Author: Raymond Firth
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN: 9781845203054
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292
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Book Description
First published in 1939 and long out of print, this book remains unique as the only full and detailed account by a social anthropologist of a complete pagan Polynesian ritual cycle. This new single-volume edition omits some of the Tikopia vernacular texts, but includes a new theoretical introduction; postscripts have also been supplied to some of the chapters comparing the performances of 1928-9 with those witnessed by Professor Firth on his second visit to Tikopia in 1952. There is a specially written Epilogue on the final eclipse of the traditional ritual, based on a third visit by the author during the summer of 1966.
Author: RAYMOND. FIRTH
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9780367716660
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 292
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Book Description
First published in 1939 and long out of print, this book remains unique as the only full and detailed account by a social anthropologist of a complete pagan Polynesian ritual cycle. This new single-volume edition omits some of the Tikopia vernacular texts, but includes a new theoretical introduction; postscripts have also been supplied to some of the chapters comparing the performances of 1928-9 with those witnessed by Professor Firth on his second visit to Tikopia in 1952. There is a specially written Epilogue on the final eclipse of the traditional ritual, based on a third visit by the author during the summer of 1966.
Author: Mark S. Mosko
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521264525
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332
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Book Description
This book was the first detailed, comprehensive study of Bush Mekeo culture and society.
Author: Raymond Firth
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000324516
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253
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Book Description
In this volume Professor Firth has brought together and commented upon a number of his papers on anthropological subjects published over the last thirty years. All these essays relate in different ways to his continuing interest in the study of social process, especially in the significance within a social context of individual choice and decision. Although some specialist studies are included, e.g. the group of papers dealing with the Polynesian island of Tikopia, the main themes of the book are broad ones and there are important general essays on such topics as social change; social structure and organization; modern society in relation to scientific and technological progress; and the study of values, mysticism, and religion by anthropologists. There is also a hitherto unpublished chapter on anthropology as a developing science.
Author: Francis L.K. Hsu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351510061
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 814
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Book Description
At one time Francis L.K. Hsu put forth a hypothesis on kinship that proposed a functional relationship between particular kinship systems and behavior patterns in particular cultural contexts. The controversy provoked among cultural anthropologists by this hypothesis is reflected in this book, which points the way toward more fruitful investigations of kinship in cultural and psychological anthropology. Hsu's hypothesis offers an alternative to the study of kinship as a mathematical game and to the treatment of fragmentary aspects of child-rearing practices as major causal factors in culture. Considering the kinship system as the psychological factory of culture, Hsu's aim is to discover the crucial forces in each system that shape the interpersonal orientation of the individual, which forms the individual's basis for adequate functioning as a member of his society and which, in turn, provides his culture with a basis for continuity and change. His central hypothesis is that the attributes of the dominant dyads in a given kinship system (such as father-son or mother-daughter) tend to determine the attitudes and action patterns that the individual in such a system develops toward other relationships in that system as well as toward his relationships outside of it. The topics are varied, ranging from the link between dyadic dominance and household maintenance, to role dilemmas and father-son dominance, to sex-role identity and dominant kinship relationships. The editor has contributed an introduction, an original essay on kinship and patterns of social cohesion, and a summary chapter to bring coherence to the diversity of opinion stated. This new presentation of Hsu's hypothesis, together with its discussion by eminent anthropologists and its recommendations for future research in the area, is an important addition to the literature on kinship.
Author: Peter Metcalf
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134329032
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228
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Book Description
The ultimate guide for the student encountering anthropology for the first time, Anthropology: The Basics explains and explores key anthropological concepts including: what is anthropology? how can we distinguish cultural differences from physical ones? what is culture, anyway? how do anthropologists study culture? what are the key theories and approaches used today? How has the discipline changed over time? This student-friendly text provides an overview of the fundamental principles of anthropology and is an invaluable guide for anyone wanting to learn more about this fascinating subject.
Author: Marshall Sahlins
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691215936
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208
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Book Description
One of the world’s preeminent cultural anthropologists leaves a last work that fundamentally reconfigures how we study most other cultures From the perspective of Western modernity, humanity inhabits a disenchanted cosmos. Gods, spirits, and ancestors have left us for a transcendent beyond, no longer living in our midst and being involved in all matters of everyday life from the trivial to the dire. Yet the vast majority of cultures throughout human history treat spirits as very real persons, members of a cosmic society who interact with humans and control their fate. In most cultures, even today, people are but a small part of an enchanted universe misconstrued by the transcendent categories of “religion” and the “supernatural.” The New Science of the Enchanted Universe shows how anthropologists and other social scientists must rethink these cultures of immanence and study them by their own lights. In this, his last, revelatory book, Marshall Sahlins announces a new method and sets an exciting agenda for the field. He takes readers around the world, from Inuit of the Arctic Circle to pastoral Dinka of East Africa, from Araweté swidden gardeners of Amazonia to Trobriand Island horticulturalists. In the process, Sahlins sheds new light on classical and contemporary ethnographies that describe these cultures of immanence and reveals how even the apparently mundane, all-too-human spheres of “economics” and “politics” emerge as people negotiate with, and ultimately usurp, the powers of the gods. The New Science of the Enchanted Universe offers a road map for a new practice of anthropology that takes seriously the enchanted universe and its transformations from ancient Mesopotamia to contemporary America.
Author: George Caspar Homans
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351481355
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 675
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Book Description
George C. Homans's classic volume The Human Group was among the first to study the small group as a microcosm of society. It introduced a method of analysis and a set of influential theories that cut across areas of specialization on the personality, community, and industry.The study of even the smallest groups is extremely complex, with the simplest associations involving an abundance of actions, relationships, emotions, motives, ideas, and beliefs. Homans concentrates on certain activities and processes he observes in five carefully selected and differentiated case studies and from them draws common patterns and ideas that serve as the bases of testable propositions.He divides his cases into static and dynamic groups. In all five cases, Homans selects comparable phenomena for analysis with a contextually different emphasis and elaboration each time. His results demonstrate that, different as these groups are, their behavior reveals fundamental similarities and social uniformities. A ground-breaking and authoritative work when it was first published in 1950, The Human Group continues to Inform and invigorate the study of small groups in sociology, psychology, management, and organizations.
Author: John H. Bodley
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442271906
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 459
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Book Description
John Bodley’s Cultural Anthropology provides students with the anthropological tools to question and understand their own culture and the world. The sixth edition of this dynamic book has been updated and revised throughout, with a shorter length and a more streamlined focus. Updates include material on China and Hindu South Asia combined into a single chapter, a new chapter assessing the imperial world and the breakdown of states, and new examples throughout. In this introduction to the basic concepts of cultural anthropology, Bodley challenges students to consider “big questions” about the nature of cultural systems: What is “natural” and what is “cultural” about humans? What is it like to be human under different cultural conditions, and how do socio-cultural systems of different cultural scales satisfy basic human needs? Are race, language, and environment determinants of culture? What are the human costs and benefits of socioeconomic growth? What have been the major turning points in human history? What role do individuals play in shaping culture? Employing a scale and power approach, the text examines a representative sampling of the world’s major cultural areas and dominant civilizations, from Australian Aborigines, Amazonia, and East African pastoralists to Pacific Islanders, Mesopotamia, China, Hindu India, the British Empire, and the United States; these cultures are shown in depth, as adapting, integrated systems—and as part of regional, continental, and global systems. He concludes the text with a wide-ranging assessment of human problems in the contemporary commercial world, emphasizing inequality, poverty, environmental degradation, and sustainability. A complimentary instructor’s manual, test bank, and companion website are available to enhance teaching and learning. See “Resources” tab for additional information.
Author: Torben Monberg
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824811471
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 484
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Book Description
"Monberg's account of the Bellonese religion is descriptive ethnography at its best. It is rich in detail, and the organization of the material gives a coherent view of Bellonese culture and society. While not a comparative study in itself, it provides an abundance of data that will be invaluable for other works that are more comparative in nature." -from the Editor's Note Pacific Islands Monograph Series No.9 Center for Pacific Islands Studies, UH
