"We
are often criminals in the eyes of the earth, not only for having
committed crimes, but because we know that crimes have been committed."
Anil's
Ghost, Michael Ondaatje
This page is under construction and
will hopefully be augmented throughout its existence...as long as I
stay focussed (HA!!) The default link
for each book is to its page
on amazon.com. I recognize the hypocrisy in linking books on the
critique of globalization to the amazon website. I have yet to
develop an effective excuse for such irony. In order to feel
better I have also listed several independent bookstores. Please review
these books and purchase them at your local independent book
seller.
Independent
BookSellers
For travel anywhere in the US or
Canada, try NewPages for locating the closest bookstore!
Talking
Leaves Buffalo NY
Jay's Bookstall Pittsburgh PA
Social
Theory and
Social Anthropology
The
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The
Elementary Forms of Religious Belief
Capital
The three books
above, written by Durkheim, Weber and Marx, respectively,
compose the crux of an introduction to social theory. By reading
these first, one can then delve into the more recent writings on
culture change and social anthropology with a clearer understanding of
its roots and history.
Culture/Power/History
This book is an excellent reference
for those interested in more recent theories and ideas of social
anthropologists and sociologists. This book contains digestable
summaries of the ideas presented by Foucault, Bourdieu, Sherry Ortner, etc. as well as
essays which address the concepts contained within its title.
Devil and Commodity Fetishism in
South America
This was
one of the first books I read in graduate school. At first I
found it
tedious and unimportant, but after some digestion I realized that
it
is one of the clearest contemporary applications of Marxist theory.
Introduction
to Anthropology
Culture as Given, Culture as Choice
For
several years now, Bob Dentan has used this as a textbook in his
Introduction to Anthropology at UB. Eva and I also used it
when we taught the course in 2002. Students really enjoy this
book. I think it is a great introduction to the field of
anthropology, all four sub-disciplines! The author writes at a
level and poses questions appropriate for an undergraduate reading and
critical analysis level.
Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians
While this
is a truly horrifying book, it accomplishes the author's goal in
providing an account of the tragedy humans can exert on one
another.
Medical
Anthropology
New Gunea Tapeworms and Jewish
Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People
This is a
fun collection of anecdotes about perceptions of health, the
definitions of well-being, international health work. It is an
afternoon read and well worth the effort for anyone tangentially
interested in health and its definitions in settings beyond that
experienced in North America or Europe.
At one point in the book, Robert Desowitz, the
author, describes a
scenario from the early 1960s when The World Health Organization called
on him to investigate a outbreak of
trichinosis. This is a disease with epileptic-like convulsions
and is caused by a tapeworm transmitted through undercooked meat.
The outbreak occurred among the Ekari, an indigenous
group in the highlands of New Guinea. The WHO
“educated” the people of the village about the dangers of eating
undercooked pork. One night around a campfire, through a
translator, one of the elders said to Robert…
"We are not blind. We can see the seeds that give us the illness
in the pig flesh. But no one lives forever, and if we must die,
then we must die. Life is no longer a pleasure. We are only
half men. The Indonesians will not let us make the warfare that
gave us manhood. I no longer care if I eat the corrupt pig
flesh…Even if this were not so, we still could not do as you say.
You tell us not to eat the infected pig, to be careful, to cook it
long. How can we do this? If a child is born at night we
must sacrifice the pig immediately; there is no time to look and see if
it has seeds. The pig must be killed and eaten at once."
He later states…
After I
left Enarotali I flew to Djajapura, the provincial capital, to discuss
the situation with the governor. He was highly sympathetic and
concerned, particularly since we had clear evidence that the infection
had spread to other parts of Irian Jaya. We went over the
possible remedies and the difficulty in implementing them, and as I was
about to leave the governor’s mansion he remarked, “You know, they are
not like you and me. They are very primitive, and it is extremely
difficult to change their customs even for their better health.”
I was about to agree when I noticed that we were both smoking cigarettes
Infections and Inequalities
What can I say? It is Paul
Farmer......Everyone should read this book. He not only details
the efforts of his work with Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis and HIV/
AIDS infections in Haiti but he also explores the more ultimate causes
of ill health and infectious disease within the poorer areas of the
world. Here is the story of a man making real change in the lives
of other people.
Dying for Growth
An excellent resource for statistics and
examples of how the rich continue to exploit the poor. It is
rather dense, can be read from front to back or randomly, well
referenced and reputable....not just a publication of the radical
left.
Childbrith and Authoritative
Knowledge: Cross-Cultuural Perspectives
Globalization
and
Modernization
Modernity at Large
Appadurai
seems to be quoted in every book written on modernization. This
book is particulalry pervasive in the literature. His proposition
of the concept of "scapes" has been referenced by many other
academics.
“…while nations (or more properly groups with ideas about nationhood)
seek to capture or co-opt states and state power, states simultaneously
seek to capture and monopolize ideas about nationhood… state and nation
are at each other’s throats, and the hyphen that links them is now less
an icon of conjuncture than an index of disjuncture.”
The Lexus and the Olive Tree:
Understanding Globalization
Globalization and its Discontents:
Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money
Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
Nationalism
Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the
Zambian Copperbelt
In 1958
the popular Copperbelt song of the Copper Mines of Zambia was : "Our
Country is going forward and we the people, too."
Thirty one years later a new slogan fills the mouths of the people of
Zambia: "Car-owning remains a dream. A decade ago, young men in
gainful employment were able to buy cars of all models. That era
is gone, gone never to return again.".
Ferguson
concludes his book with the following quote:
"The modernization narrative was always a myth, an illusion, often even
a lie. We should all learn to do without it...if the people who
have in good faith lived out the agonizing, failed plotline of
development and modernization are not to be simply disconnected and
abjected from the new world order, it will be necessary to find new
ways of thinking about progress and responsibility in the aftermath of
modernism."
Empire
The Work of Nations
Robert
Reich
served as the US Secretray of Labor during President Clinton's first
term. His book is informative for backing arguments with strong
statistics. One can also find in his book a discussion of the
disintegration of the nation-state. Many people are now pointing
out that the "nation" as was once imagined as a geographic location
with a number of people loyal to a local and "national" identity has
now disappeared. Those who have also written or commented on this
topic include Appadurai, Benedict Anderson, Polly Toynbee, etc.
Reich states “As borders become ever more meaningless in economic
terms, those citizens best positioned to thrive in the world market are
tempted to slip the bonds of national allegiance, and by doing so
disengage themselves from their less favored fellows.”
Human
Biology
Human Biology: An Evolutionary
and Biocultural Perspective
Hormones, Health and Behavior: A Socio-Ecological and Lifespan
Persepective
Social Determinants of Health
Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality
Human Population Biology
The Samoan Project