Interviews with Anthropologists about their New Books
https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/anthropology/
episode 29: Bianca Williams, “The Pursuit of Happiness: Black Women, Diasporic Dreams, and the Politics of Emotional Transnationalism" (Duke UP, 2018)
Bianca Williams offers her readers a different starting point by asking: What about Black women’s experiences of happiness, pleasure, leisure, desire...
episode 142: Justine Howe, “Suburban Islam” (Oxford UP, 2018)
Howe examines the social and spiritual contexts of Muslims living outside of Chicago...
episode 7: Caleb Simmons, "Nine Nights of the Goddess: The Navaratri Festival in South Asia" (SUNY Press, 2018)
This work maps manifestations of the festival across historical periods and local celebrations over the regions of West Bengal, Odish...
episode 43: Thomas Patton, "The Buddha’s Wizards: Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism" (Columbia UP, 2018)
Thomas Patton examines the weizzā, a figure in Burmese Buddhism who is possessed with extraordinary supernatural powers, usually gained through some sort of esoteric practice...
episode 179: Jonathan Birch, "The Philosophy of Social Evolution" (Oxford UP, 2017)
It seems to go against evolutionary theory for an individual to give up its own chances at reproducing in order to increase the fitness of others...
episode 17: Gary Metcalf, "Social Systems and Design" (Springer Verlag, 2014)
Gary Metcalf asks if it is possible to establish ethical “first principles” for the design of social systems...
episode 6: Mani Rao, "Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity, and Visionary Experience Today" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)
What role does mantra play in the lives of Hindu practitioners?
episode 19: David J. Puglia, "Tradition, Urban Identity, and the Baltimore 'Hon': The Folk in the City" (Lexington Books, 2018)
In Baltimore, the word "hon" has a particular salience and is often associated a certain type of blue-collar woman who sports a beehive hairdo and cat-eye glasses...
episode 28: Rosalind Fredericks, "Garbage Citizenship: Vital Infrastructures of Labor in Dakar, Senegal" (Duke UP, 2018)
The production and removal of garbage, as a key element of the daily infrastructure of urban life, is deeply embedded in social, moral, and political contexts...
episode 134: Jan English-Lueck, "Cultures@SiliconValley: Second Edition" (Stanford UP, 2017)
Silicon Valley is understood to be one of the most fast-paced regions on earth, where innovation and upheaval are part and parcel of daily life...