperative and altruistic behavior are not just by-products of competition but are rather the glue that underlies the ability for primates and humans to live in groups. The anthropological, primatological, paleontological, behavioral, neurobiological, and psychological evidence provided in this book gives a more optimistic view of human nature than the more popular, conventional view of humans being naturally and basically aggressive and warlike. Although competition and aggression are recognized as an important part of the non-human primate and human behavioral repertoire, the evidence from these fields indicates that cooperation and altruism may represent the more typical, “normal”, and healthy behavioral pattern. The book is intended both for the general reader and also for students at a variety of levels (graduate and undergraduate): it aims to provide a compact, accessible, and up-to-date account of the current scholarly advances and debates in this field of study, and it is designed to be used in teaching and in discussion groups. The book derived from a conference sponsored by N.S.F., the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Washington University Committee for Ethics and Human Values, and the Anthropedia Foundation for the study of well-being.
Download or read book Take a Nap written by Sara C. Mednick and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses why napping is important to physical and mental health, explains sleep patterns and how napping can enhance them, and includes a "Nap Wheel" on the front cover to help readers plan the optimum nap.
Download or read book From Primitive to Postcolonial in Melanesia and Anthropology written by Bruce M. Knauft and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A prominent scholar surveys the special place of Melanesia in our understanding of human cultural variation
Download or read book The Chosen Primate written by Adam Kuper and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chosen Primate ends by looking forward to the next millennium, noting that our future depends on our response to another fundamental question: Will our culture, which has given us the means to adapt successfully to nature, ultimately destroy nature? In raising this question, Kuper shows that debates in anthropology are more than just academic disputes - they engage the major issues of our time.
Download or read book Nuer Journeys Nuer Lives written by Jon D. Holtzman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-09-07 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines contemporary migration to the United States through a surprising and compelling case study – the Nuer of Sudan, whose traditional life represents one of the most important case studies in the history of anthropology. It provides an opportunity to examine issues of current importance within anthropology, such as social change, transnationalism, displacement, and diaspora in an easy to understand manner. In understanding the experiences of the Nuer, students will not only gain insights into the world refugee problem and the role of immigration in the United States, they will also learn about the features of Nuer life which are considered a standard part of the anthropology curriculum. The book juxtaposes elements of Nuer culture which are well-known within anthropology — and featured in most anthropology textbooks — with new developments arising from the immigration of many other Nuer to the U.S. in the 1990s as refugees from civil war in southern Sudan. Consequently, this book will fit well within existing anthropology curricula, while providing an important update on descriptions of traditional life.
Download or read book The Island of Menstruating Men written by Ian Hogbin and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 1996-02-27 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ian Hogbin belongs to anthropologys heroic age. He was a member of the brilliant between-the-wars generation that included Raymond Firth, Reo Fortune, Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson, and Hortense Powdermaker, all of whom pioneered modern field research in the insular South Pacific. The Island of Menstruating Men was a path-breaking exploration of gender in Wogeo when first published. Today it remains an important full-length study of a Melanesian religion, examining it in relation to other facets of culturemythology, beliefs about illness and death, growth and maturity, magic, social structure, and morality. It is an articulate, insightful examination of the meaning of tradition and of the integration of culture. It is also a captivating account of ethnocentrism and the Wogeos justification for it, exemplifying, in miniature, what appears to be one of the great problems of the human species.
Download or read book The Meaning of Whitemen written by Ira Bashkow and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2006-07-17 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A familiar cultural presence for people the world over, “the whiteman” has come to personify the legacy of colonialism, the face of Western modernity, and the force of globalization. Focusing on the cultural meanings of whitemen in the Orokaiva society of Papua New Guinea, this book provides a fresh approach to understanding how race is symbolically constructed and why racial stereotypes endure in the face of counterevidence. While Papua New Guinea’s resident white population has been severely reduced due to postcolonial white flight, the whiteman remains a significant racial and cultural other here—not only as an archetype of power and wealth in the modern arena, but also as a foil for people’s evaluations of themselves within vernacular frames of meaning. As Ira Bashkow explains, ideas of self versus other need not always be anti-humanistic or deprecatory, but can be a creative and potentially constructive part of all cultures. A brilliant analysis of whiteness and race in a non-Western society, The Meaning of Whitemen turns traditional ethnography to the purpose of understanding how others see us.
Download or read book Ancestral Lines written by John Barker and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Ancestral Lines, which is based on 25 years of research among the Maisin people, Barker offers a nuanced understanding of how the Maisin came to reject commercial logging on their traditional lands.
Download or read book The Story of B written by Daniel Quinn and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2010-01-13 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the critically acclaimed, award-winning bestseller Ishmael and its sequel, My Ishmael, comes a powerful novel with one of the most profound spiritual testaments of our time “A compelling ‘humantale’ that will unglue, stun, shock, and rearrange everything you’ve learned and assume about Western civilization and our future.”—Paul Hawken, author of The Ecology of Commerce Father Jared Osborne has received an extraordinary assignment from his superiors: Investigate an itinerant preacher stirring up deep trouble in central Europe. His followers call him B, but his enemies say he’s something else: the Antichrist. However, the man Osborne tracks across a landscape of bars, cabarets, and seedy meeting halls is no blasphemous monster—though an earlier era would undoubtedly have rushed him to the burning stake. For B claims to be enunciating a gospel written not on any stone or parchment but in our very genes, opening up a spiritual direction for humanity that would have been unimaginable to any of the prophets or saviors of traditional religion. Pressed by his superiors for a judgement, Osborne is driven to penetrate B’s inner circle, where he soon finds himself an anguished collaborator in the dismantling of his own religious foundations. More than a masterful novel of adventure and suspense, The Story of B is a rich source of compelling ideas from an author who challenges us to rethink our most cherished beliefs. Explore Daniel Quinn’s spiritual Ishmael trilogy: ISHMAEL • MY ISHMAEL • THE STORY OF B
Download or read book The Broken Fountain written by Thomas Belmonte and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Ida Susser writes in reference to Belmonte's Broken Fountain, "good ethnographies have long lives." This classic of urban anthropology, one of the most acclaimed ethnographies of recent years, offers vivid, literary descriptions of Fontana del Re, an impoverished Neapolitan neighborhood. Belmonte documents the struggles of Neapolitans surrounded by crumbling buildings and economic insecurity. He details family dynamics as well as the working of Naples's informal economy, the day-to-day struggle for economic subsistence, and the intermittent begging and thieving of the young. Taking us from the bustling, vibrant, and gritty streets and alleyways of Naples to the kitchen tables of poor Neapolitan homes, Belmonte resists simplistic depictions of the poor. Instead, he presents subtle, compelling portraits and analyses that capture the emotional, social, and economic lives of his subjects. In addition to the continuing relevance of his insights into the effects of poverty, Belmonte's willingness to reflect on his own reactions and emotions while in the field has influenced a generation of scholars. In The Broken Fountain, he poignantly describes the experience of living alone in a strange urban environment and his interactions with the residents of Fontana del Re. This edition includes a foreword by Ida Susser and an afterword by Pellegrino D'Acierno and Stanislao G. Pugliese.
