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“More compelling than Clifford Geertz’ The Religion of Java”

Published on October 18, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, Asia, books, religion cosmology

Danny Yee reviews Varieties of Javanese Religion: An Anthropological Account by Andrew Beatty and finds this book “in many ways more compelling” than Clifford Geertz’ The Religion of Java. Beattys book is based on fieldwork carried out in an Osing village near Banyuwangi, in East Java. “Even those without a specific interest in Java may find in Varieties of Javanese Religion a novel perspective on religious pluralism and the coexistence of diverse forms of religion”, Danny Yee writes

Danny Yee reviews Varieties of Javanese Religion: An Anthropological Account by Andrew Beatty and finds this book "in many ways more compelling" than Clifford Geertz' The Religion of Java. Beattys book is based on fieldwork carried out in an Osing…

Some new ethnographies (Book reviews)

Published on October 17, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, Asia, books, Caribbean, gender, Northern America, persons and theories, religion cosmology

The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology has published several new book reviews on its website:

Marc Augé: Oblivion
The French anthropologist breaks new ground introducing the theme of Oblivion (Les formes de l’oubli) – a challenging reflection on memory and forgetting. Through rites, oblivion also structures the relationship between past, present, and future. >> whole review

Denise Brennan: What’s Love Got to Do With It? Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Dominican Republic
In this well-written and compelling ethnography, Denise Brennan examines the “sexscape” of Sosúa, a Dominican Republic beach town. As an ethnography of a tourist “sexscape”, the book makes its substantial contribution to studies of transnationalism >> whole review

Aisha Khan: Callaloo Nation: Metaphors of Race and Religious Identity among South Asians in Trinidad
We read some wonderfully complex family histories (pp. 78-83) showing that neighborhoods, families, and even households, are often comprised of Hindus, Muslims, and even various sorts of Christians, all “living good together.” This is hardy ethnography: finely grained descriptions of the quotidian analyzed with sophisticated theory. >> whole review

Richard Daly, Our Box was Full: An Ethnography for the Delgamuukw Plaintiffs
At the core of the issue is identity and pre-eminence in regards to First Nations self-governance and land. Also, the argument that Daly puts forth regarding the need for this ethnography and its effect in the Canadian courtroom situates the dilemma of being an anthropologist (i.e. someone on the other side) and serving as an “expert” witness for the plaintiffs. >> whole review

>> overview over all reviews

The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology has published several new book reviews on its website:

Marc Augé: Oblivion
The French anthropologist breaks new ground introducing the theme of Oblivion (Les formes de l’oubli) – a challenging reflection on memory and forgetting.…

Why blogging matters: Handbook for global bloggers is out

Published on September 22, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, books, internet, Open Access Anthropology and Knowledge Sharing

A quick note: Much praise for the Reporters Without Borders “Handbook for bloggers” on the GlobalVoices-website. Maybe it will be useful for academics as well?

“It is the first truly useful book I’ve seen aimed at the kinds of bloggers featured here at Global Voices every day: People who have views and information that they want to share with the world beyond their own national borders. They are often people whose perspectives are not well represented in their own country’s media, and certainly not well reported by the international media.

(…)

The Handbook for Bloggers is for people who want to be serious participants in the emergent online global conversation: How to set up a quality, credible blog. How to get it noticed. And.. if you’re in a country where there government might not like what you’re saying, how to avoid getting in trouble when you by-pass the information gatekeepers and talk directly to the world.

(…)

The most inspiring section is the “Personal Accounts,” short essays from bloggers around the world about why they blog and why blogging matters.”

>> read the whole review by Rebecca MacKinnon

>> download the Handbook (1,7MB, pdf)

A quick note: Much praise for the Reporters Without Borders "Handbook for bloggers" on the GlobalVoices-website. Maybe it will be useful for academics as well?

"It is the first truly useful book I’ve seen aimed at the kinds of bloggers featured…

Why hasn’t anthropology changed the world? New book by Thomas Hylland Eriksen

Published on September 20, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, books

A new book by Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo, might answer some of our questions on why our discipline has not gained the respect it in our view deserves.

According to some first reviews (the book will be published not before November 2005), Hylland Eriksen demonstrates that the fault is partly our own:

If anthropology matters as a key tool with which to understand modern society beyond the ivory towers of academia, why are so few anthropologists willing to come forward in times of national or global crisis? Eriksen argues that anthropology needs to rediscover the art of narrative and abandon arid analysis and, more provocatively, anthropologists need to lose their fear of plunging into the vexed issues modern societies present.

>> read more at Berg Publishers

According to some first…

American Ethnologist – New book reviews on Indian Resurgence in Brazil, Anthropology of Britain, Race and Transnationalism

Published on September 11, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, books, Europe, indigenous people / minorities, Latin- and Central America, migration, music, Native American, Northern America, Us and Them

The August reviews of the journal American Ethnologist are now online.

Among them we’ll find:

Mapping Yoruba Networks: Power and Agency in the Making of Transnational Communities. By: Kamari Maxine Clarke
Kamari Clarke is an Afro-Canadian who joins several African American anthropologists in examining how Africa and African heritage are understood by contemporary African American communities. Clarke exemplifies the best of 21st-century anthropology as she offers an insider’s sympathy without romanticism, step-back objectivity without arrogance. Clarke presents multisited research among “Yoruba” and Yoruba in South Carolina and Nigeria. >> continue

British Subjects: An Anthropology of Britain. Edited by Nigel Rapport
The articles address a wide range of topics, including the royal family (Anne Rowbottom), the London ballet (Helena Wulff), the postindustrial landscape of a former mining village (Andrew Dawson), British Quakers (Peter Collins), and Rapport’s own literarily inflected work on the worldview from a British village. The collection reflects a view of Britain as largely white, tranquil, and middle class >> continue

Racial Revolutions: Antiracism and Indian Resurgence in Brazil. By Jonathan W. Warren
Jonathan Warren examines the shift in which people who might once have claimed mixed-race status instead reconstruct themselves as “post-traditional” Indians. Simply because Warren explores qualitatively Brazil’s contemporary indigenous resurgence, Racial Revolutions is a must read. >> continue

Latino Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics of Race and Citizenship. By Nicholas De Genova and Anna Y. Ramos-Zayas
This book represents a unique collaboration between two anthropologists who did fieldwork separately in Chicago during the 1990s. >> continue

Right to Rock: The Black Rock Coalition and the Cultural Politics of Race. By Maureen Mahon
Right to Rock focuses on the Black Rock Coalition (BRC), founded in 1985 as a network of African American musicians “sick and tired of being sick and tired” from the frustration of racial segregation within the music industry. >> continue

>> all August 2005 book reviews

The August reviews of the journal American Ethnologist are now online.

Among them we'll find:

Mapping Yoruba Networks: Power and Agency in the Making of Transnational Communities. By: Kamari Maxine Clarke
Kamari Clarke is an Afro-Canadian who joins several African American anthropologists in…