Between Birth and Death

Between Birth and Death

Author: Michelle King

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2014-01-08

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780804785983

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Female infanticide is a social practice often closely associated with Chinese culture. Journalists, social scientists, and historians alike emphasize that it is a result of the persistence of son preference, from China's ancient past to its modern present. Yet how is it that the killing of newborn daughters has come to be so intimately associated with Chinese culture? Between Birth and Death locates a significant historical shift in the representation of female infanticide during the nineteenth century. It was during these years that the practice transformed from a moral and deeply local issue affecting communities into an emblematic cultural marker of a backwards Chinese civilization, requiring the scientific, religious, and political attention of the West. Using a wide array of Chinese, French and English primary sources, the book takes readers on an unusual historical journey, presenting the varied perspectives of those concerned with the fate of an unwanted Chinese daughter: a late imperial Chinese mother in the immediate moments following birth, a male Chinese philanthropist dedicated to rectifying moral behavior in his community, Western Sinological experts preoccupied with determining the comparative prevalence of the practice, Catholic missionaries and schoolchildren intent on saving the souls of heathen Chinese children, and turn-of-the-century reformers grappling with the problem as a challenge for an emerging nation.


Infanticide by Males and Its Implications

Infanticide by Males and Its Implications

Author: Carel van Schaik

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-11-02

Total Pages: 588

ISBN-13: 9780521774987

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Analysis of impact of infanticide on social organization and reproductive behavior in primates including humans.


Female Infanticide in India

Female Infanticide in India

Author: Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 0791483851

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Female Infanticide in India is a theoretical and discursive intervention in the field of postcolonial feminist theory. It focuses on the devaluation of women through an examination of the practice of female infanticide in colonial India and the reemergence of this practice in the form of femicide (selective killing of female fetuses) in postcolonial India. The authors argue that femicide is seen as part of the continuum of violence on, and devaluation of, the postcolonial girl-child and woman. In order to fully understand the material and discursive practices through which the limited and localized crime of female infanticide in colonial India became a generalized practice of femicide in postcolonial India, the authors closely examine the progressivist British-colonial history of the discovery, reform, and eradication of the practice of female infanticide. Contemporary tactics of resistance are offered in the closing chapters.


The Structure of Indian Society

The Structure of Indian Society

Author: A.M. Shah

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1136197710

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This book has a collection of ten articles written during 1982–2007 and an exhaustive introduction on the structural features of Indian society, that is, the enduring social groups, institutions and processes, such as caste, tribe, sect, rural-urban relations, etc. The book views Indian society in contemporary as well as historical perspective, based on a wealth of field research as well as archival material. The book focuses on the significance of village studies in transforming the understanding of Indian society and also shows how urban centres have been useful in shaping society. Taking a critical look at the prevailing thinking on various structures and institutions, the author uses insights derived from his comprehensive studies of kinship, marriage, religion, and grassroots politics in advancing their studies. He points out the strengths and weaknesses of these structures and institutions and the direction in which they are changing with respect to modern time. As against the overwhelming emphasis on the hierarchical dimension of caste, this book focuses on its horizontal dimension, that is, every caste’s population spread over villages and towns in an area, its internal organization and differentiation based on networks of kinship, marriage, patron-client relationship, and role of endogamy versus hypergamy in maintaining its boundaries. The tribes are also seen in the same perspective, emphasizing the tribe-caste homology. Finally, the book provides information on important issues like policy of reservations, the reliability of censuses and surveys of castes and tribes, removal of untouchability, growth of organized religion and secularization.


Women, Politics, and Power

Women, Politics, and Power

Author: Pamela Paxton

Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated

Published: 2013-04-17

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 9781412998666

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Women, Politics, and Power provides a clear and detailed introduction to women's political participation and representation across a wide range of countries and regions. Using broad statistical overviews and detailed case-study accounts, authors Pamela Paxton and Melanie Hughes document both historical trends and the contemporary state of women's political strength across diverse countries. In addition to describing worldwide themes, the book acknowledges differences among women through attention to intersectionality and heterogeneity among women. Dedicated chapters on six geographic regions highlight the distinct paths women may take to political power in different parts of the world. There is simply no other book that offers such a thorough and multidisciplinary synthesis of research on women's political power around the world.


Understanding Circumcision

Understanding Circumcision

Author: George C. Denniston

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 1475733518

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Every year, in the United States and the third world combined, 13.3 million boys and 2 million girls are circumcised. Whether because of perceived medical, cultural, or religious necessity, most of these parents feel they have no alternative but to allow their children to undergo this surgery. Sparking intense debate, the circumcision of children is a highly controversial and complex phenomenon that touches a variety of sociological areas, such as religious beliefs, identity issues, medical conceptualizations, fear, and superstition. The contributors to this volume comprise an international panel of experts in the fields of medicine, psychology, law, ethics, sociology, anthropology, history, theology, and politics. In 18 chapters they discuss the history of circumcision; document the physical and psychological consequences of circumcision; present the latest anatomical discoveries about the male prepuce; analyze the role of circumcision in various traditions; reveal the medical industry's investment in the practice; describe current legislative efforts to protect children from circumcision; and outline effective, culturally sensitive methods that are being implemented today to safeguard the human rights of at-risk children. For its insights into this troubling aspect of culture, Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem is a critically important contribution to the growing body of literature on this subject.


Studying Organization

Studying Organization

Author: Stewart R Clegg

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 1999-04-29

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 1446237192

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In response to the needs of lecturers, the acclaimed Handbook of Organization Studies has been made available as two major paperback textbooks. In this, the first of a two-volume paperback edition of the landmark Handbook of Organization Studies, editors Stewart Clegg and Cynthia Hardy survey the field of organization studies. Studying Organization is an ideal textbook around which to build courses on organization theory and research methodology. Central to the enterprise has been a concern to reflect and honour the manifest diversity of the field, including recognition of the extent to which the very notion of a single field of organization studies is debated. Part One locates the study of organization by reviewing some of the most significant theoretical paradigms to have shaped our understanding. The second part reflects on the relationships between theory and research in organization studies.