Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Anthropology, Human Rights, And Legal Knowledge: Culture In The Iron Cage, Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles

In this article, I draw on ethnography in the particular zone of engagement between anthropologists, on the one hand, and human rights lawyers who are skeptical of the human rights regime, on the other hand. I argue that many of the problems anthropologists encounter with the appropriation and marginalization of anthropology's analytical tools can be understood in terms of the legal character of human rights. In particular, discursive engagement between anthropology and human rights is animated by the pervasive instrumentalism of legal knowledge. I contend that both anthropologists who seek to describe the culture of human rights and lawyers who …

Division Within The Boundaries, Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles

In the Part-European settlement of Kasavu, Fiji, land is divided in each generation into parallel plots of ever-decreasing width but identical form. Kinship as division, I argue, is knowledge which is not representative of social relations and which therefore does not effectuate 'change'. This is contrasted to an additive logic of of kinship relations among urban Part-Europeans, a logic in which information is potentially infinite and thus always incomplete, and in which knowledge attaches to persons and changes through techniques of collective discovery.

A New Agenda For The Cultural Study Of Law: Taking On The Technicalities, Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles

This article urges humanistic legal studies to take the technical dimensions of law as a central focus of inquiry. Using archival and ethnographic investigations into developments in American Conflict of Laws doctrines as an example, and building on insights in the anthropology of knowledge and in science and technology studies that focus on technical practices in scientific and engineering domains, it aims to show that the technologies of law - an ideology that law is a tool and an accompanying technical aesthetic of legal knowledge - are far more central and far more interesting dimensions of legal practice than humanists …

Introducing Discipline: Anthropology And Human Rights Administrations, Iris Jean-Klein, Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles

Anthropologists engage human rights administrations with an implicit promise that our discipline has something unique to offer. The articles in this special issue turn questions about relevance and care so often heard in the context of debates about human rights outside in. They focus not on how anthropology can contribute to human rights activities, but on what anthropological encounters with human rights contribute to the development of our discipline. They ask, how exactly do we render the subject relevant to anthropology? Reflecting on some ways anthropologists in this field have dispensed care for their subjects, the authors highlight two modalities …

Infinity Within The Brackets, Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles

The ethnographic subjects of this article are UN-sponsored international conferences and their legal documents. Drawing upon fieldwork among Fiji delegates at these conferences, in this article I demonstrate the centrality of matters of form, as distinct from questions of “meaning,” in the negotiation of international agreements. A parallel usage of documents and of mats among Fijian negotiators provides a heuristic device for exploring questions of pattern and scale in the aesthetics of negotiation.

Real Time: Unwinding Technocratic And Anthropological Knowledge, Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles

“The Bank of Japan is our mother,” bankers in Tokyo sometimes said of Japan's central bank. Drawing on this metaphor as an ethnographic resource, and on the example of central bankers who sought to unwind their own technocratic knowledge by replacing it with a real-time machine, I retrace the ethnographic task of unwinding technocratic knowledge from those anthropological knowledge practices that critique technocracy. In so doing, I draw attention to special methodological problems—involving the relationship between ethnography, analysis, and reception—in the representation and critique of contemporary knowledge practices.

An Ethnography Of Abstractions?, Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles

No abstract provided.

Opting For Elsewhere: Lifestyle Migration In The American Middle Class, Brian A. Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

Theories And Practices Of Islamic Finance And Exchange Laws: Poverty Of Interest, Ahmed E. Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

River Road Through Laos: Reflections Of The Mekong, James A. Hafner, Joel M. Halpern, Barbara Kerewsky-Halpern

James A Hafner

No abstract provided.

Southeast Asian Refugees In Western Massachusetts: Seen But Not Heard, James A. Hafner, Jeannine Muldoon, Elizabeth Brewer

James A Hafner

The United States has a long and valued tradition of receiving people from other lands as a result of social and political turmoil. This policy has been reaffirmed frequently in the last quarter century with the arrival of refugees from such geographically diverse locations as Eastern Europe, Cuba, Southeast Asia, and Central America. Perhaps, Southeast Asians have experienced greater national and personal tragedy than any other group of refugees arriving in this country in recent memory. It is specifically this population and their resettlement and adjustment to life in Western Massachusetts which is the subject of this report. These issues …

Early Life Environment, Fertility And Age Of Menarche: A Test Of Life History Predictions Using A Longitudinal Assessment Of Adversity Perception And Economic Status, Dorsa Amir, Matthew R. Jordan, Richard G. Bribiescas

Richard G. Bribiescas

Perceptions of early life environmental adversity can affect the timing of life history transitions and investment in reproductive effort. These effects are well documented in non-human organisms, but have been challenging to test in humans. Here we present evidence of the effects of variables associated with extrinsic mortality and morbidity on reproductive effort in a contemporary American population. Using a longitudinal database that sampled participants (N ≥ 1,579) at four points during adolescence and early adulthood, variables reflective of perceptions of adversity and risk were significantly associated with age of menarche and early adult fertility. While other factors related to …

Annotated Bibliography: Interaction With Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner, MSLIS

No abstract provided.

Annotated Bibliography: Cruelty To Animals And Violence To Humans (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner

No abstract provided.

Hsisp Annotated Bibliography: Interaction With Animals (1998-2013), Erich Yahner

Erich Yahner

No abstract provided.

Animals & Society Courses: A Growing Trend In Post-Secondary Education, Jonathan Balcombe

Jonathan Balcombe, PhD

A survey of college courses addressing nonhuman animal ethics and welfare issues indicates that the presence of such courses has increased greatly since a prior survey was done in 1983. This paper provides titles and affiliations of 67 of 89 courses from the current Survey. These courses represent 15 academic fields, and a majority are entirely devoted to animal issues. The fields of animal science and philosophy are proportionally well represented compared with biology and wildlife-related fields. An estimated 5000 or more North American students are now receiving instruction in these issues each year. While the availability of courses in …

Peruvian Trajectories Of Sociocultural Transformation, Daniel Paracka, Ernesto Silva

Daniel Paracka

The story of Peru presents a continuous trajectory of sociocultural transformation where one civilization appropriates, borrows, and builds on the accomplishments of the previous often creating something new and unique. During the Year of Peru program KSU's faculty and students had the opportunity to learn in depth about Peru's rich history, culture, and modern society. They learned about a country rich in archeological discovery and human history, a story that does not simply begin with the Inca Empire, as the Inca were just one in a long line of powerful ancient civilizations (Chavin, Wari, Nazca, Moche, etc.) that previously ruled …

Re-Writing Culture In Taiwan Edited By Fang-Long Shih, Stuart Thompson And Paul-François Tremlett, Marc L. Moskowitz

Marc L. Moskowitz

No abstract provided.

Framing The Bride: Globalizing Beauty And Romance In Taiwan’S Bridal Industry By Bonnie Adrian, Marc L. Moskowitz

Marc L. Moskowitz

No abstract provided.

U.S. Human Rights Activism And Plan Colombia, Winifred L. Tate

Winifred L. Tate

Non-governmental organizations claim to play a central role in defining U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the field of human rights. Here, I will examine the role of human rights and humanitarian groups in the debates over U.S. foreign policy towards Colombia, focusing on the design and subsequent additional appropriations for Plan Colombia, a multi-billion dollar aid package beginning in 2000. I argue that NGOs were able to build on the legacy of prior human rights activism focusing on Latin America, but failed to achieve significant grassroots mobilization around this issue. I examine the structural issues limiting such mobilization, as well …

The Shaman And The Priest: Ghosts, Death And Ritual Specialists In Tharu Society, Arjun Guneratne

Arjun Guneratne

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of 'On The Edge Of The Auspicious: Gender And Caste In Nepal' By Mary M. Cameron, Arjun Guneratne

Arjun Guneratne

No abstract provided.

A Simple Introduction To The Practice Of Ethnography And Guide To Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Brian A. Hoey

Brian A. Hoey, Ph.D.

In this article, I will provide a simple introduction to the practice of ethnographic fieldwork. Ethnographic approaches, while born of the work conducted by anthropologists over one hundred years ago, are increasingly employed by researchers and others from a variety of backgrounds and for a multitude of purposes from the academic to the applied and even the commercial. In this article, I will provide an introduction intended for those new to this approach but who have already had some basic experience or training. I also provide a discussion of the centrality of fieldnotes to the conduct of this very personally …

Navigating Over Space And Time: Fishing Effort Allocation And The Development Of Customary Norms In An Open-Access Mangrove Estuary In Ecuador, Christine M. Beitl

Christine M Beitl

Decolonizing Nationalism: Reading Nkrumah And Nyerere’S Pan-African Epistemology, Jesse Benjamin

Jesse Benjamin

Using the perspective of intellectual history, this essay explores the lives and philosophies of Julius K. Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah, heads of state in Tanzania and Ghana, respectively, as well as philosophers, activists, and Pan-African leaders throughout their lifetimes. The central focus is on their concepts and practices of nationalism, and their attempts to transcend the confines of colonial, Western epistemologies in formulating new African social practices. Their concepts of African socialism, pan-Africanism, and neo-colonialism are examined closely. Their lived experiences with injustice in Africa and the Black Atlantic shaped their perspectives. Their unfinished work bequeathed to us tools for …

Dietary Treatment For Epilepsy, Margaret Rebecca Sinclair

Margaret R.Sinclair

Dietary treatments for epilepsy have been used since the early 1920s, however, the use of these treatments has been replaced by anticonvulsant drugs. In the past ten years there has been a reemergence of the use of dietary treatments for epilepsy. These dietary treatments are referred to as Ketogenic Diets. There are three types of ketone diets: Classic Ketogenic Diet (KD), Medium-chain-triglyceride Ketogenic Diet (MTC), and the Modified Atkins Diet (MAD). Theses dietary treatment utilize a high-fat, adequate protein and very low carbohydrates diet to control seizures. The purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive overview of dietary …

Gender Issues Find Space In Manifesto, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

WPC is continuously working on Women issues such as, Child Marriage, Land Rights for Women, access of the Mobile population to HIV & AIDS services’ information & support Migrants and other women. Other than this one of our long standing issues is the ever evasive 33 per cent Women’s Reservation Bill. After years of struggle women won just half the battle, when the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha. But once again the government backtracked on its promise of tabling the bill in the Lok Sabha this monsoon session. This indicates that the struggle has to be kept alive with …

Sexual Objectification Of The Female Body And Breastfeeding, Margaret Sinclair, Corina Sanchez

Margaret R.Sinclair

The act of breastfeeding has been heavily contested, advocated, stigmatized, and studied; it has been treated much like a phenomenon than a natural situation. In much of the discourse about breastfeeding, the focus is on cultural paradigms regarding breastfeeding, socio-economic challenges of specific demographic groups, and medical benefits for the mother and/or child. While all of these factors are very important concerning the discourse on breastfeeding, none of these points of views deal directly with the ultimate subject of controversy...the woman. The female body is highly sexualized; resulting in women’s reluctance to breastfeed and the overall stigmatization of the practice. …

Improving Cultural Approaches To Pediatric Palliative Care In Central Massachusetts, Nancy E. Harger, Rn, Ms Lis, Usmani Naheed, Md, Jennifer Costa, Pnp, Estela Mcdonough

Nancy E. Harger

Objectives: To determine the impact of a web tool developed to improve health care providers' ability and comfort in caring for a diverse patient population in the hospital setting. Methods: The pediatric palliative care team including a pediatric oncologist and a nurse practitioner in association with a clinical medical librarian and a hospital-based interpreter, collaborated to create a resource using SpringShare software to create a library guide. The purpose is to provide cultural and palliative care information resources, books, and journal articles to assist health care workers at UMass Memorial Children's Medical Center in caring for children from the diverse …

What Was Under The Mcmartin Preschool? A Review And Behavioral Analysis Of The "Tunnels" Find, W. Joseph Wyatt

W. Joseph Wyatt

The McMartin Preschool child abuse case began in 1983 in Manhattan Beach, California, and was one of the most visible cases in history. Although two trials were conducted and no convictions were obtained, some individuals continue to believe that dozens of children were sexually abused at the preschool. In 1990 an archeologist was hired to determine whether tunnels had existed under the school because some of the children had alleged that some of their abuse took place in tunnels under the building. The archeologist’s report was issued in 1993. It concluded that evidence of back-filled tunnels had been found. This …