Anthropology Science

SIAMO INTRINSECAMENTE LEGATI. TUTTI. E NON È POSSIBILE TORNARE INDIETRO. Siamo più vicini o più lontani? La globalizzazione è agli sgoccioli o si è presa solo una pausa di riflessione e quel che accade in paesi all’apparenza distanti continua a ripercuotersi a cascata su tutti gli altri, in un effetto domino? Come si spiega altrimenti che la chiusura dei porti in Ucraina faccia aumentare il prezzo della carta in Italia e provochi sommosse in Sri Lanka. Che l’aumento della siccità in Sicilia modifichi la viticoltura in America.

When you think of evolution, the picture that most likely comes to mind is a straight-forward progression, the iconic illustration of a primate morphing into a proud, upright human being. But in reality, random events have played huge roles in determining the evolutionary histories of everything from lions to lobsters to humans. However, random genetic novelties are most likely to become fixed in small populations. It is mathematically unlikely that this will happen in large ones.

A work of immersive journalism steeped in a distinctively American social history and sparked by a personal quest, The Unsettlers traces the search for the simple life through the stories of new pioneers and what inspired each of them to look for - or create - a better existence. Captivating and clear-eyed, it dares us to imagine what a sustainable, ethical, authentic future might actually look like.

In his groundbreaking follow-up to the bestselling The Road to Somewhere, David Goodhart divides society into people who work with their Heads (cognitive work), with their Hands (manual work), or with their Hearts (caring work), and considers each group’s changing status and influence. Today, the “best and the brightest” trump the “decent and hardworking.” Qualities like character, compassion, craft, and physical labor command far less respect in our workforce. This imbalance has led to the disaffection and alienation of millions of people.

Most histories of the Cherokee nation focus on its encounters with Europeans, its conflicts with the U.S. government, and its expulsion from its lands during the Trail of Tears. This work, however, traces the origins of the Cherokee people to the third century B.C.E. and follows their migrations through the Americas to their homeland in the lower Appalachian Mountains.

The Villa Tugendhat, designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1928, is an icon of architectural modernism and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Behind the Glass tells the true story of the large family connected to it, who rose to prominence through industrial textile manufacturing. The book traces the transformations in the life of the family, from their roots in a Jewish ghetto to part of the wealthy bourgeoisie in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to adaptation in interwar independent Czechoslovakia and flight in the face of Nazi invasion.

Inequality, social immobility, and political polarization are only a few crucial phenomena driven by the inevitability of social structures. Social structures determine who has power and influence, account for why people fail to assimilate basic facts, and enlarge our understanding of patterns of contagion - from the spread of disease to financial crises. Despite their primary role in shaping our lives, human networks are often overlooked when we try to account for our most important political and economic practices.

What is it that makes you distinct from me? Identity is a term much used but hard to define. For that very reason, it has long been a topic of fascination for philosophers but has been regarded with aversion by neuroscientists - until now. Susan Greenfield takes us on a journey in search of a biological interpretation of this most elusive of concepts, guiding us through the social and psychiatric perspectives and ultimately to the heart of the physical brain.

Born in 1858, Franz Boas permanently changed the standards and practices of anthropology. A German-born secular Jew, he became known for his distinctive approach to the discipline - non-hierarchical, open to diverse inputs, and unbiased. Throughout his career, Boas used his scholarship to effect social change. His work convinced his colleagues to abandon the theories that had decided one race (Caucasian) and one culture (Western European) were more fully developed and worthier than others.

Anthropologist Geert Hofstede's 1980 work, Culture's Consequences, was the first study to look at cultural differences using data. The Dutchman took advantage of the enormous global span of his employer, the technology company IBM, to gather survey data in 20 languages and across 70 countries, and to produce a unique study of national values.

Overlooking the Border continues the dialogue surrounding the social history of Jerusalem. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book juxtaposes Israeli and Palestinian personal narratives about the past with contemporary museum exhibits, street plaques, tourism, and real estate projects that are reshaping the city since the decline of the peace process and the second intifada. As sites of memory, Jerusalem's homes, streets, and natural areas form the setting for emotionally charged narratives about belonging and rights to place.

Clifford Geertz's first collection of essays, The Interpretation of Cultures (1973), made him a leading voice of anthropology's "symbolic" movement, which believed scholars should read the signs and symbols of a culture from the perspective of its natives. Geertz's approach helped anthropology reinvent itself as a scientific discipline that is still relevant today, making him - in the words of one critic - "a true giant of social and cultural theory."

Schlafen wie vor Tausenden von Jahren: Der Weg zu besserem Schlaf. Die Grundlagen für einen guten Schlaf haben sich seit Hunderttausenden von Jahren nicht verändert: Bewegung, Temperatur, Licht, Essen und Trinken spielen heute wie damals entscheidende Rollen. Doch der moderne Mensch hat es schwer, denn unser Lebensstil stellt uns vor große Herausforderungen: Unsere Nächte sind oft zu laut, zu warm, zu hell, und wir konsumieren zu viel und das Falsche. Um erholsamen Schlaf zu finden, müssen wir uns wieder auf den Ursprung des Schlafs besinnen.

Finding from my own personal experience how troublesome it is to hunt through piles of dusty old volumes, I have decided to make a small selection of these papers which I consider are not only rare and very interesting, but which also give an insight into the varied activities and achievements of Burton’s crowded life. It will, I think, be realized that such a volume as this will not be superfluous, for, apart from saving people an enormous amount of trouble, it will give them further insight into the life-work of one of the greatest men of the Victorian era.

Was wir erst heute wahrhaft begreifen: Weit mehr als Kriege und Technologien, Religionen und Ideologien beeinflussten und lenkten seit Anbeginn der Zeit die Natur und das Klima die Geschicke der Menschen.

In seinen Aufsätzen Ausführung der Dreigliederung des sozialen Organismus aus den Jahren 1919/20 reagierte Steiner, wie schon in seinen "Kernpunkten der sozialen Frage", auf die Krise des modernen Bewusstseins, die in den gesellschaftlichen Konflikten des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts sowie im Ersten Weltkrieg ihren destruktiven Ausdruck gefunden hat. Er schlägt einen spirituell begründeten Ansatz zur Lösung der sozialen Frage vor, der als ein dritter Weg zwischen Sozialismus und Kapitalismus verstanden werden kann.

Che cos'è l'autorità nella Grecia antica? A lungo è stata negata la stessa esistenza di un termine greco che la definisca, e ci si è limitati a ricercare in quella cultura i sistemi di relazione sottesi al concetto romano di auctoritas. Prendendo le distanze da tale impostazione romano-centrica, l'autore individua le metafore culturali di cui i Greci si servono per elaborare la loro particolare nozione di auto rità, che non si presenta come qualità intrinseca dell'auctor, ma come "facoltà" concessa a qualcuno da una fonte esterna.

After receiving a doctorate in medicine, Le Bon travelled in Europe, North Africa, and Asia and wrote several books on anthropology and archaeology. His interests later shifted to natural science and social psychology. Gustave Le Bon is best known for his seminal work Crowd Psychology where he describes the psychological effects in various group settings. In Psychology of Peoples written in 1894 he utilizes his anthropological knowledge and cross-references it with social psychology.

Este libro es una extraordinaria guía acerca de las sectas, grupos que exigen de sus miembros una convicción, devoción y dedicación que pueden perjudicar, hasta extremos realmente peligrosos, tanto a los adeptos como a sus allegados y familiares.

O Mercosul conduz uma forte tendência integracionista regional. Este trabalho tenta identificar matrizes e matizes culturais, econômicos e políticos configuradores de um sentimento patronímico - nem sempre explícito - que permeia as relações entre os povos e países da América (...). Com o nome de ""americanidade"" procura-se caracterizar uma representação comum, potencializada por meio de suas diferentes expressões: trocas comerciais, modelos políticos, artes e culturas regionais. Propõe-se a dar uma resposta efetiva ao processo da integração continental.