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This major expression of one of the leaders of the Chicago School, one of the most important schools of thought in contemporary American sociology, includes his recognized masterpieces of sociological research and writing. Hughes pioneered studies in a variety of sociological subjects: social institutions, racial interaction, work and occupations, and research methodology. Cumulatively, these essays show the obvious magnitude and scope of thought of one of the century's most distinguished scholars.In their introduction to this edition, Riesman and Becker provide a biographical background to Hughes' writing, describing his pervading influence on the field of sociology and on younger sociologists through his teaching, fieldwork, work in professional associations, and personality. The essays are grouped into four sections: the relationship of social institutions to changes in their surroundings and to the personalities and careers of persons; problems of multi-ethnic societies; the development of occupations, the monopoly license of professions, the determination of public policy about a line of work, and the relations between work and social role; and social observation and analysis.
South Africa in World History is the first survey of South African history to range from prehistory to the present, the first to fully integrate social history and women's history, and the first to emphasize connections between the United States and South Africa. Written by Iris Berger, a recognized authority on South Africa and a past president of the African Studies Association, this marvelous history ranges from the first Stone Age foragers and Iron Age farmers to the coming of the Dutch settlers and the introduction of slavery, the British conquest in the early nineteenth century, the discovery of gold and diamonds, the rise of Afrikaner Nationalism, the coming of apartheid, the Soweto U...
Focusing on South Africa during the period 1650–2000, this book examines the role of law in making democracy work in changing societies. The Legacies of Law sheds light on the neglected relationship between path dependence and the law. Meierhenrich argues that legal norms and institutions, even illiberal ones, have an important - and hitherto undertheorized - structuring effect on democratic outcomes. Under certain conditions, law appears to reduce uncertainty in democratization by invoking common cultural backgrounds and experiences. In instances where interacting adversaries share qua law reasonably convergent mental models, transitions from authoritarian rule are shown to be less intractable. Meierhenrich's historical analysis of the evolution of law - and its effects - in South Africa during the period 1650–2000, compared with a short study of Chile from 1830–1990, shows how, and when, legal norms and institutions serve as historical causes to both liberal and illiberal rule.
Pentecostal scholars from four continents here offer constructive theological proposals focusing on the role of the Holy Spirit in diverse cultural and religious contexts. Typical Pentecostal topics Spirit-baptism, healing, and other charisms are interwoven with such themes as post-colonialism, religious plurality, racial diversity, and cultural heritage.
Tracing the rise of Christianity to its key role in Europe's maritime and colonial expansion, this text sheds light on the ways in which societies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have been drawn into the Christian orbit.
"Witchcraft" and exorcism have long been dominant features of life in African cultures. This unique book provides a thorough, field research-based description and analysis of a specifically Pentecostal Christian response to these phenomena within the Akan culture of Ghana. Anthropological studies generally claim that the ultimate goal of exorcism is modernisation. Using interdisciplinary studies with a theological focus, the author takes a different view, arguing that it is divinatory consultation or an inquiry into the sacred and the search for meaning that underlies the current "deliverance" ministry, where the focus is to identify and break down the so-called demonic forces by the power o...
This volume addresses the key features of new religions, such as Scientology, the Moonies and Jihadist movements, from a systematic, comparative perspective.
Within recent decades Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity has moved from an initially peripheral position to become a force to be reckoned with within Africa’s religious landscape. Bringing together prominent Africanist scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this book offers a comprehensive and multifaceted treatment of the ways in which Pentecostal-Charismatic movements have shaped the orientations of African Christianity and extended their influence into other spheres of post-colonial societies such as politics, developmental work and popular entertainment. Among other things, the chapters of the book show how Pentecostal/charismatic Christianity responds to social and cultural concerns of Africans, and how its growth and increasingly assertive presence in public life have facilitated new kinds of social positioning and claims to political power.
This volume presents important essays inspired by the pioneering works of three leading women anthropologists. The title may therefore be read in more than one way. The three biographical essays in this volume as well as the comprehensive bibliographies of these anthropologists' works fully confirm the high esteem in which their remarkable personalities are held to this day and offer material about them not formerly available. The book includes important discussions by distinguished social anthropologists, based on rich ethnographic data, of the many identities, personhoods, powers, and other various categorizations of women, each author handling her material and analyses in her own distinctive way. Of particular value is Shirley Ardener's perceptive introductory essay which places the volume in the wider context of some areas of major concern to social scientists, such as the construction of identities, kinship theory, and the production of knowledge itself, as well as of the particularities of women in diverse cultures.
The unprecedented resurgence, renewal, and rebirth of twenty-first century Christianity in postcolonial societies, such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America, calls for new insights, methodologies, and paradigms since the West can no longer be regarded as the sole citadel and cradle of the Christian faith. The Christian message has been reshaped and reappropriated in different contexts and cultures and, through this cross-cultural transmission and transformation, it has become a world religion. Contextualizing the Christian faith also entails decolonizing its theology, precepts, and dogma. These efforts continue to engender new initiatives and efforts in the intercultural, interconfessional, intercontinental, and interreligious dimensions of world Christianity. A New Day is a collection of essays in honor of Lamin Sanneh, one of the most adamant advocates and apostles of the radical change in the face of Christianity in the twenty-first century. The essays in this book by recognized scholars deal with issues, themes, and perspectives that are important for understanding Christianity as a world religious movement.