Kurzfassung: Within little more than ten years in the early nineteenth century, inhabitants of Tahiti, Hawaii and fifteen other closely related societies destroyed or desecrated all of their temples and most of their god-images. In the aftermath of the explosive event, which Sissons terms the Polynesian Iconoclasm, hundreds of architecturally innovative churches - one the size of two football fields - were constructed. At the same time, Christian leaders introduced oppressive laws and courts, which the youth resisted through seasonal displays of revelry and tattooing. Seeking an answer to why this event occurred in the way that it did, this book introduces and demonstrates an alternative "practice history" that draws on the work of Marshall Sahlins and employs Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, improvisation and practical logic.

Kurzfassung: Ibtissam Bouachrine's Women and Islam: Myths, Apologies, and the Limits of Feminist Critique calls for a shift away from the unproductive paradigm of "us" vs. the West that has informed discourse on Muslim women and feminism in the post-9/11 era. Bouachrine challenges and calls for further challenge to the long-celebrated myths and ideologies that have circulated in academic and non-academic circles about Muslim women and the role of feminism, both within and outside the Muslim world.

Kurzfassung: This collection explores the productive potential of uncertainty for people living in Africa as well as for scholars of Africa. The relevance of the focus on uncertainty in Africa is not only that contemporary life is objectively risky and unpredictable (since it is so everywhere and in every period), but that uncertainty has become a dominant trope in the subjective experience of life in contemporary African societies. The contributors investigate how uncertainty animates people's ways of knowing and being across the continent. An introduction and eight ethnographic studies examine uncertainty as a social resource that can be used to negotiate insecurity, conduct and create relationships, and act as a source for imagining the future. These in-depth accounts demonstrate that uncertainty does not exist as an autonomous, external condition. Rather, uncertainty is entwined with social relations and shapes people's relationship between the present and the future. By foregrounding uncertainty, this volume advances our understandings of the contingency of practice, both socially and temporally.

Kurzfassung: This book offers new insights on young women's situation in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Adopting a life course perspective Gebel and Heyne develop a general micro-macro theoretical framework for understanding the chances and barriers young women face in their most crucial life period, namely the transition to adulthood. Drawing on large-scale individual-level longitudinal data from Egypt, Iran, Jordan, and Syria, the authors describe the incidence, timing, and characteristics of central transitions in the education system, the transition from education to work and family formation. They find that there is no standard pathway to adulthood, yet rather a great variety of individual early life courses inducing a high level of social inequality among young women. The book identifies a set of individual-level, familial, and contextual factors that hinder or pave young women's way in the different life domains and shows strong interrelationships between early life course conditions and transitions.

Kurzfassung: This important new book provides a framework for complementarity between promoting and protecting human rights and combating corruption. The book makes three major points regarding the relationship between corruption and human rights law. First, corruption per se is a human rights violation, insofar as it interferes with the right of the people to dispose of their natural wealth and resources and thereby increases poverty and frustrates socio-economic development. Second, corruption leads to a multitude of human rights violations. Third, the book demonstrates that human rights mechanisms have the capacity to provide more effective remedies to victims of corruption than can other criminal and civil legal mechanisms. The book takes up one of the pervasive problems of governance--large-scale corruption--to examine its impact on human rights and the degree to which a human rights approach to confronting corruption can buttress the traditional criminal law response. It examines three major aspects of human rights in practice--the importance of governing structures in the implementation and enjoyment of human rights, the relationship between corruption, poverty and underdevelopment, and the threat that systemic poverty poses to the entire human rights edifice. The book is a very significant contribution to the literature on good governance, human rights and the rule of law in Africa. Endorsements "Kolawole Olaniyan has taken up one of the pervasive problems of governance - large-scale corruption - to examine its impact on human rights and the degree to which a human rights approach to confronting corruption can buttress the traditional criminal law response. His focus is Africa, but the valuable lessons he teaches in this comprehensive study can resonate throughout the world. The result is a comprehensive and holistic legal framework for addressing some of the root causes of human rights violations and poverty, not only in Africa, but wherever corruption exists." Dinah Shelton Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law (emeritus) The George Washington University Law School "This book demonstrates the author's mastery of complex jurisprudential and theoretical discourses. His review of the existing literature is extensive, the doctrinal analysis rigorous and the treatment of the subject innovative. Dr. Olaniyan's willingness to introduce fresh eyes to the ways in which doctrine contributes to an understanding of seemingly mundane problems lays the foundation for fertile trajectories from which future scholars can launch exciting inquiries on the relationship between corruption and human rights. Overall, this book makes an important and valuable contribution to the growth and understanding of the corruption/human rights discourse as it is presently constructed." Ndiva Kofele-Kale, University Distinguished Professor of Law, SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas, USA.Review: Kolawole Olaniyan has taken up one of the pervasive problems of governance, large-scale corruption, to examine its impact on human rights and the degree to which a human rights approach to confronting corruption can buttress the traditional criminal law response. His focus is Africa, but the valuable lessons he teaches in this comprehensive study can resonate throughout the world. The result is a comprehensive and holistic legal framework for addressing some of the root causes of human rights violations and poverty, not only in Africa, but wherever corruption exists. -- Dinah Shelton Manatt/Ahn Professor of Law (emeritus) The George Washington University Law School Kolawole Olaniyan, as a well known and respected human rights activist in the African human rights system, is well placed to write on this topic. The issue is contemporary and politically relevant and a book which focuses on the legal framework in the African continent is a very welcome addition to the literature and debate in this area. -- Professor Rachel Murray Director, Human Rights Implementation Centre University of Bristol This book demonstrates the author's mastery of complex jurisprudential and theoretical discourses. His review of the existing literature is extensive, the doctrinal analysis rigorous and the treatment of the subject innovative. Dr. Olaniyan's willingness to introduce fresh eyes to the ways in which doctrine contributes to an understanding of seemingly mundane problems lays the foundation for fertile trajectories from which future scholars can launch exciting inquiries on the relationship between corruption and human rights. Overall, this book makes an important and valuable contribution to the growth and understanding of the corruption/human rights discourse as it is presently constructed. -- Ndiva Kofele-Kale, University Distinguished Professor of Law, SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas, USA Kolawole Olaniyan, a leading African rights scholar-activist, has written a deeply penetrating and pioneering book on the causes and horrendous effects of corruption in Africa. The work couldn't come at a more timely period as Africa is poised to surge due to the enormous natural resources being discovered there. But dramatic prosperity, which is expected to lift the continent from underdevelopment, simply won't happen unless leaders heed Olaniyan's bold call to curb corruption, respect basic human rights, and create democratic government. -- Makau Mutua Dean & SUNY Distinguished Professor Floyd H. & Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar Dr. Kolawole Olaniyan has brought fresh thinking into an area often neglected or not emphasized particularly in developing countries. The book makes a meaningful contribution to the field and the literature on the intersection between corruption and the lack of realization of human rights, particularly socio-economic rights. I commend Dr. Olaniyan for his fine work. Academics, researchers, policy makers and activists will find the book very useful in their various work areas. -- Professor Vincent O. Nmehielle, Legal Counsel of the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Mr Kolawole Olaniyan, one of the leading African human rights activists and renowned scholars, in his well written and researched book on the effects of corruption on the peoples of Africa, has gone an extra mile in bringing this social cancer to the attention of African leaders and people. Mr Olaniyan has most effectively and brilliantly demonstrated the interface between corruption and the protections that are provided by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, a Treaty that protects and promotes human and peoples' rights in Africa. The book is a scholarly masterpiece, an instructive and timely resource which is a must read for everyone. -- H.E. Judge Sanji Monageng, 1st Vice-President Presidency International Criminal Court and former chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Corruption is a scourge of the world today, damaging human rights and deepening poverty and inequality. Kolawole Olaniyan has powerfully portrayed corruption as a violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. In this timely work, Olaniyan shows how the Charter can serve as a solid legal framework to complement the traditional but often less effective criminal law instrument against corruption. The book focuses on Africa but its legal analysis will resonate wherever corruption exists. This book is an important contribution to the corruption and human rights debate-- and hopefully should help create change. -- Salil Shetty, Amnesty International Secretary General

Kurzfassung: "What does it mean to work as an artist in Africa?In Making Art in Africa, 60 of the continent's leading artists and curators give very different answers to this question through a series of extraordinary first-hand commentaries. Focusing on a single artwork, each account considers a moment of art-making in Africa since 1960. Densely illustrated with paintings, sculptures, prints, installations, and archival images, these narratives draw on contemporary events, personal discoveries, and the networks such as Triangle Arts which haev brought artists together. The result is a compelling insight into the diversity of experiences and processes of art making on the continent during this period of radical social and political change."What does it mean to make art in Africa? In Making Art in Africa, 60 of the continent's leading artists give very different answers to this question through a series of extraordinary first-hand commentaries relating to specific works. The book includes accounts from key curators and co-ordinators, and primary images are considered in the context of contemporary events, personal discoveries, and the networks such as Triangle which have brought them together. Showcasing paintings, sculptures, prints and installations, Making Art in Africa marries the selected interviews and their associated images with archival and comparative illustrations. The result is an unparalleled insight into the artworks, experiences and processes of art making in Africa during a period of radical social change. Visually appealing with absorbing, accessible texts, Making Art in Africa provides a unique contribution to the literature available on this fascinating subject, and will be an essential purchase for scholars and general readers alike.

Kurzfassung: "Studies of breastfeeding have proliferated over the last decade. Breastfeeding is an intimate and deep-rooted bodily practice and yet also a highly controversial sociocultural process, invoking strong reactions from advocates and opponents. Whilst breastfeeding practices and experiences vary greatly in different parts of the world, reducing infant mortality is a pressing international goal for governments and societies. Representing cross-cultural concerns of researchers, policy-makers and mothers, this important book takes a rich ethnographic survey of breastfeeding all over the world. Breastfeeding is shown to highlight various links between gender, power and resources in culture. Each chapter covers a new topic and ethnic or national group, and major topical themes of research such as the rise of milk banks, mother-to-mother sharing networks facilitated by social media, breast milk and HIV are explored"--Breastfeeding is an intimate and deeply-rooted bodily practice, as well as a highly controversial sociocultural process which invokes strong reactions from advocates and opponents. Touching on a wide range of issues such as reproduction, sexuality, power and resources, and maternal and infant health, the controversies and cultural complexities underlying breastfeeding are immense. Ethnographies of Breastfeeding features the latest research on the topic. Some of the leading scholars in the field explore variations in breastfeeding practices from around the world. Based on empirical work in areas such as Brazil, West Africa, Darfur, Ireland, Italy, France, the UK and the US, they examine the cross-cultural challenges facing mothers feeding their infants. Reframing the traditional nature/culture debate, the book moves beyond existing approaches to consider themes such as surrogacy, the risk of milk banks, mother-to-mother sharing networks facilitated by social media, and the increasing bio-medicalization of breast milk, which is leading its transformation from process to product. A highly important contribution to global debates on breast milk and breastfeeding.

Kurzfassung: This thesis explores the social and political relations of an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Senegal. NGOs and international development have been the subject of research from a number of different perspectives, including the politics (and anti-politics) of development, post-development, structural violence and the `everyday lives` of NGO participants and workers (Ferguson 1990; Escobar 1995; Farmer 2004; Bornstein 2005; Hilhorst 2003). The present study builds on this scholarship through an ethnographic exploration of the networks of people involved with Tostan, an American NGO based in Senegal whose developmental objective is to engender social change among rural groups in Senegal (particularly those that practice female genital cutting), using a human rights education framework. Through identification and scrutiny of the organisation`s macro- and micro-level social relations, I critically examine how `development` operates as a cultural and political process. I focus analytically on conceptions of knowledge and ignorance, particularly the ways in which these constructions are acted upon and utilised by different actors within the organisation. I argue that, as an NGO (and thus a `moral actor,` Guilhot 2005: 6) within the contemporary donor-driven development industry, a key preoccupation for Tostan as an organisation is the management of perception, or a concern for the `spectacle of development` (Allen 2013). Flowing from this argument is the assertion that the activities carried out by actors at every level of the organisation to produce and re-produce particular narratives through strategic knowing and unknowing are as significant (if not more so) as the formal programmatic activities implemented by the organisation `on the ground.` As David Mosse argues, development involves not only social work, but also the conceptual work of `enrolment, persuasion, agreement and argument that lies behind the consensus and coherence necessary to sustain authoritative narratives and networks for the continued support of policy` (Mosse 2005: 34). As I argue here, NGO actors work to (re)produce, project and protect particular narratives, through the strategic exercise of knowledge and ignorance, in order to access or consolidate positions of power within the politics of aid. Drawing on critical theories of development and human rights (e.g. Sachs 1992; Escobar 1991, 1995; Guilhot 2005, inter alia), within a political context succinctly described by Ellen Foley (2010: 9) as `the neoliberalization of just about everything,` I explore how actors across the organisation are linked in a web of cultural and political presuppositions, values, and motivations.

Kurzfassung: Drawing on classical and contemporary social theory, Sociology of the Sacred presents a bold and original account of how interactions between religious and secular forms of the sacred underpin major conflicts in the world today, and illuminate broader patterns of social and cultural change inherent to global modernity. It demonstrates: * How the bodily capacities help religions adapt to social change but also facilitate their internal transformation * That the 'sacred' includes a diverse range of phenomena, with variable implications for questions of social order and change * How proponents of a 'post-secular' age have failed to grasp the ways in which sacralization can advance secularization * Why the sociology of the sacred needs to be a key part of attempts to make sense of the nature and directionality of social change in global modernity today. This book is key reading for the sociology of religion, the body and modern culture. Review: Mellor and Shilling cement their place at the pinnacle of the contemporary sociological theorisation of religion and the sacred. If sociological work is going to have any future it is to be found in the inspiration and excitement of this sophisticated and intelligent book. -- Professor Keith Tester This book is ambitious, refreshing and rewarding. It offers the best available analysis of the complex interlacing of the sacred, religion, secularization and embodied experience. It should be essential reading for all serious students of the sacred and religion in global modernity. -- James A. Beckford About time! Two key experts in the field remind us of the significance and power of religion as bio-political and bio-economic. By deploying a novel examination of affects of pain, eroticism, charisma and intoxication we are given a vital understanding of how religion shapes our lives and desires. -- Professor Beverley Skeggs This book constitutes a welcome addition to a continuing body of work by two distinguished theorists of religion. As ever Mellor and Shilling's analysis is based on wide reading, careful conceptualization and a very precise delineation of the questions to be addressed. As a result the notion of secularization is interrogated in new ways, which take into account both the continuing vitality of certain forms of religion and, even more importantly, the resurgent significance of imaginatively-constructed notions of the sacred. -- Grace Davie

Kurzfassung: The aftermath of recent Kenyan elections has been marred by violence and an apparent crisis in democratic governance, with the negotiated settlement resulting from the 2007 election bringing into sharp focus longstanding problems of state and society. The broader reform process has involved electoral, judicial and security-sector reforms, among others, which in turn revolve around constitutional reforms. Written by a gathering of eminent specialists, this highly original volume interrogates the roots and impact of the 2010 constitution. It explains why reforms were blocked in the past but were successful this time around, and explores the scope for their implementation in the face of continued resistance by powerful groups. In doing so, the book demonstrates that the Kenyan experience carries significance well past its borders, speaking to debates surrounding social justice and national cohesion across the African continent and beyond.

Kurzfassung: The Politics of Writing Islam provides a much-needed critique of existing forms of studying, writing and representing Islam in the West. Through critiquing ethnographic, literary, critical, psychoanalytic and theological discourses, the author reveals the problematic underlying cultural and theoretical presuppositions. Mutman demonstrates how their approach reflects the socially, politically and economically unequal relationship between the West and Islam. While offering a critical insight into concepts such as writing, power, post-colonialism, difference and otherness on a theoretical level, Mutman reveals a different perspective on Islam by emphasizing its living, everyday and embodied aspects in dynamic relation with the outside world - in contrast to the stereotyped authoritarian and backward religion characterized by an omnipotent God. Throughout, Mutman develops an approach to culture as an embodied, everyday, living and ever changing practice. He argues that Islam should be perceived precisely in this way, that is, as an open, heterogeneous, interpretive, multiple and worldly belief system within the Abrahamic tradition of ethical monotheism, and as one that is contested within as well as outside its 'own' culture. Review: In The Politics of Writing Islam, Mahmut Mutman has produced an admirably clear and finely argued account of the complex problems that arise whenever Islam is posited as an object of knowledge. In critical readings of exemplary works in a variety of fields, ranging from ethnography and travel writing to discussions of gender among Muslim intellectuals and novelists, Mutman explores how Islam typically stands in for something else: culture, nation, identity. With deft support from Jacques Derrida and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Mutman shows how the emergence of a new phase of 'political Islam' in the last four decades marks a crisis of legitimacy, no longer dominated by opposition to neo-colonialism and the West, but a struggle to frame a democratic politics within Islamic discourse. Gerald Maclean, Professor of English, University of Exeter, UK Whose Islam? When did Islam first become political? This exhilarating and rigorous book ranges from ethnography to literature to theology, hanging out with Pierre Bourdieu in Algeria, debating with Fethi Benslama, Saba Mahmoud, Mehdi Abedi and Michael M. J. Fischer, James Clifford, Alain Badiou, Assia Djebar, and Abdelkabir Khatibi, and shedding light on imperialism, colonialism, global capitalism, Islamic disputation, Sufism, and struggles for democracy from Istanbul to Cairo. Everyone should follow Mutman into the desert with the imperialist adventurer T. E. Lawrence, and Edward Said and Gilles Deleuze, and take to the road with the Sufi nomad Isabelle Eberhardt, who observes, 'I am quite aware this way of life is dangerous, but the moment of danger is also the moment of hope'. The Politics of Writing Islam is a triumph of the spirit of the Qur'an's Sura 30 Ayat 22, in which the very 'variations in your languages and your colours' beckon as revelatory signs against racism and authoritarian identity politics everywhere. Donna Landry, Professor of English, University of Kent, UK This book is an excellent analysis of the treatment of Muslim societies and Islam in contemporary social theory, literature, and travel writing. Reading a dazzling array of genres, Mahmut Mutman reveals the underlying thread of Orientalist preoccupations that saturates these writings from various Western disciplines. Challenging innovations in postmodern ethnography, Mutman skillfully deconstructs these to demonstrate how anthropology remains a key site for colonial conceptions of the Western subject. The Politics of Writing Islam is indispensable reading for scholars of 'political' Islam as well as those interested in understanding Western investments in their phantasies of Muslim peoples. Mutman's deep familiarity with critical theory secures his position as a leading cultural critic. Sunera Thobani, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada, and author of Exalted Subjects: Studies in the Making of Race and Nation in Canada The Politics of Writing Islam provides a much-needed critique of existing forms of studying, writing and representing Islam in the West ... While offering a critical insight into concepts such as writing, power, post-colonialism, difference and otherness on a theoretical level, Mutman reveals a different perspective on Islam by emphasizing its living, everyday and embodied aspects in dynamic relation with the outside world Critical Theory blog (voted #1 Critical Theory Book of 2014)

Kurzfassung: Exploring the connection between tourism and violence, this book draws on a range of disciplinary approaches, including social anthropology, cultural geography, sociology, and tourism studies. Ideas and concepts of violence have long been explored in the social sciences literature but in relation to tourism studies specifically the concept has rarely been problematised. Drawing on a range of case studies this book demonstrates the relationship between tourism and violence both in its overt physical form and in the social structures and symbolic landscapes that underpin touristic activity. Tourism and Violence offers a timely intervention in this field by bringing together, for the first time, work by scholars who, in their different ways, are engaging with the concept of violence within touristic settings and practices. This unique book paves the way for future research that will probe further the intersections between violence and tourism.

Kurzfassung: Art from Oceania, the region encompassing the islands of the central and south Pacific, spans hundreds of distinct artistic processes, formats, and mediums. Many people's exposure to Oceanic art comes through its influence on the work of European artists, and therefore Oceanic works themselves often remain difficult for Western viewers to interpret and comprehend. How to Read Oceanic Art, the third book in a series of guides to understanding different artistic genres, helps elucidate this subject through explanation of specific objects. The book analyzes the most illustrative Oceanic pieces from the Metropolitan Museum's collection--including lively painted masks, powerful figurines, and intricately carved wooden poles--which together represent the extraordinary diversity of artistic traditions in the region. Attractive photography and clear, engaging texts explain how and why various works were made as well as how they were used. This publication is an invaluable resource for art historical study, and also an important gateway to wider appreciation of Oceanic heritage and visual culture.

Kurzfassung: A fascinating insight into the Navajo tribe's spiritual relationship with carnivorous animals.

Kurzfassung: The Yoruba was one of the most important civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa. While the high quality and range of its artistic and material production have long been recognized, the art of the Yoruba has been judged primarily according to the standards and principles of Western aesthetics. In this book, which merges the methods of art history, archaeology, and anthropology, Rowland Abiodun offers new insights into Yoruba art and material culture by examining them within the context of the civilization's cultural norms and values and, above all, the Yoruba language. Abiodun draws on his fluency and prodigious knowledge of Yoruba culture and language to dramatically enrich our understanding of Yoruba civilization and its arts. The book includes a companion website with audio clips of the Yoruba language, helping the reader better grasp the integral connection between art and language in Yoruba culture.

Kurzfassung: Over the past two decades, the People`s Republic of China has become a new and attractive destination for migrants from all over the world, including Africa. The city of Guangzhou, with its long history of international trade, has attracted between 200,000 and 500,000 Africans, primarily to do business. A famous `African Street`, named Baohan Street, has emerged in Yuexiu District, one of the oldest districts of Guangzhou. The daily lives of Africans who make themselves at home in Baohan Street have been documented by the photographer Li Dong for over two years. Li Dong has been interested in the striking social and economic transformations in China`s recent history, and the emergence of migrant communities as the `new Guangzhou residents`. This catalogue presents a selection of his photographs and places them in context.Die Hintergründe von Migrationsentscheidungen bleiben in manchen Forschungsansätzen oft unerwähnt. Noch seltener wird analysiert, wie und warum Menschen migrieren, die scheinbar oder tatsächlich nicht den "typischen" Migrationsgruppen angehören. Dieser Artikel möchte zeigen, welche Erfahrungen finnische Migrantinnen mit ihrer Übersiedlung nach Deutschland machten und wie sich ihr Leben in Deutschland bis heute darstellt. Die Informantinnen berichten dabei von Identitätsproblemen, einer nach wie vor engen Verbindung nach Finnland und dem für sie seltsamen Gefühl, nicht als Ausländerinnen wahrgenommen zu werden, es aber de facto zu sein und dies bisweilen auch zu fühlen.

Kurzfassung: "How do government arrangements emerge? When and how does individual agency turn into collective agency? How do sensory experiences of violence, instability, etc affect the configuration of governance arrangements? When, why, and how are governance

Kurzfassung: Die globale Wasserkrise hat sich in den letzten Jahren dramatisch verschärft: Dürreperioden, Verschmutzung und gigantomanische Eingriffe in die Natur drohen die Migration ganzer Bevölkerungsgruppen hervorzurufen. Doch noch ist Zeit, eine Tragödie abzuwenden.In "Blaue Zukunft" entwickelt die international bekannte Autorin und Wasseraktivistin Maude Barlow Lösungsvorschläge und erläutert an einer Fülle konkreter Beispiele, wie das Menschenrecht auf den Zugang zu Wasser international durchgesetzt wurde - und welche 'global players' seine Realisierung weiter verhindern wollen. warum Wasser keine Ware wie jede andere sein darf, die auf offenen Märkten gehandelt wird wie wir Quellen und Aquifere schützen können und warum wir unsere Gesetze denen der Natur anpassen müssen, wenn wir überleben wollen, und wie die Machtkonzentration in den Händen der Agrar- und Wassermultis aufgebrochen werden kann."Stellen wir Wasser ins Zentrum unseres Lebens": In ihrem ebenso leidenschaftlichen wie informativen Buch zeigt Maude Barlow, warum der Umgang mit dem 'blauen Gold' uns alle angeht, und weist Wege zu einer gerechten und nachhaltigen Wirtschaft, die allein Kriege um die letzten Wasserreserven verhindern wird.

Kurzfassung: Focusing on the experience of ordinary men, women, and children from Iran and Afghanistan in the east to Morocco in the west, this anthology vividly conveys a 'grassroots' sense of Middle East culture and society today. The anthology locates Islam as a major influence in everyday life; however, it also demonstrates that other factors such as work patterns and community and gender relations are of great importance in shaping individuals' lives, beliefs, and hopes. Including essays, short stories, poetry, and photographs by Middle Eastern and Western scholars and writers with extensive first-hand experience, this interdisciplinary volume is organized around five themes: generations and life passages; gender relations; home, community, and work; popular expression of religion; and performance and entertainment. A sampling of the thirty-four selections includes "Traditional Songs from Boir Ahmad", "Growing Up in Morocco", "Arranged Marriage in Afghanistan", "Women and Sex", "The Veiled Revolution", "Rites of Hospitality and Aesthetics", "Editing al-Fajr: A Palestinian Newspaper in Jerusalem", "Suqs of the Middle East", "Selections from the Quran", "Girl on the Hajj", "Entertainment in the Marketplace", and "A Folk Revival in Morocco". A long-awaited and much-needed resource for courses in multicultural, Third World, and Middle Eastern studies.

Kurzfassung: This book comprehensively examines the practice of female genital mutilation and proposes new intervention programs and community-based initiatives that protect the rights of children and women who live with the serious risks and long-term consequences of the practice

Kurzfassung: How and where did returning Nuer refugees make their 'homes' in southern Sudan? How were gender relations and identity redefined as a result of war, displacement and return to post-war communities? And how were those displaced able to recreate a sense of home, community and nation? During the civil wars in southern Sudan (1983-2005) many of the displaced Sudanese, including many Nuer, were in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. In the aftermath of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, they repatriated to southern Sudan. Faced with finding long-lost relatives and local expectations of 'proper behaviour', they often felt displaced again. This book follows the lives of a group of Nuer in the Greater Upper Nile region. The narratives of those displaced and those who stayed behind reveal the complexity of social change, in particular, the crucial yet relatively unconsidered transformation of gender and generational relations, and how this has impacted on state formation in what is now South Sudan. (Palgrave: 2008)

Kurzfassung: Der diesjährige Frobenius-Preis geht an Philipp Zehmisch, der Anfang 2015 mit seiner Dissertation "Mini-India - The Politics of Migration and Subalternity in the Andaman Islands" promovierte. Mit dem Forschungsförderungspreis der Frobenius-Gesellschaft wird jährlich eine herausragende ethnologische Dissertation ausgezeichne. In seiner Arbeit, die aus einem DFG-Projekt von Prof. Dr. Frank Heidemann hervorging und von ihm betreut wurde, untersucht er die politischen, sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Auswirkungen der Migration auf die Inselgruppe der Andamanen im Indischen Ozean, deren Bevölkerung überwiegend auf unterprivilegierte Gruppen des Subkontinents - Dalits, Angehörige "unterer" Kasten oder "Stämme", oder Menschen, die während der Kolonialzeit aus politischen oder strafrechtlichen Gründen in die Gefangenenkolonien der Inseln verbracht wurden - zurückgeht. Im Zentrum steht die Frage nach der Beziehung zwischen den "Subalternen" der Andamenen und dem indischen Staat.

Kurzfassung: Imagine watching an action film in a small-town cinema hall in Bangladesh, and in between the gun battles and fistfights a short pornographic clip appears. This is known as a cut-piece, a strip of locally made celluloid pornography surreptitiously spliced into the reels of action films in Bangladesh. Exploring the shadowy world of these clips and their place in South Asian film culture, Lotte Hoek builds a rare, detailed portrait of the production, consumption, and cinematic pleasures of stray celluloid. Hoek's innovative ethnography plots the making and reception of Mintu the Murderer (2005, pseud.), a popular, Bangladeshi B-quality action movie and fascinating embodiment of the cut-piece phenomenon. She begins with the early scriptwriting phase and concludes with multiple screenings in remote Bangladeshi cinema halls, following the cut-pieces as they appear and disappear from the film, destabilizing its form, generating controversy, and titillating audiences. Hoek's work shines an unusual light on Bangladesh's state-owned film industry and popular practices of the obscene. She also reframes conceptual approaches to South Asian cinema and film culture, drawing on media anthropology to decode the cultural contradictions of Bangladesh since the 1990s.

Kurzfassung: "The First Nations of British Columbia" provides an up-to-date, concise, and accessible overview of First Nations' peoples, cultures, and issues in British Columbia. Robert Muckle surveys the history, diversity, and complexity of First Nations from an anthropological perspective, incorporating archaeological, ethnographic, historic, and legal-political issues. Muckle begins by describing today's First Nations, including information on populations, settlements, territories, bands, and other affiliations. The following sections focus on prehistory, traditional lifeways and cultural change over the past few hundred years, as well as the impact of the fur trade, gold rushes, European and American settlement and government, missionaries, and residential schools. Current issues regarding aboriginal rights and the treaty negotiation process are also discussed. This new edition contains current information on plant management, wage labour, the Nisga'a Agreement, and the discovery of Kwaday Dan Sinchi - the 600-year-old remains of a man found frozen in northwestern BC. The appendices, readings, and all names, data, and spellings have been updated. "The First Nations of British Columbia" is an indispensable resource for teachers and students, and an excellent introduction for anyone interested in BC's First Nations.

Kurzfassung: The Day of the Dead is the most important annual celebration in Oaxaca, Mexico. Skillfully combining textual information and photographic imagery, this book begins with a discussion of the people of Oaxaca, their way of life, and their way of looking at the world. It then takes the reader through the celebration from the preparations that can begin months in advance through to the private gatherings in homes and finally to the cemetery where the villagers celebrate together -- both the living and the dead. The voices in the book are of those people who have participated in the Day of the Dead for as long as they can remember. There are no ghosts here. Only the souls of loved ones who have gone to the Village of the Dead and who are allowed to return once a year to be with their family. Very readable and beautifully illustrated, this book provides an extensive discussion of the people of Oaxaca, their way of life and their beliefs, which make the Day of the Dead logical and easily comprehensible.

Kurzfassung: "This book explores the relationship between Africa, the West and China. It notes that while Africa is a continent of diverse cultures, raw materials, human resource, indigenous knowledges, and above all the biggest recipient of foreign aid globally, it continues to lag behind all regions of the world in terms of socio-economic development. The book grapples with the important question on why this has been the case. It provides crucial critical insights on how Africa's situation could be reversed and the tapestry of its socio-economic problems eased. The book draws a link between culture, globalisation and socio-economic development, breaking new grounds in the discourse on development in post-colonial Africa. This is an incisive clarion call to bypass the outlandish claims and sterile discussions on the parodying of Africa by Euro-centric scholars. It is a contribution on the imperative to re-think the future of development in Africa. It makes a compelling argument by self-reliant development processes in which Africans reclaim their voice, independence and autonomy unapologetically. The book provides some grist for the mills of policy makers, institutional planners, practitioners and students of anthropology, political studies, sociology, economic history, local governance, cultural economics, and gender, development, African, heritage and international studies"--Provided by publisher.

Kurzfassung: In the public political debate the existence of an African civil society is usually taken for granted. The great number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is regarded as evidence. While the first civil society organizations emerged during colonial times, the growing number of NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) today is mainly a result of the high level of support given to these organizations in global development politics since the 1980s. Other types of organization, such as trade unions, also emerged with the support of their globally acting partners. Nevertheless these organizations form the nucleus of an African civil society, with varying degrees of relevance and influence in different African countries. Aside from the organizations that match European patterns, there is a realm of societal self-organization which cannot be captured adequately with the concept of civil society. This includes local forms of political organization such as chiefs, councils of elders, local defence units, militia groups, militant social movements, or violence entrepreneurs, which are part of newly negotiated political arrangements. They are not simply relics of former traditions but local responses to globalized modernity. The concept of civil society with its strict normative standards is too narrow to cover all these complex African socio-political structures.

Kurzfassung: "This passionate, well-researched book makes a compelling case for a paradigm shift in conservation practice. It explores new policies and practices, which offer alternatives to exclusionary, uninhabited national parks and wilderness areas and make possible new kinds of protected areas that recognize Indigenous peoples' rights and benefit from their knowledge and conservation contributions" -- A vast number of national parks and protected areas throughout the world have been established in the customary territories of Indigenous peoples. In many cases these conservation areas have displaced Indigenous peoples, undermining their cultures, livelihoods, and self-governance, while squandering opportunities to benefit from their knowledge, values, and practices. This book makes the case for a paradigm shift in conservation from exclusionary, uninhabited national parks and wilderness areas to new kinds of protected areas that recognize Indigenous peoples' conservation contributions and rights. It documents the beginnings of such a paradigm shift and issues a clarion call for transforming conservation in ways that could enhance the effectiveness of protected areas and benefit Indigenous peoples in and near tens of thousands of protected areas worldwide. Indigenous Peoples, National Parks, and Protected Areas integrates wide-ranging, multidisciplinary intellectual perspectives with detailed analyses of new kinds of protected areas in diverse parts of the world. Eleven geographers and anthropologists contribute nine substantive fieldwork-based case studies. Their contributions offer insights into experience with new conservation approaches in an array of countries, including Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, South Africa, and the United States. This book breaks new ground with its in-depth exploration of changes in conservation policies and practices--and their profound ramifications for Indigenous peoples, protected areas, and social reconciliation.