Cultural studies: customs and traditions Books

Black women have been balancing the competing demands of work and home since before women even won the right to vote. But black voices are barely acknowledged in the mainstream "mommy wars" dialogue. Lonnae O'Neal Parker is determined to change that, in...

As the field of Cultural History grows in prominence in the academic world, an understanding of the history of culture has become vital to scholars across disciplines. The Oxford Handbook of the New Cultural History of Music cultivates a return to the...

In this delicious book, noted food scholar Carole M. Counihan presents a compelling and artfully told narrative about family and food in late 20th-century Florence. Based on solid research, Counihan examines how family, and especially gender have...

Within both feminist theory and popular culture, establishing similarities between embodied practices rooted in different cultural and geo-political contexts (e.g. 'African' female genital cutting and 'Western' cosmetic surgery) has become increasingly...

In an age of increasingly fragmented migration, consumption, and globalisation, how do diasporic individuals navigate their ethnic identities? Diasporas, Weddings and the Trajectories of Ethnicity investigates the ways that Chinese Singaporeans shape...

This book examines the complex relationship between class and gender dynamics among tea ceremony (chadō) practitioners in Japan. Focusing on practitioners in a provincial city, Akita, the book surveys the rigid, hierarchical chadō system at grass roots...

Food is an important cultural marker of identity in contemporary Asian societies, and can provide a medium for the understanding of social relations, family and kinship, class and consumption, gender ideology, and cultural symbolism. However, a truly...

Between the 1930s and 1970s, a handful of writers mentioned old, mysterious, roof-like grave covers in cemeteries in Sussex and Wicomico counties on the Delmarva Peninsula. Their origins were unknown, but they were believed to be one to two hundred years...

In Intoxicated Identities, Tim Mitchell provides a novel and well-grounded framework for understanding subjective drinking experiences from the Aztecs to the present day in areas as diverse as Chiapas, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Mexico City, Texas and...

The Ma' Betisek are a group of aborigines who live on the mangrove coastal area of Selangor in peninsular Malaysia. Dr Karim's study is mainly focused on the Ma' Betisek communities on Carey Island, off the west coast of Selangor and in particular...

Man the Hunter is a collection of papers presented at a symposium on research done among the hunting and gathering peoples of the world. Ethnographic studies increasingly contribute substantial amounts of new data on hunter-gatherers and are rapidly...

Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World surveys the ways in which people from the time of Luther and Columbus to that of Thomas Jefferson used Christian ideas and institutions to regulate and shape sexual norms and conduct, and examines the...

A field guide to the new American Roots movement, United States of Americana is a vivid, fascinating, and comprehensive survey of how and why young urban Americans are finding inspiration in the cultural traditions of an earlier time in many areas of...

First published in 1937, this collection presents a series of vignettes on Japanese life and thought, taken from 25 years of the author's work for the Japanese tourist board between 1912 and 1937.Dealing in subjects as diverse as...

Cosmopolitan Memory in Europe's 'Backwaters' reconsiders the definitional relationships of 'national character' and 'national heritage' in the context of Western industrial modernity. Taking as a case study the Greek islands of Skiathos and Skopelos...

Beads, Bodies, and Trash merges cultural sociology with a commodity chain analysis by following Mardi Gras beads to their origins. Beginning with Bourbon Street of New Orleans, this book moves to the grim factories in the tax-free economic zone of rural...

In late-1990s Britain, the salwaar-kameez or 'Punjabi suit' emerged as a high-fashion garment. Popular both on the catwalk and on the street, it made front-page news when worn by Diana, Princess of Wales and by Cherie Booth, the wife of UK Prime Minister...

Scientific and technological innovation continues at a rapid pace, but the public is increasingly aware of possible risks and demanding greater involvement in decisions about new technologies. This edited volume brings together leading social scientists...

With the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity that is a feature of European societies today, pluralism is experienced in new and challenging ways. In many places, an urban cosmopolitan mix sits side by side with group-based expressions of faith and...

The question of ignorance occupies a central place in anthropological theory and practice. This volume argues that the concept of ignorance has largely been pursued as the opposite of knowledge or even its obverse. Though they cover wide empirical ground...

Sexual mutilation is a global problem that affects 15. 3 million children and young adults annually. In terms of gender, 13. 3 million boys and 2 million girls are involuntarily subjected to sexual mutilation every year. While...

Dreams seem the most private territory of experience. Yet Dreaming Culture argues they are a space in which we practice, consider, question, and adapt cultural models of the self, gender, sexuality, relationships, and agency. Through an innovative "dream...

""A Glossary Of Words Used In The County Of Wiltshire"" is a book written by George Edward Dartnell and published in 1893. The book is a comprehensive guide to the dialect and vocabulary of the English county of Wiltshire. It contains an extensive list...

This book examines Japanese tourism and travel, both today and in the past, showing how over hundreds of years a distinct culture of travel developed, and exploring how this has permeated the perceptions and traditions of Japanese society. It considers...

This book challenges the perception of Japan as a 'copying culture' through a series of detailed ethnographic and historical case studies. It addresses a question about why the West has had such a fascination for the adeptness with which the Japanese...

Like national identity, national days involve a process of 'othering', saying who you are, as much as who you are not. If some countries (such as Scotland and Ireland) celebrate them far more strongly than their neighbour, England, why is that? Why is...

Cultural Change and Persistence addresses the complex challenge of pursuing development while safeguarding cherished aspects of deeply-rooted cultural practices and beliefs. Through cases from multiple world regions, the authors tackle the thorny problem...

Here is a book filled with the sights and sounds of a people steeped in a background of fine old traditions. It is a charming account of Swedish customs that goes beyond their democratic monarchy, their progressive social-welfare programs, their...

Discover a World of Fulfillment and Wisdom: "Prioritizing Well-being: Cultural Approaches"Embark on a captivating journey across cultures and continents as we unveil the timeless secrets of happiness and well-being in "Prioritizing Well-being: Cultural...