Anthropology and contemporary human problems

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James O'Connor

Economic growth since the Industrial Revolution has been achieved at great cost both to the natural environment and to the autonomy of human communities. What can a Marxist perspective contribute to understanding this disturbing legacy, and mitigating its impact on future generations? Renowned social theorist James O'Connor shows how the policies and imperatives of business and government influence - and are influenced by - environmental and social change. Probing the relationship between economy, nature, and society, O'Connor argues that environmental and social crises pose a growing threat to capitalism itself. These illuminating essays and case studies demonstrate the power of ecological Marxist analysis for understanding our diverse environmental and social history, for grounding economic behavior in the real world, and for formulating and evaluating new political strategies.

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Sonia Ryang

"Japan and National Anthropology is a study which challenges the conventional view of Japanese studies in general and Anglophone anthropological writings on Japan in particular. Sonia Ryang explores the process by which the post-war anthropology of Japan has come to be dominated by certain conceptual and methodological approaches and exposes the extent to which this process has occluded our view of Japan." "In an attempt to move away from theoretical trends which identify Japanese cultural boundaries with Japan's nation-state boundaries, consequentially portraying the country as racially homogeneous and culturally unique, Ryang examines: how wartime enemy studies shaped the direction of post-war anthropology; the historical effects and significance of Chrysanthemum and the Sword; key texts from the anthropology enquiry that started within the US military occupation of Japan (1945-1952); Japanese kinship and its relationship to the study of Japan as a nation; and the origins and development of the studies of the Japanese self." "This book will be welcomed by all students of Japanese anthropology and Japanese history. Its historical breadth and criticism of existing approaches provide a fresh and reasoned insight into the development and future of anthropology of Japan."--BOOK JACKET.

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Frank T. Smith, Susan N. Brown

This book aims to present modern thinking and developments in the theory, computation and experimental measurement of boundary layers, with particular emphasis on separation. Boundary-layer separation is a common occurrence in external and internal fluid flows at medium to high Reynolds numbers, and the understanding of the phenomenon has increased greatly in recent years. This book, bringing together contributions from theoreticians, computationalists and experimentalists, is an attempt to reflect much of the recent progress as well as point out future goals and provide ideas and stimulation. The work covers the effects of incompressibility and compressibility, steadiness and unsteadiness, two - and three - dimensionality, small - and large - scale behaviour, and various theories, computational methods and experimental findings, for laminar, transitional and turbulent separating flows.

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R.C. Tinsley and H.R. Kobel

Xenopus, the African clawed frog, is one of the three most widely cited vertebrate animals in the biological literature, yet almost all knowledge is based on laboratory experience of a single species, Xenopus laevis from South Africa. Despite the occurrence of these frogs in habitats ranging from rainforest to semi-desert and from lowland swamps to alpine lakes in sub-Saharan Africa, the rest of the genus was until recently considered relatively uniform and uninteresting. During the past twenty years, field research has transformed our knowledge of these animals in their natural environment, and currently seventeen species are recognized. This book is the first attempt to describe their biology and natural history. The first five chapters cover systematics, ecology, distribution, and species interactions. The second section covers behaviour, sensory perception, and development. The next section focuses on infections and defence, followed by a final group of chapters on evolutionary and phylogenetic aspects. The aim of this volume is to provide a reference work for researchers working with Xenopus in the lab and to highlight for them and others the potential of Xenopus for future work in evolutionary biology, genetics, behaviour, immunology, parasitology, and ecology.