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How has it come about that indigenous cultures, body parts, and sequences of musical notes are considered property? How has the movement from collective to privatized systems affected notions of property? At what point in transaction chains do native cultures, indigenous medicines, or cyberdata become 'objects' and therefore 'propertized', and what are the social, economic, and ethical considerations for such transformations? Addressing these hotly contested issues and many more, Property in Question interrogates the very concept of property and what is happening to it in the contemporary world, in case studies ranging from Romania to Kazakhstan, Africa to North America. The book examines not only the changing character of the property concept, but also its ideological foundations and political usages. Authors address bio-transactions, music copyright, cyberspace, oil prospecting, debates over privatization of land and factories, and dilemmas arising with new forms of ownership of businesses. Offering a fresh perspective on contemporary economic transformation, this volume is a long overdue investigation of the power of the 'private property' concept, as well as an exploration of how the global economy may be subtly, even invisibly, changing what 'property' means and how we relate to it.

An investigation of the power of the private property concept, and an exploration of how the global economy may be subtly, even invisibly, changing what property means and how we relate to it. This book examines not only the changing character of the property concept, but also its ideological foundations and political usages.

Ritual communication extends beyond collective religious expression. It is an intrinsic part of everyday interactions, ceremonies, theatrical performances, shamanic chants, political demonstrations and rites of passage. This title examines how people create and express meaning through verbal and non-verbal ritual.

How do anthropologists work today and how will they work in future? This volume shows that anthropology is put to work in diverse ways. Its goal is to help graduate students and early-career scholars accept the changes without feeling something essential to anthropology has been lost.

Aims to assess the diversity of relations between regional or national anthropologies and a contested, power-laden Western discourse. Critically examining the international dissemination of anthropology within and across national power fields, this book provides the outline for a veritable world anthropologies project.

Embedding Ethics questions why ethics have been divorced from scientific expertise. Invoking different disciplinary practices from biological, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology, contributors show how ethics should be resituated at the heart of, rather than exterior to, scientific activity.

Presents an important approach to understanding our world. This book answers questions such as: Did people in Shakespeare's time hear differently from us? Why do people in Egypt increasingly listen to taped religious sermons? It shows how sound offers a refreshing lens through which to examine culture and complex social issues.

Whether in popular media or scientific literature, plagues are currently a topic of tremendous interest and anxiety. Through an excellent range of case studies, this volume provides a broad and engaging study of the plague and its effects both historically and today.

Ritual communication extends beyond collective religious expression. It is an intrinsic part of everyday interactions, ceremonies, theatrical performances, shamanic chants, political demonstrations and rites of passage. This title examines how people create and express meaning through verbal and non-verbal ritual.

Draws together essays by prominent scholars in anthropology and other fields examining the varied face of indigenous politics in Bolivia, Botswana, Canada, and Chile, amongst others. This book challenges accepted notions of indigeneity as it examines the transnational dynamics of contemporary native culture and politics around the world.

'Hearing Cultures' is an examination of the elusive, often evocative, and sometimes cacophonous auditory sense - from the intersection of sound and modernity through to the relationship between audio-technological advances and issues of personal and urban space.

Aims to assess the diversity of relations between regional or national anthropologies and a contested, power-laden Western discourse. Critically examining the international dissemination of anthropology within and across national power fields, this book provides the outline for a veritable world anthropologies project.

Anthropologists who talk about ethics generally mean the code of practice drafted by a professional association for implementation by its members.

Marks a convergence towards the idea that human culture and cognition are rooted in the character of human social interaction, which is unique in the animal kingdom. This work attempts to explore the underlying properties of social interaction viewed across many disciplines, and examines their origins in infant development and in human evolution.

Draws together essays by prominent scholars in anthropology and other fields examining the varied face of indigenous politics in Bolivia, Botswana, Canada, and Chile, amongst others. This book challenges accepted notions of indigeneity as it examines the transnational dynamics of contemporary native culture and politics around the world.

Whether in popular media or scientific literature, plagues are currently a topic of tremendous interest and anxiety. Through an excellent range of case studies, this volume provides a broad and engaging study of the plague and its effects both historically and today.

How do anthropologists work today and how will they work in future? While some anthropologists have recently called for a new "public" or "engaged" anthropology, profound changes have already occurred, leading to new kinds of work for a large number of anthropologists.

An examination of the concept of domestication against the shifting background of relationships among humans, animals and plants. It explores the relevance of domestication for anthropologists and scholars in related fields who are concerned with understanding ongoing change in processes affecting humans as well as other species.

This book marks an exciting convergence towards the idea that human culture and cognition are rooted in the character of human social interaction, which is unique in the animal kingdom.

Anthropologists of the senses have long argued that cultures differ in their sensory registers. This book applies this idea to material culture and the social practices that endow objects with meanings in both colonial and post colonial relationships. It challenges the privileged position of the sense of vision in the analysis of material culture.

This title considers the state of the culture concept in anthropology. It argues that anthropology can continue with or without a concept of culture, depending on the research questions being asked, and, that when culture is retained, no single definition of it is practical or necessary.