This ground-breaking study sets out a new understanding of transformations in the interaction between religion and political authority throughout history.
A traveller through the length and breadth of England is soon aware of cultural differences, some of which are clearly visible in the landscape. The eminent English historian Charles Phythian-Adams has put forth that England, through much of the last millennium, could be divided into regional societies, which broadly coincided with groups of pre-1974 counties. These shire assemblages in turn lay largely within the major river drainage systems of the country. In this unusual study Alan Fox tests for, and establishes, the presence of an informal frontier between two of the proposed societies astride the Leicestershire-Lincolnshire border, which lies on the watershed between the Trent and Witham drainage basins. The evidence presented suggests a strong case for a cultural frontier zone, which is announced by a largely empty landscape astride the border between the contrasting settlement patterns of these neighbouring counties.
The highlanders of New Guinea are renowned for their elaborate systems of ceremonial exchange. Although much has been written about them, previous accounts have concentrated far less on the conduct of exchange events than on the structure of exchange systems. This 1991 book deals centrally with the conduct of particular exchange events, and shows through examination of them how larger social structures are reproduced and transformed. As part of the emphasis on exchange as social action, the book closely examines the oratory that plays a crucial part in the events. Basing their study on original fieldwork carried out in the Nebilyer Valley, Francesca Merlan and Alan Rumsey focus on an inter related set of large-scale compensation payments which arose out of an episode of warfare. This book furthers our understanding of the interaction between social structures and historical events; and particularly of the crucial role of talk. It will be of special interest to anthropologists and linguists.
The study of human origins is one of the most fascinating branches of anthropology. Yet it has rarely been considered by social or cultural anthropologists, who represent the largest subfield of the discipline. In this powerful study Alan Barnard aims to bridge this gap. Barnard argues that social anthropological theory has much to contribute to our understanding of human evolution, including changes in technology, subsistence and exchange, family and kinship, as well as to the study of language, art, ritual and belief. This book places social anthropology in the context of a widely-conceived constellation of anthropological sciences. It incorporates recent findings in many fields, including primate studies, archaeology, linguistics and human genetics. In clear, accessible style Barnard addresses the fundamental questions surrounding the evolution of human society and the prehistory of culture, suggesting a new direction for social anthropology that will open up debate across the discipline as a whole.
There are very few inside accounts of academic departments, their history and ethnography. The Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge constitutes an appropriate case study to fill this gap. Having emerged from the work of figures such as Maine, Robertson Smith, Rivers and Haddon through to more recent international scholars such as Fortes, Leach, Goody, Gellner and Strathern, it is one of the oldest and most distinguished departments in the social sciences. It has trained many of the leading anthropologists working today, and many of its students are established in important positions around the world. It has added enormously to our understanding of the wider world through research in all continents and regions. Based on thirty-five years of participant-observation fieldwork in the Department from 1975-2009, as Lecturer, Reader and Professor, Alan Macfarlane gives a brief history and reflects on life in the department, including the physical space, clothing, conversation, meetings and micro-politics. He also describes some of the changes over fifty years of post-colonial adaptation. This small book is part of the celebration for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology held in Cambridge in February 2015.
Describing the scientific and commercial applications of microbial recombinant DNA technology, this outstanding, single-source reference offers state-of-the-art reviews of gene expression in the most important classes of recombinant microorganisms-providing numerous examples of the expression of homologous genes or heterologous gene products. Presents a unique collection of safety and regulatory considerations from around the world and addresses specific measures to be taken for large-scale industrial operations!
This much needed textbook examines the multiple dimensions to corporate responsibility. It creates a framework that presents a historical and interdisciplinary overview of the field; a summary of different management approaches; and a review of the key actors and trends worldwide. The authors take a critical perspective and successfully provide a balance between theory and practice. They offer comprehensive coverage of the subject, combining an insightful, interdisciplinary, approach with the pedagogy and support sought after by students. An Online Resource Centre accompanies the text, comprising weblinks, new legislation, further reading, email listservs and links to courses for students, and case studies and essay questions for lecturers.
Why the world needs less AI and better programming languages. Decades ago, we believed that robots and computers would take over all the boring jobs and drudgery, leaving humans to a life of leisure. This hasn’t happened. Instead, humans are still doing boring jobs, and even worse, AI researchers have built technology that is creative, self-aware, and emotional—doing the tasks humans were supposed to enjoy. How did we get here? In Moral Codes, Alan Blackwell argues that there is a fundamental flaw in the research agenda of AI. What humanity needs, Blackwell argues, is better ways to tell computers what we want them to do, with new and better programming languages: More Open Representations, Access to Learning, and Control Over Digital Expression, in other words, MORAL CODE. Blackwell draws on his deep experiences as a programming language designer—which he has been doing since 1983—to unpack fundamental principles of interaction design and explain their technical relationship to ideas of creativity and fairness. Taking aim at software that constrains our conversations with strict word counts or infantilizes human interaction with likes and emojis, Blackwell shows how to design software that is better—not more efficient or more profitable, but better for society and better for all people. Covering recent research and the latest smart tools, Blackwell offers rich design principles for a better kind of software—and a better kind of world.
This Encyclopedia provides description and analysis of the terms, concepts and issues of social and cultural anthropology. International in authorship and coverage, this accessible work is fully indexed and cross-referenced.
This textbook examines the multiple dimensions to corporate responsibility, creating a framework that presents a historical and interdisciplinary overview of the field, a summary of different management approaches and a review of the key actors and trends worldwide.
Recent years have seen a growing emphasis upon the need for universities to contribute to the economic, social and environmental well-being of the regions in which they are situated, and for closer links between the university and the region. This book brings together a cross-disciplinary and cross-national team of experts to consider the reasons for, and the implications of, the new relationship between universities and territorial development. Examining the complex interactions between the 'inner life' of the university and its external environment, it poses the question: 'Can the modern university manage the governance and balancing of these, sometimes conflicting, demands'? Against a backdrop of ongoing processes of globalization, there is growing recognition of the importance of sub-national development strategies - processes of regionalization, governmental decentralization and sub-national mobilization, that provide a context for universities to become powerful partners in the process of managing sub-national economic, social and environmental change. Allied to this, the continued evolution of the knowledge economy has freed up location decisions within knowledge-intensive industries, while paradoxically innovation in the production of goods and services has become still more 'tied' to locations that can nurture the human and intellectual capital upon which those industries rely. Thus cities and regions in which higher education services are concentrated have, or are thought to have, a competitive advantage. With universities facing ever increasing pressures of commercialization, which deepen the engagement between universities and external stakeholders, including those based in their localities, the tension between the university's academic (basic research and teaching) mission and external demands has never been greater. This book provides a long overdue analysis, bringing all the competing issues together, synthesizing the key conceptual debates and analyzing the way in which they have been experienced in different local, regional and national contexts and with what effects.
In this book, the ownership, distribution and sale of patent medicines across Georgian England are explored for the first time, transforming our understanding of healthcare provision and the use of the printed word in that era. Patent medicines constituted a national industry which was largely popular, reputable and stable, not the visible manifestation of dishonest quackery as described later by doctors and many historians. Much of the distribution, promotion and sale of patent medicines was centrally controlled with directed advertising, specialisation, fixed prices and national procedures, and for the first time we can see the detailed working of a national market for a class of Georgian consumer goods. Furthermore, contemporaries were aware that changes in the consumers’ ‘imagination’ increased the benefits of patent medicines above the effects of their pharmaceutical components. As the imagination was altered by the printed word, print can be considered as an essential ingredient of patent medicines. This book will challenge the assumptions of all those interested in the medical, business or print history of the period.
This book focuses upon the debate about quantitative and qualitative research which took root in the 1960s, although many of the central themes go back centuries. The basic terms of the debate have been felt in many of the disciplines which make up the social sciences, especially sociology, social psychology, education research, organization studies, and evaluation research.
Historical Ethnography and Peasant Societies: McKim Marriott, James Scott and Maurice Bloch is a collection of interviews that is being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by a leading British social anthropologist and historian, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are a part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions cut across various disciplines, from the social sciences and the sciences to the performing and visual arts. The current volume is on three of the world’s most eminent sociologists and anthropologists – McKim Marriott, James Scott and Maurice Bloch. These interviews extend the disciplines of sociology and anthropology, moving on from when fieldwork was somewhat limited to the concentration of a civilization or community’s past, and how it fits within the historical context of the discipline. Since then, it has expanded to one where peasant cultures and communities have become the focal point of study. McKim Marriott, James Scott and Maurice Bloch talk about both overcoming and understanding the importance of fieldwork—considering linguistic, historical, economic and cultural elements in the study of these societies through their engaging conversations and occasional anecdotes. Immensely riveting as conversations, this collection gives a flavour of the many different societies and cultures in far-flung reaches of the world encompassing several continents, often with no knowledge of each other’s existence, and of how expansive the disciple of sociology and social anthropology is. The book will be of enormous value not just to those interested in the subject of Sociology, Social Anthropology and Ethnography, but also to those with an avid interest in History, Culture Studies as well as those with a general interest in learning about other societies. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan).
Neoliberalism has been one of the most hotly contested themes in academic and political debate over the last 30 years. Given the global and persistent influence of neoliberal ideas on contemporary styles of governance, social-service provision, and public policy, this intensive interest is understandable. At the same time, the use of the term has become loose, vague, and over-extended, particularly in the extensive critical literature. Rather than engage in further critique, or in the reconstruction of the history of neoliberalism, this volume seeks to bring analytical clarity to the ongoing debate. Drawing inspiration from the work of the Hungarian economic historian, Karl Polanyi, Remaking Market Society combines critique, original formulations, and case studies to form an analytical framework that identifies the key instruments of neoliberal governance. These include privatization, marketization, and liberalization. The case studies examine the development of neoliberal instruments (reform of the British civil service); their refinement (reform of higher education in England and Wales); and their dissemination across national borders (EU integration policies). Rather than look back nostalgically on the post-war welfare-state settlement, in the final chapter the authors ask why the coalitions that supported that settlement broke down in the face of the neoliberal reform movement. This highly original work offers a distinctive transdisciplinary approach to political economy, and therefore is an important read for students and academics who are interested in political economy as well as social theory and political philosophy.
Alan Prout discusses the place of children and childhood in the late modernity. He argues that there appears to be a greater cultural confusion about the form that childhood should take.
In the past twenty years, there have been exciting new developments in the field of anthropology. This second edition of Barnard's classic textbook on the history and theory of anthropology has been revised and expanded to include up-to-date coverage on all the most important topics in the field. Its coverage ranges from traditional topics like the beginnings of the subject, evolutionism, functionalism, structuralism, and Marxism, to ideas about globalization, post-colonialism, and notions of 'race' and of being 'indigenous'. There are several new chapters, along with an extensive glossary, index, dates of birth and death, and award-winning diagrams. Although anthropology is often dominated by trends in Europe and North America, this edition makes plain the contributions of trendsetters in the rest of the world too. With its comprehensive yet clear coverage of concepts, this is essential reading for a new generation of anthropology students.
For ninety per cent of our history, humans have lived as 'hunters and gatherers', and for most of this time, as talking individuals. No direct evidence for the origin and evolution of language exists; we do not even know if early humans had language, either spoken or signed. Taking an anthropological perspective, Alan Barnard acknowledges this difficulty and argues that we can nevertheless infer a great deal about our linguistic past from what is around us in the present. Hunter-gatherers still inhabit much of the world, and in sufficient number to enable us to study the ways in which they speak, the many languages they use, and what they use them for. Barnard investigates the lives of hunter-gatherers by understanding them in their own terms, to create a book which will be welcomed by all those interested in the evolution of language.
While many books explore the possibilities for developing inclusive practices in schools, and ‘inclusion’ is widely regarded as a desirable goal, much of the literature on the subject has been narrowly concerned with the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. This book however, takes the view that marginalisation, exclusion and underachievement take many forms and affect many different kinds of child. As such, a definition of inclusion should also touch upon issues of equity, participation, community, entitlement, compassion, respect for diversity and sustainability. Here the highly regarded authors focus on: barriers to participation and learning experienced by pupils the practices that can overcome these barriers the extent to which such practices facilitate improved learning outcomes how such practices can be encouraged and sustained within schools and LEAs. The book is part of the Improving Learning series, published in partnership with the Teaching and Learning Research Project.
The rapid advancement of genetic science, fuelled by the Human Genome Project and other related initiatives, promises a new kind of public health practice based on the pre-detection of disease according to calculations of genetic risk. This book by two well-known sociologists: * explores the implications of the new genetics for public health as a body of knowledge and a domain of practice * assesses the impact of new genetic information and technologies on conceptions of health, illness, embodiment, self and citizenship * critically examines the complex discourses surrounding human genetics and public health. The New Genetics and The Public's Health addresses the emerging social and political consequences of the new genetics and provides a stimulating critique of current research and practice in public health.
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