Cultural retention & demographic change


Book Description

Three essays discuss the history, folkways and mechanisms of social change among the descendants of nineteenth century immigrants from the Outer Hebridean Islands of Harris and Lewis now living in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.




Demographic Change and Ethnic Survival among the Sedentary Populations on the Jesuit Mission Frontiers of Spanish South America, 1609-1803


Book Description

Beginning in 1609, Jesuit missionaries established missions (reductions) among sedentary and non-sedentary native populations in the larger region defined as the Province of Paraguay (Rio de la Plata region, eastern Bolivia). One consequence of resettlement on the missions was exposure to highly contagious old world crowd diseases such as smallpox and measles. Epidemics that occurred about once a generation killed thousands. Despite severe mortality crises such as epidemics, warfare, and famine, the native populations living on the missions recovered. An analysis of the effects of epidemics and demographic patterns shows that the native populations living on the Paraguay and Chiquitos missions survived and retained a unique ethnic identity. A comparative approach that considers demographic patterns among other mission populations place the case study of the Paraguay and Chiquitos missions into context, and show how patterns on the Paraguay and Chiquitos missions differed from other mission populations. The findings challenge generally held assumptions about Native American historical demography.




Animal Social Networks


Book Description

The scientific study of networks - computer, social, and biological - has received an enormous amount of interest in recent years. However, the network approach has been applied to the field of animal behaviour relatively late compared to many other biological disciplines. Understanding social network structure is of great importance for biologists since the structural characteristics of any network will affect its constituent members and influence a range of diverse behaviours. These include finding and choosing a sexual partner, developing and maintaining cooperative relationships, and engaging in foraging and anti-predator behavior. This novel text provides an overview of the insights that network analysis has provided into major biological processes, and how it has enhanced our understanding of the social organisation of several important taxonomic groups. It brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines with the aim of providing both an overview of the power of the network approach for understanding patterns and process in animal populations, as well as outlining how current methodological constraints and challenges can be overcome. Animal Social Networks is principally aimed at graduate level students and researchers in the fields of ecology, zoology, animal behaviour, and evolutionary biology but will also be of interest to social scientists.




Oatmeal and the Catechism


Book Description

Relying heavily upon oral tradition, the book embraces the diverse disciplines of folklore, history, language, geography, literature, sociology, agriculture, botany, and home economics. It covers emigration history, community and domestic lifestyles, religious and social structure (including songs, poems, legends, and folktales), customs and beliefs, and material culture. Discussions are supported throughout by testimonies of many Townshippers, quoted verbatim, enabling the "voice" of the Gael to continue to be heard. Oatmeal and the Catechism will be of great interest to scholars and students of Gaelic studies and folklore in addition to Quebecers and others whose Scottish ancestors settled in Quebec and eastern Canada and helped carve a country out of the wilderness.




Gender, Culture and Organizational Change


Book Description

An engaging contribution to the increasing body of knowledge about gender and organizations, Gender, Culture and Organizational Change examines gender-based inequality in organizations and considers how sexual and social relations between women and men based on sexuality, power and control determine the cultures, structures and practices of organization and the experiences of men and women working in them. Gender, Culture and Organizational Change represents a decade of experience of managing change and implementing theory in public sector organizations during a period of major social, political and economic transition and analyses the progress that has been made. It expands to make wider connections with women and trade unions in Europe and management development for women in the "developing" countries of Africa and Asia. It will be valuable reading for students in social policy, gender studies and sociology and for professionals with an interest in understanding the dynamics of the workplace.




Sound Changes


Book Description

Extends the field of improvisation studies in a more global, transcultural direction




American Folklore


Book Description

Contains over 500 articles Ranging over foodways and folksongs, quiltmaking and computer lore, Pecos Bill, Butch Cassidy, and Elvis sightings, more than 500 articles spotlight folk literature, music, and crafts; sports and holidays; tall tales and legendary figures; genres and forms; scholarly approaches and theories; regions and ethnic groups; performers and collectors; writers and scholars; religious beliefs and practices. The alphabetically arranged entries vary from concise definitions to detailed surveys, each accompanied by a brief, up-to-date bibliography. Special features *More than 2000 contributors *Over 500 articles spotlight folk literature, music, crafts, and more *Alphabetically arranged *Entries accompanied by up-to-date bibliographies *Edited by America's best-known folklore authority




A Cultural Geography Of North American Indians


Book Description

This book focuses on the effects of interaction between Indian and non-Indian peoples and on the complex relationships between Indians and their environments. It presents information for an accurate assessment of whether North American Indians can survive as a distinct culture. .




Origins of Human Innovation and Creativity


Book Description

Innovation and creativity are two of the key characteristics that distinguish cultural transmission from biological transmission. This book explores a number of questions concerning the nature and timing of the origins of human creativity. What were the driving factors in the development of new technologies? What caused the stasis in stone tool technological innovation in the Early Pleistocene? Were there specific regions and episodes of enhanced technological development, or did it occur at a steady pace where ancestral humans lived? The authors are archaeologists who address these questions, armed with data from ancient artefacts such as shell beads used as jewelry, primitive musical instruments, and sophisticated techniques required to fashion certain kinds of stone into tools. Providing 'state of art' discussions that step back from the usual archaeological publications that focus mainly on individual site discoveries, this book presents the full picture on how and why creativity in Middle to Late Pleistocene archeology/anthropology evolved. - Gives a full, original and multidisciplinary perspective on how and why creativity evolved in the Middle to Late Pleistocene - Enhances our understanding of the big leaps forward in creativity at certain times - Assesses the intellectual creativity of Homo erectus, H. neanderthalensis, and H. sapiens via their artefacts




In the Light of Evolution


Book Description

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.