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Unfolding the Paradoxes of a Modern Liberal ‘Secular’ State: Studying Egypt
Get PDFSaba Mahmood presents with an interesting analysis of how secularism and modern liberal state, contrary to their claims of maintaining religious harmony, have actually exacerbated “interfaith inequalities”. Moreover, their claim of “religious neutrality” is false. The reality is that the modern state interferes in religious life. Mahmood bases her study in Egypt where Coptic Orthodox Christians, the minorities, are treated as second-class citizens despite their contribution to Egypt’s past. She points out the reason behind this is what is perceived as the “inherent intolerance” of Islam but modern secular governance. The West and the East have shared models of secularism. The book explores modern state’s relationship to religion and how the state’s regulation of religion affects religious identities. It is a well-researched treatise for anyone who wishes to understand secularism as a universal concept
Hadza film review: ‘Last of the First’
Get PDFThis is a fascinating, watchable documentary on the Hadza people of Tanzania. Anyone interested in hunter-gatherers and their lives in today’s world, as well as their contribution to our understanding of human evolution, will want to see it
“History Making” and the Problem of Religion in the Neolithic
Get PDFbook review of Hodder, Ian, ed. Religion, History, and Place in the Origin of Settled Life. University Press of Colorado, 2018
"No longer far from the ruler:" A "then and now" portrayal of the indigenous Lisu of Mainland Southeast Asia and Southwest China
Get PDFLike other indigenous peoples the world over, the Lisu of Mainland Southeast Asia and Southwest China have experienced profound changes in their lives during the past twenty odd years. The Lisu, a Tibeto-Burman speaking group of some 1.5 million people, are adapting to those changes in ways that, while leading to new and emergent ways of being "Lisu," nevertheless maintain a uniquely "Lisu" disposition or habitus grounded in a strong sense of being "independent," "egalitarian," "hard working," and "self-employed." Situated across the borders of three nation states undergoing dramatic political, economic, and sociocultural transformations - namely China, Myanmar, and Thailand - Lisu, regardless of where they reside, are being strongly impacted by and adapting to situations in which they can no longer live "far from the ruler.
Globalization of the local: Agency, shifting identities, and a community that sticks together
Get PDFReview of Mixtec Evangelicals: Globalization, Migration, and Religious Change in a Oaxacan Indigenous Group by Mary I. O’Connor (2016), University Press of Colorad
Disasters, tugg'd with fortune
Get PDFKings of Disaster: Dualism, Centralism and the Scapegoat King in Southern Sudan (Michigan State & Fountain) is a remarkable ethnography of people whose sense of commonality is produced by their common opposition to their kings. The book brings together an impressive body of archival sources and excellent ethnographic research, but has remained underappreciated outside a small circle of specialists. Partly this was a matter of timing. Simonse carried out his first research trip in 1981, while he was teaching at Juba University. During the next five years, Juba came under siege, becoming a key government-controlled outpost circled by rebel-held territory. Extended work outside the town became more and more difficult. By the time the book was published in 1992, Sudan had been at war for nearly a decade and the book’s subject matter seemed part of the discipline’s history. Political anthropology was giving way to the anthropology of the state and interest shifted from ‘traditional registers’ of power to the bio-politics of bodies and populations and discourses of science and health (Hansen & Stepputat, 2016, pp. 299-300).
Chocola: An Ancient Maya Capital in a Contemporary Guatemalan Community
Get PDFWater, Cacao, and the Early Maya of Chocola presents the results of Jonathan Kaplan and Federico Paredes Umana’s three seasons of archaeological investigations and additional years of research at the large prehispanic site of Chocola, located in the Pacific piedmont of southwestern Guatemala. More than simply a dry monograph, this book also represent’s the culmination of Kaplan’s personal journey as the director of a project that was ultimately shut down by the modern community in which they were working. Kaplan and Paredes Umana’s book is a welcome addition to the literature on the rise of complex societies on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala and provides an important cautionary tale for archaeologists engaging in research in small, indigenous communities
Boredom in Bucharest
Get PDFThe Space of Boredom: Homelessness in the Slowing Global Order, by Bruce O’Neill, offers a crucial insight into the boredom experienced by the homeless in Bucharest, Romania. Examining the pitfalls of global capitalism, O’Neill is able to probe the emotional toll that limited opportunities for those struggling to find a way, while struggling with seemingly permanent unemployment