Carved into our past, woven into our present, numbers shape our perceptions of the world and of ourselves much more than we commonly think. "Numbers and the Making of Us" is a sweeping account of how numbers radically enhanced our species' cognitive...

In recent years, social workers have raised a new concern about the appearance of a new category among the working poor. Even employed, there are people so overburdened by the cost of living and so under compensated that they cannot afford a place to...

Taking an approach that is equal parts anthropological and art historical, this lavishly illustrated volume offers a rare look at the art, artifacts, and culture of the Naga people, an ethnic group spanning several tribes native to northeastern India...

The concept of normal is so familiar that it can be hard to imagine contemporary life without it. Yet the term entered everyday speech only in the mid-twentieth century. Before that, it was solely a scientific term used primarily in medicine to refer...

As an overseas department of France, Guadeloupe is one of a handful of non-independent societies in the Caribbean that seem like political exceptions – or even paradoxes – in our current postcolonial era. In "Non-Sovereign Futures", Yarimar Bonilla w...

Since the end of the cold war, Africa has seen a dramatic rise in new political and religious phenomena, including an eviscerated privatized state, neoliberal NGOs, Pentecostalism, a resurgence in accusations of witchcraft, a culture of scamming and...

American spirituality – with its focus on individual meaning, experience, and exploration – is usually thought to be a product of the postmodern era. But, as "The New Metaphysicals" makes clear, contemporary American spirituality has historic roots i...

In "Neoliberal Frontiers", Brenda Chalfin presents an ethnographic examination of the day-to-day practices of the officials of Ghana's Customs Service, exploring the impact of neoliberal restructuring and integration into the global economy on Ghanai...

This volume brings together essays on the nature of political organization of the Moche, a complex pre-Inca society that existed on the north coast of Peru from c. 100 to 800 CE. Since the discovery of the royal tombs of Sipan in 1987, the Moche have...

Table of Symbols Prologue Part One: Family Secrets 1. The Hidden Child 2. Foolish Women and Wise Virgins Part Two: Echo Effects Part Three: Scenes from Private Life 1. The Lewd Grandmother 2. In Death as in Life 3. "...These Twin Mirrors" Part Fo...