Berghahn Books: 740 books
Conceptualizing Iranian Anthropology
Past and Present Perspectives
Language: English
Release Date: January 1, 2010
During recent years, attempts have been made to move beyond the Eurocentric perspective that characterized the social sciences, especially anthropology, for over 150 years. A debate on the “anthropology of anthropology” was needed, one that would consider other forms of knowledge, modalities of...
Plants, Health and Healing
On the Interface of Ethnobotany and Medical Anthropology
Language: English
Release Date: September 1, 2010
Plants have cultural histories, as their applications change over time and with place. Some plant species have affected human cultures in profound ways, such as the stimulants tea and coffee from the Old World, or coca and quinine from South America. Even though medicinal plants have always attracted...
Pursuits of Happiness
Well-Being in Anthropological Perspective
Language: English
Release Date: December 1, 2008
Anthropology has long shied away from examining how human beings may lead happy and fulfilling lives. This book, however, shows that the ethnographic examination of well-being—defined as “the optimal state for an individual, a community, and a society”—and the comparison of well-being within...
Other People's Anthropologies
Ethnographic Practice on the Margins
Language: English
Release Date: March 1, 2008
Anthropological practice has been dominated by the so-called "great" traditions (Anglo-American, French, and German). However, processes of decolonization, along with critical interrogation of these dominant narratives, have led to greater visibility of what used to be seen as peripheral...
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Language: English
Release Date: July 1, 2009
Language: English
Release Date: July 1, 2009
While some scholars have said that there is no such thing as culture and have urged to abandon the concept altogether, the contributors to this volume overcome this impasse by understanding cultures and their representations for what they ultimately are – rhetorical constructs. These senior, international...
Going First Class?
New Approaches to Privileged Travel and Movement
Language: English
Release Date: May 1, 2007
People travel as never before. However, anthropological research has tended to focus primarily on either labor migration or on tourism. In contrast, this collection of essays explores a diversity of circumstances and impetuses towards contemporary mobility. It ranges from expatriates to peripatetic...
Indigeneity and the Sacred
Indigenous Revival and the Conservation of Sacred Natural Sites in the Americas
Language: English
Release Date: June 1, 2017
This book presents current research in the political ecology of indigenous revival and its role in nature conservation in critical areas in the Americas. An important contribution to evolving studies on conservation of sacred natural sites (SNS), the book elucidates the complexity of development scenarios...
Soup, Love, and a Helping Hand
Social Relations and Support in Guangzhou, China
Language: English
Release Date: February 21, 2018
Despite growing affluence, a large number of urban Chinese have problems making ends meet. Based on ethnographic research among several different types of communities in Guangzhou, China, Soup, Love and a Helping Hand examines different modes and ideologies of help/support, as well as the related...
Taking Sides
Ethics, Politics, and Fieldwork in Anthropology
Language: English
Release Date: September 1, 2008
Concerns with research ethics have intensified over recent years, in large part as a symptom of "audit cultures" (M. Strathern) but also as a serious matter of engagement with the ethical complexities in contemporary research fields. This volume, written by a new generation of scholars engaged...
Kinship and Beyond
The Genealogical Model Reconsidered
Language: English
Release Date: March 1, 2009
The genealogical model has a long-standing history in Western thought. The contributors to this volume consider the ways in which assumptions about the genealogical model—in particular, ideas concerning sequence, essence, and transmission—structure other modes of practice and knowledge-making...
Gardening the World
Agency, Identity and the Ownership of Water
Language: English
Release Date: August 1, 2009
Around the world, intensifying development and human demands for fresh water are placing unsustainable pressures on finite resources. Countries are waging war over transboundary rivers, and rural and urban communities are increasingly divided as irrigation demands compete with domestic desires. Marginal...
Living Before Dying
Imagining and Remembering Home
Language: English
Release Date: August 1, 2017
This in-depth description of life in a nursing/care home for 70 residents and 40 staff highlights the daily care of frail or ill residents between 80 and 100 years of age, including people suffering with dementia. How residents interact with care assistants is emphasised, as are the different behaviours...
Ethnographies of Conservation
Environmentalism and the Distribution of Privilege
Language: English
Release Date: February 1, 2003
Anthropologists know that conservation often disempowers already under-privileged groups, and that it also fails to protect environments. Through a series of ethnographic studies, this book argues that the real problem is not the disappearance of "pristine nature" or even the land-use practices...
World Heritage Craze in China
Universal Discourse, National Culture, and Local Memory
Language: English
Release Date: March 28, 2018
There is a World Heritage Craze in China. China claims to have the longest continuous civilization in the world and is seeking recognition from UNESCO. This book explores three dimensions of the UNESCO World Heritage initiative with particular relevance for China: the universal agenda, the national...