Social Science : Customs & Traditions

A fascinating portrait of the history and landscape of this remote settlement. more...

Price: $40.00

This classic ethnography, now in its second edition, describes the traditional way of life of the Kaluli, a tropical forest people of Papua New Guinea. The book takes as its focus the nostalgic and violent Gisalo ceremony, one of the most remarkable performances in the anthropological literature. Tracking the major symbolic and emotional themes of the ceremony to their sources in everyday Kaluli life, Schieffelin shows how the central values and passions of Kaluli experience are governed by the basic forms of social reciprocity. However, Gisaro reveals that social reciprocity is not limited to the dynamics of transaction, obligation and alliance. It emerges, rather, as a mode of symbolic action and performative form, embodying a cultural scenario which shapes Kaluli emotional experience and moral sensibility and permeates their understanding of the human condition. more...

Price: $69.95

Offers practical, concrete advice for parents of children marrying someone with another faith more...

Price: $49.50

Female “circumcision” or, more precisely, female genital cutting (FGC), remains an important cultural practice in many African countries, often serving as a coming-of-age ritual. It is also a practice that has generated international dispute and continues to be at the center of debates over women’s rights, the limits of cultural pluralism, the balance of power between local cultures, international human rights, and feminist activism. In our increasingly globalized world, these practices have also begun immigrating to other nations, where transnational complexities vex debates about how to resolve the issue. Bringing together thirteen essays, Transcultural Bodies provides an ethnographically rich exploration of FGC among African diasporas in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. Contributors analyze changes in ideologies of gender and sexuality in immigrant communities, the frequent marginalization of African women’s voices in debates over FGC, and controversies over legislation restricting the practice in immigrant populations. more...

Price: $24.00

The Boundary Waters region of Minnesota and Ontario is a vast wilderness of quiet beauty, visited and loved by many, but home to only a rugged few. Justine Kerfoot arrived there in 1928 and has lived there ever since. As she relates her lessons from the Canadian Indians across the lake—how to paddle a canoe, hunt moose, drive a dog team, and stay warm at minus 40 degrees—Kerfoot gives us a rich sense of the world of the Indians and fur trappers. more...

Price: $51.00