New directions in biocultural anthropology / edited by Molly K. Zuckerman and Debra L. Martin.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Martin, Debra L., editor.

Zuckerman, Molly K., editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Physical anthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (537 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley-Blackwell, 2016.

Summary:

Biocultural or biosocial anthropology is a research approach that views biology and culture as dialectically and inextricably intertwined, explicitly emphasizing the dynamic interaction between humans and their larger social, cultural, and physical environments. The biocultural approach emerged in anthropology in the 1960s, matured in the 1980s, and is now one of the dominant paradigms in anthropology, particularly within biological anthropology. This volume gathers contributions from the top scholars in biocultural anthropology focusing on six of the most influential, productive, and important areas of research within biocultural anthropology. These are: critical and synthetic approaches within biocultural anthropology; biocultural approaches to identity, including race and racism; health, diet, and nutrition; infectious disease from antiquity to the modern era; epidemiologic transitions and population dynamics; and inequality and violence studies. Focusing on these six major areas of burgeoning research within biocultural anthropology makes the proposed volume timely, widely applicable and useful to scholars engaging in biocultural research and students interested in the biocultural approach, and synthetic in its coverage of contemporary scholarship in biocultural anthropology. Students will be able to grasp the history of the biocultural approach, and how that history continues to impact scholarship, as well as the scope of current research within the approach, and the foci of biocultural research into the future. Importantly, contributions in the text follow a consistent format of a discussion of method and theory relative to a particular aspect of the above six topics, followed by a case study applying the surveyed method and theory. This structure will engage students by providing real world examples of anthropological issues, and demonstrating how biocultural method and theory can be used to elucidate and resolve them. Key features include: * Contributions which span the breadth of approaches and topics within biological anthropology from the insights granted through work with ancient human remains to those granted through collaborative research with contemporary peoples. * Comprehensive treatment of diverse topics within biocultural anthropology, from human variation and adaptability to recent disease pandemics, the embodied effects of race and racism, industrialization and the rise of allergy and autoimmune diseases, and the sociopolitics of slavery and torture. * Contributions and sections united by thematically cohesive threads. * Clear, jargon-free language in a text that is designed to be pedagogically flexible: contributions are written to be both understandable and engaging to both undergraduate and graduate students. * Provision of synthetic theory, method and data in each contribution. * The use of richly contextualized case studies driven by empirical data. * Through case-study driven contributions, each chapter demonstrates how biocultural approaches can be used to better understand and resolve real-world problems and anthropological issues.

Contents:

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Dedication; Contributors; Acknowledgements; A biocultural tribute to a biocultural scholar: Professor George J. Armelagos, May 22, 1936-May 15, 2014; References; Chapter 1 Introduction: the development of biocultural perspectives in anthropology; Introduction; The origins and development of the biocultural approach; Using a biocultural model; Difficulties in using the biocultural approach; The case studies in this volume; Conclusion; References; Notes; Part I Critical and synthetic approaches to biocultural anthropology

Chapter 2 Exploring biocultural concepts: anthropology for the next generationIntroduction; Background; Case study: the Quechua of southern Peru, 1964 to the present; Discussion; Conclusion; References; Notes; Endnotes; Chapter 3 Local nutrition in global contexts: critical biocultural perspectives on the nutrition transition in Mexico; Introduction; Background; Case study: the ""coca-colonization"" of diet in the Yucat[[[\'a]]]n; Conclusion; References; Notes; Part II Biocultural approaches to identity; Chapter 4 Disease and dying while black: how racism, not race, gets under the skin

IntroductionBackground; Case study: race versus racism; Discussion and conclusion; References; Chapter 5 Beyond genetic race: biocultural insights into the causes of racial health disparities; Introduction; Background; Case study #1: hypertension in the African Diaspora; Case study #2: does the experience of racial discrimination in the United States have intergenerational health consequences?; Discussion and conclusion; References; Chapter 6 Political economy of African forced migration and enslavement in colonial New York: an historical biology perspective; Introduction; Background

Case studyDiscussion; Conclusion; References; Notes; Chapter 7 Identifying the First African Baptist Church: searching for historically invisible people; Introduction; Case study: Afro-American biohistory; Conclusion; References; Notes; Part III Biocultural approaches to health and diet; Chapter 8 ""Canaries in the mineshaft"": the children of Kulubnarti; Introduction; Case study: Nubia and Kulubnarti; Conclusion; Acknowledgments; References; Chapter 9 Biocultural investigations of ancient Nubia; Introduction; Background

Case study: operationalizing a biocultural investigation: the Bioarchaeology of Nubia ExpeditionConclusion; Acknowledgments; References; Chapter 10 Life and death in nineteenth-century Peoria, Illinois: taking a biocultural approach towards understanding the past; Introduction; Case study: life and death in nineteenth-century Peoria; Discussion; Conclusion; Acknowledgments; References; Chapter 11 Does industrialization always result in reduced skeletal robusticity?; Introduction; Background; Case study: testing ideas about robusticity and industrialization; Discussion; Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781118962947

111896294X

9781118962930

1118962931

9781118962954

1118962958

OCLC:

957465028