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An anthropologist uses spelling bees as a lens to examine the unique and diverse traits of Generation Z--and why they are destined for success At first glance, Generation Z (youth born after 1997) seems to be made up of anxious overachievers, hounded by Tiger Moms and constantly tracked on social media. One would think that competitors in the National Spelling Bee -- the most popular brain sport in America -- would be the worst off. Counterintuitively, anthropologist Shalini Shankar argues that, far from being simply overstressed and overscheduled, Gen Z spelling bee competitors are learning crucial twenty-first-century skills from their high-powered lives, displaying a sophisticated understanding of self-promotion, self-direction, and social mobility. Drawing on original ethnographic research, including interviews with participants, judges, and parents, Shankar examines the outsize impact of immigrant parents and explains why Gen Z kids are on a path to success.
Desi Land is Shalini Shankar’s lively ethnographic account of South Asian American teen culture during the Silicon Valley dot-com boom. Shankar focuses on how South Asian Americans, or “Desis,” define and manage what it means to be successful in a place brimming with the promise of technology. Between 1999 and 2001 Shankar spent many months “kickin’ it” with Desi teenagers at three Silicon Valley high schools, and she has since followed their lives and stories. The diverse high-school students who populate Desi Land are Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs, from South Asia and other locations; they include first- to fourth-generation immigrants whose parents’ careers vary fro...
Language and Materiality argues the importance of analyzing language use with an eye toward new materialisms, semiotics, and ideology.
In Advertising Diversity Shalini Shankar explores how racial and ethnic differences are created and commodified through advertisements, marketing, and public relations. Drawing from periods of fieldwork she conducted over four years at Asian American ad agencies in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, Shankar illustrates the day-to-day process of creating and producing broadcast and internet advertisements. She examines the adaptation of general market brand identities for Asian American audiences, the ways ad executives make Asian cultural and linguistic concepts accessible to their clients, and the differences between casting Asian Americans in ads for general and multicultural market...
This volume examines issues of language, identity, and culture among the rapidly growing Asian Pacific American (APA) population. It cover topics such as media representations of APAs, codeswitching and language crossing, and narratives of ethnic identity.
Ten absorbing studies present activist groups across the country--from transgender activists in New York City, to South Asian teenagers in Silicon Valley, to evangelical Christians and Palestinian Americans--and examines a social change effort as it unfolds on the ground. Through their anthropological approach these portraits of American society suggest the inherent possibilities in identity-based organizing and offer crucial in-depth perspectives on such hotly debated topics as multiculturalism and the culture wars, the environment, racism, public education, Native American rights, and the Christian right.
"Roberto E. Barriospresents an ethnographic study of the aftermaths of four natural disasters: southern Honduras after Hurricane Mitch; New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina; Chiapas, Mexico, after the Grijalva River landslide; and southern Illinois following the Mississippi River flood. Focusing on the role of affect, Barrios examines the ways in which people who live through disasters use emotions as a means of assessing the relevance of governmentally sanctioned recovery plans, judging the effectiveness of such programs, and reflecting on the risk of living in areas that have been deemed prone to disaster. Emotions such as terror, disgust, or sentimental attachment to place all shape th...
Shakuntala was the daughter of a nymph and a sage who abandoned her in the woods. Sage Kanva brought her up. King Dushyanta on a visit to the hermitage was struck with Shakuntala's beauty and they got married in a non-traditional ceremony. The king eventually returned back, leaving with Shakuntala a ring that carried his seal. After a when she came to live with the king, he did not remember anything about her and asked for proof of their being together. Shakuntala had lost the ring and could not produce any proof. So rejected by the king, she was carried away by her mother. The ring was one day found by a fisherman and produced before the king, this brought back his memory of Shakuntala and ...
"White supremacy has shaped cultural anthropology from its inception, yet the discipline also offers powerful tools for understanding how this corrosive force structures societies around the world. The Anthropology of White Supremacy explores how this phenomenon works around the globe and within anthropology itself. Gathering original essays from a diverse, international group of anthropologists, this collection illustrates that white supremacy, far from being only a fringe belief of white nationalists and fascists, is a core mainstream ideology. The book includes essays about many countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, and the United States, and takes u...
Anthropological Theory for the Twenty-First Century presents a critical approach to the study of anthropological theory for the next generation of aspiring anthropologists. Through a carefully curated selection of readings, this collection reflects the diversity of scholars who have long contributed to the development of anthropological theory, incorporating writings by scholars of color, non-Western scholars, and others whose contributions have historically been under-acknowledged. The volume puts writings from established canonical thinkers, such as Marx, Boas, and Foucault, into productive conversations with Du Bois, Ortiz, Medicine, Trouillot, Said, and many others. The editors also enga...