For courses in Social Organization, Kinship, and Cultural Ecology. Kinship has made a come-back in Anthropology. Not only is there a line of noted, general, introductory works and readers in the topic, but theoretical discussions have been stimulated both by technological changes in mechanisms of reproduction and by reconsiderations of how to define kinship in the most productive ways for cross-cultural comparisons. In addition, kinship studies have moved away from the minutiae of kin terminological systems and the “kinship algebra” often associated with these, to the broader analysis of processes, historical changes and fundamental cultural meanings in which kin relationships are implicated. In this changed, and changing context both Andrew Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart -- both of the University of Pittsburgh -- bring together a number of interests and concerns, in order to provide pointers for students, as well as scholars, in this field of study. Taking an explicitly processual approach, the authors examine definitions of terms such as kinship itself, approach the topic in a way that is invariably ethnographic, and deploy materials from field areas where they themselves have worked.

Kinship in Action: Self and Group

Politics & Social Sciences

Strathern, Andrew

Stewart, Pamela J.

Social Sciences

Routledge

This is a uniquely dramatic account of life in the Papua New Guinea Highlands as told by a well-known leader of the Kawelka people of Mount Hagen. Set into context with a contemporary introduction that discusses the usefulness of biography in anthropology, the case study presents the already well-known autobiography of Ongka, a leader who witnessed the arrival of the first outsiders to the Highlands of New Guinea in the 1930s. By using a life history approach, this ethnographic account serves as a lens through which the student of anthropology will see the wider processes of conflict and change brought to the Kawelka people through contact with the outside world. Capitalizing on the growing awareness of the importance of writing history from an anthropological viewpoint, the book packages Ongka's account in a way that facilitates its use in the teaching of experiential anthropology. The voices of other Kawelka people, including one of Ongka's married daughters, adds new dimensions to the already rich account.

Collaborations and Conflicts: A Leader Through Time (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology)

Wadsworth Publishing

The authors present a historical picture of gender relations in Highlands New Guinea by exploring domains of imagination as revealed in courting songs, ballads, and folktales from across the Highlands but with particular reference to field areas in the western Highlands. Texts and/or translations are from a rich corpus of materials previously unpublished in English. The examples draw the reader into the imaginative world of the people, while the analytical framework sets the discussion firmly into debates within interpretive anthropology.
The aim is to re-examine the images of gender relations in Highlands New Guinea by revealing the sensuous and emotional modalities of expressive folk genres and their aesthetic qualities. Ideas and practices centered on female spirit entities are shown to be important and pervasive in cult contexts, and these spirits were felt to have a significant influence on relations of courtship, marriage, and reproduction. Both women and men are also shown to have complex expressions of emotional dispositions in the spheres of courting and the choice of marital partners. By entering into these domains, the book modifies earlier analyses that have concentrated on antagonism, behavioral taboos, separation, and domination as themes in gender relations in Highland societies.

Gender, Song, and Sensibility: Folktales and Folksongs in the Highlands of New Guinea

Praeger

Ongka: A Self-Account by a New Guinea Big-Man (English and Papuan Languages Edition)

Ongka

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

A line of power

Tavistock

STRATHERN, A.: A LINE OF POWER. LONDON, 1984, vi 170 p. mapas.Encuadernacion original. Nuevo.

A Line of Power

Routledge& Kegan Paul

Provides an excellent review of anthropological thought on the body

Body Thoughts

University of Michigan Press

Thomson

Man as Art: New Guinea Body Decoration

Kirk, Malcolm

Thames and Hudson Ltd.

Witchcraft, Sorcery, Rumors and Gossip (New Departures in Anthropology)

Two classic topics in social anthropology are combined in this work--the study of witchcraft and sorcery and the study of rumors and gossip. After revealing the importance of rumor and gossip as catalysts for accusations of witchcraft and sorcery, it demonstrates their role in the genesis of social and political violence, as seen in peasant rebellions, as well as witch-hunts. The study draws upon examples from Africa, Europe, India, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.

Cambridge University Press

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Books by Strathern, Andrew