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A multidisciplinary collaboration exploring the role of cultural knowledge in everyday language and understanding.
'Culture' and 'meaning' are central to anthropology, but anthropologists do not agree on what they are. Claudia Strauss and Naomi Quinn propose a new theory of cultural meaning, one that gives priority to the way people's experiences are internalized. Drawing on 'connectionist' or 'neural network' models as well as other psychological theories, they argue that cultural meanings are not fixed or limited to static groups, but neither are they constantly revised and contested. Their approach is illustrated by original research on understandings of marriage and ideas of success in the United States.
What Work Means goes beyond the stereotypes and captures the diverse ways Americans view work as a part of a good life. Dispelling the notion of Americans as mere workaholics, Claudia Strauss presents a more nuanced perspective. While some live to work, others prefer a diligent 9-to-5 work ethic that is conscientious but preserves time for other interests. Her participants often enjoyed their jobs without making work the focus of their life. These findings challenge laborist views of waged work as central to a good life as well as post-work theories that treat work solely as exploitative and soul-crushing. Drawing upon the evocative stories of unemployed Americans from a wide range of occupa...
Why do people do what they do? The authors attempt to show how shared cultural knowledge comes to motivate, or fail to motivate, individuals.
Silent Violence engages the harsh reality of malaria and its effects on marginalized communities in Tanzania. Vinay R. Kamat presents an ethnographic analysis of the shifting global discourses and practices surrounding malaria control and their impact on the people of Tanzania, especially mothers of children sickened by malaria. Malaria control, according to Kamat, has become increasingly medicalized, a trend that overemphasizes biomedical and pharmaceutical interventions while neglecting the social, political, and economic conditions he maintains are central to Africa’s malaria problem. Kamat offers recent findings on global health governance, neoliberal economic and health policies, and ...
An international cast of theologians come together in this volume to offer essays in tribute to the late Stanley J. Grenz, one of the leading theologians of his generation. Accordingly, the volume includes timely explorations in some of the most exciting areas in contemporary theology. It is only fitting that these very explorations revolve around the key motifs of Grenz's theology (Trinity, community, eschatology) and the key sources from which he drew for theology's construction (Scripture, tradition, culture). While engaging key features seen in Grenz's work, some of the essays here interact with Grenz's own writings, reflecting on his theological journey and his contributions to evangelical theology. In these ways, this volume highlights the kind of evangelical theology that so many have experienced in recent years and of which Stan Grenz was a leading proponent. Revisioning, Renewing, Rediscovering the Triune Center, then, makes a significant contribution to discussions in contemporary theology while itself setting out to honor the life and work of an eminent theologian who did so much for evangelical theology.
This Companion provides the first definitive overview of psychocultural anthropology: a subject that focuses on cultural, psychological, and social interrelations across cultures. Brings together original essays by leading scholars in the field Offers an in-depth exploration of the concepts and topics that have emerged through contemporary ethnographic work and the processes of global change Key issues range from studies of consciousness and time, emotion, cognition, dreaming, and memory, to the lingering effects of racism and ethnocentrism, violence, identity and subjectivity
Psychological Anthropology: A Reader in Self in Culture presents a selection of readings from recent and classical literature with a rich diversity of insights into the individual and society. Presents the latest psychological research from a variety of global cultures Sheds new light on historical continuities in psychological anthropology Explores the cultural relativity of emotional experience and moral concepts among diverse peoples, the Freudian influence and recent psychoanalytic trends in anthropology Addresses childhood and the acquisition of culture, an ethnographic focus on the self as portrayed in ritual and healing, and how psychological anthropology illuminates social change
Cultural Shaping of Violence proposes that violence cannot be described, let alone understond or addressed, unless tied to the cultural settings that influence it. This volume documents violence in 22 distinct cultural settings in 17 nation-states on five continents. Internal to each society, a number of sites of violence may thrive, from the domestic sphere to social institutions and political arenas. In whatever site or guise, violence reverberates throughout the social fabric and beyond.