Emma E. A. Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195323351
- eISBN:
- 9780199785575
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323351.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The Mind Possessed examines spirit concepts and mediumistic practices from a cognitive scientific perspective. Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, from ethnographic data collected ...
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The Mind Possessed examines spirit concepts and mediumistic practices from a cognitive scientific perspective. Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, from ethnographic data collected during eighteen months of fieldwork in Belém, northern Brazil, this book combines fine‐grained description and analysis of mediumistic activities in an Afro‐Brazilian cult house with a scientific account of the emergence and the spread of the tradition's core concepts. The book develops a novel theoretical approach to questions that are of central importance to the scientific study of transmission of culture, particularly concepts of spirits, spirit healing, and spirit possession. Making a radical departure from established anthropological, medicalist, and sociological analyses of spirit phenomena, the book looks instead to instructive insights from the cognitive sciences and offers a set of testable hypotheses concerning the spread and appeal of spirit concepts and possession activities. Predictions and claims are grounded in the data collected and sourced in specific ethnographic contexts. The data presented open new lines of enquiry for the cognitive science of religion (a rapidly growing field of interdisciplinary scholarship) and challenge the existing but outdated theoretical frameworks within which spirit possession practices have traditionally been understood.Less
The Mind Possessed examines spirit concepts and mediumistic practices from a cognitive scientific perspective. Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, from ethnographic data collected during eighteen months of fieldwork in Belém, northern Brazil, this book combines fine‐grained description and analysis of mediumistic activities in an Afro‐Brazilian cult house with a scientific account of the emergence and the spread of the tradition's core concepts. The book develops a novel theoretical approach to questions that are of central importance to the scientific study of transmission of culture, particularly concepts of spirits, spirit healing, and spirit possession. Making a radical departure from established anthropological, medicalist, and sociological analyses of spirit phenomena, the book looks instead to instructive insights from the cognitive sciences and offers a set of testable hypotheses concerning the spread and appeal of spirit concepts and possession activities. Predictions and claims are grounded in the data collected and sourced in specific ethnographic contexts. The data presented open new lines of enquiry for the cognitive science of religion (a rapidly growing field of interdisciplinary scholarship) and challenge the existing but outdated theoretical frameworks within which spirit possession practices have traditionally been understood.
William S Sax
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335866
- eISBN:
- 9780199868919
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335866.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book deals with ritual healing in the Central Himalayas of north India. It focuses on the cult of Bhairav, a local deity who is associated with the lowest castes, the so-called Dalits, who are ...
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This book deals with ritual healing in the Central Himalayas of north India. It focuses on the cult of Bhairav, a local deity who is associated with the lowest castes, the so-called Dalits, who are frequently victims of social injustice. When powerless people are exploited or abused and have nowhere else to go, they often turn to Bhairav for justice, and he afflicts their oppressors with disease and misfortune. In order to end their suffering, they must make amends with their former victims and worship Bhairav with bloody sacrifices. Many acts of perceived injustice occur within the family, so that much of the book focuses on the tension between the high moral value placed on family unity on the one hand, and the inevitable conflicts within it on the other. Such conflicts can lead to ghost possession, cursing, and other forms of black magic, all of which are vividly described. The book includes a personal account of the author's own experiences in the field as well as descriptions of blood sacrifice, possession, exorcism, and cursing. The book begins with a straightforward description of the author' s fieldwork and goes on to describe the god Bhairav and his relationship to the weak and powerless. Subsequent chapters deal with the lives of local oracles and healers; the main rituals of the cult and the dramatic Himalayan landscape in which they are embedded; the moral, ritual, and therapeutic centrality of the family; the importance of ghosts and exorcism; and practices of cursing and counter-cursing. The final chapter examines the problematic relationship between ritual healing and modernity.Less
This book deals with ritual healing in the Central Himalayas of north India. It focuses on the cult of Bhairav, a local deity who is associated with the lowest castes, the so-called Dalits, who are frequently victims of social injustice. When powerless people are exploited or abused and have nowhere else to go, they often turn to Bhairav for justice, and he afflicts their oppressors with disease and misfortune. In order to end their suffering, they must make amends with their former victims and worship Bhairav with bloody sacrifices. Many acts of perceived injustice occur within the family, so that much of the book focuses on the tension between the high moral value placed on family unity on the one hand, and the inevitable conflicts within it on the other. Such conflicts can lead to ghost possession, cursing, and other forms of black magic, all of which are vividly described. The book includes a personal account of the author's own experiences in the field as well as descriptions of blood sacrifice, possession, exorcism, and cursing. The book begins with a straightforward description of the author' s fieldwork and goes on to describe the god Bhairav and his relationship to the weak and powerless. Subsequent chapters deal with the lives of local oracles and healers; the main rituals of the cult and the dramatic Himalayan landscape in which they are embedded; the moral, ritual, and therapeutic centrality of the family; the importance of ghosts and exorcism; and practices of cursing and counter-cursing. The final chapter examines the problematic relationship between ritual healing and modernity.
Ilkka Pyysiäinen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380026
- eISBN:
- 9780199869046
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380026.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This book provides a cognitive scientific perspective to beliefs about supernatural agents. First, human intuitions about agents, agency, and counterintuitive concepts are outlined and explained. ...
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This book provides a cognitive scientific perspective to beliefs about supernatural agents. First, human intuitions about agents, agency, and counterintuitive concepts are outlined and explained. Second, various kinds of folk beliefs and theological doctrines about souls and spirits are analyzed in the light of the human cognitive architecture, using descriptions of spirit possession and shamanism as materials. Third, scholastic discussions of God’s cognitive capacities as well as folk-psychological God beliefs are analyzed. This analysis combines with a discussion of Buddhist ideas of soullesness and of buddhahood in textual traditions and in folk beliefs. Beliefs about God and buddhas are shown to rest on the same cognitive capacities of understanding agency and intentionality that underlie spirit beliefs. The Buddhist doctrine of soullessness was originally a denial of the self as a separate spiritual entity, not a denial of personal agency. God and buddhas differ from ordinary agents in that they are believed to have open access to all minds. Therefore, they can serve as means of representing what persons believe others to believe. Such divine minds are also used as an explanation for the fact that the whole of reality is intuitively experienced as if intentionally directed by a personal will. The book ends with a discussion of the future of religion and atheism.Less
This book provides a cognitive scientific perspective to beliefs about supernatural agents. First, human intuitions about agents, agency, and counterintuitive concepts are outlined and explained. Second, various kinds of folk beliefs and theological doctrines about souls and spirits are analyzed in the light of the human cognitive architecture, using descriptions of spirit possession and shamanism as materials. Third, scholastic discussions of God’s cognitive capacities as well as folk-psychological God beliefs are analyzed. This analysis combines with a discussion of Buddhist ideas of soullesness and of buddhahood in textual traditions and in folk beliefs. Beliefs about God and buddhas are shown to rest on the same cognitive capacities of understanding agency and intentionality that underlie spirit beliefs. The Buddhist doctrine of soullessness was originally a denial of the self as a separate spiritual entity, not a denial of personal agency. God and buddhas differ from ordinary agents in that they are believed to have open access to all minds. Therefore, they can serve as means of representing what persons believe others to believe. Such divine minds are also used as an explanation for the fact that the whole of reality is intuitively experienced as if intentionally directed by a personal will. The book ends with a discussion of the future of religion and atheism.
Christopher Peacocke
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199239443
- eISBN:
- 9780191717000
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239443.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This introduction begins with a discussion of the principal claim of the book, which is that reference and truth have an explanatory role to play in the nature of understanding and ...
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This introduction begins with a discussion of the principal claim of the book, which is that reference and truth have an explanatory role to play in the nature of understanding and concept-possession, an explanatory role that is deeper and more extensive than is commonly envisaged — either by opponents of truth-conditional theories, or even by some of their supporters. Part I of the book attempts to extract a general model of understanding from examples and defend it by its explanatory powers. Part II applies the general model outlined in Part I to various mental concepts. These include the concept of a subject of conscious states, and the concepts of perception and action, both bodily and mental. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.Less
This introduction begins with a discussion of the principal claim of the book, which is that reference and truth have an explanatory role to play in the nature of understanding and concept-possession, an explanatory role that is deeper and more extensive than is commonly envisaged — either by opponents of truth-conditional theories, or even by some of their supporters. Part I of the book attempts to extract a general model of understanding from examples and defend it by its explanatory powers. Part II applies the general model outlined in Part I to various mental concepts. These include the concept of a subject of conscious states, and the concepts of perception and action, both bodily and mental. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.
Lawrence Stone
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202547
- eISBN:
- 9780191675393
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202547.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This story is unusual only in the degree of brutality used by Thomas Trust in his efforts to force his wife to surrender to him her property, which had been settled on trustees for her exclusive use. ...
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This story is unusual only in the degree of brutality used by Thomas Trust in his efforts to force his wife to surrender to him her property, which had been settled on trustees for her exclusive use. Fathers of daughters had first begun to make these trusts in the late 17th century, and almost at once Chancery began to protect them. But many husbands naturally resisted, and the struggle to obtain possession of the trust estates of wives was fought out in household after household from then until the late 19th century, when Parliament at last legislated to provide secure protection for married women's property.Less
This story is unusual only in the degree of brutality used by Thomas Trust in his efforts to force his wife to surrender to him her property, which had been settled on trustees for her exclusive use. Fathers of daughters had first begun to make these trusts in the late 17th century, and almost at once Chancery began to protect them. But many husbands naturally resisted, and the struggle to obtain possession of the trust estates of wives was fought out in household after household from then until the late 19th century, when Parliament at last legislated to provide secure protection for married women's property.
Kathleen M. Erndl
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195177060
- eISBN:
- 9780199785438
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177060.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter explores questions of Hindu women's power in connection with goddess possession rituals in the Kangra Valley area of Himachal Pradesh, North India. In Kangra, it is not uncommon for ...
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This chapter explores questions of Hindu women's power in connection with goddess possession rituals in the Kangra Valley area of Himachal Pradesh, North India. In Kangra, it is not uncommon for women to become possessed by a goddess, to speak with her voice, and to act as healers and mediums in their communities. Possession grants householder women opportunities to travel beyond their domiciles and form a female community with other women, however temporary. This in turn may provide women access to advice, support, or even material assistance. These ritual spaces are “cracks” in a patriarchal system that cannot be completely controlled by patriarchal norms and that provide outlets for women's creativity and interconnection.Less
This chapter explores questions of Hindu women's power in connection with goddess possession rituals in the Kangra Valley area of Himachal Pradesh, North India. In Kangra, it is not uncommon for women to become possessed by a goddess, to speak with her voice, and to act as healers and mediums in their communities. Possession grants householder women opportunities to travel beyond their domiciles and form a female community with other women, however temporary. This in turn may provide women access to advice, support, or even material assistance. These ritual spaces are “cracks” in a patriarchal system that cannot be completely controlled by patriarchal norms and that provide outlets for women's creativity and interconnection.
Philip Lutgendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309225
- eISBN:
- 9780199785391
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309225.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The chapter opens with a description of Hanuman's traditional role as a guardian of spatial boundaries, and shows how this “peripheral” status has changed in recent times as his shrines have grown in ...
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The chapter opens with a description of Hanuman's traditional role as a guardian of spatial boundaries, and shows how this “peripheral” status has changed in recent times as his shrines have grown in size and have appeared in diverse and often central locations in villages and cities. Drawing on temple surveys and recently published guides to Hanuman shrines, it offers a verbal pilgrimage to well-known temples throughout India, and then presents more detailed descriptions of five major sites, each suggestive of a different aspect of Hanuman's character. The sites include two prominent temples in Delhi, a healing shrine specializing in the treatment of possession by ghosts, a martial arts club devoted to wrestling, and a New Age temple in the American Southwest. The chapter then turns to the implications of Hanuman's bodily immortality: the lore and experience of his embodied presence in particular locales and forms, as well as his occasional manifestation in human avataras.Less
The chapter opens with a description of Hanuman's traditional role as a guardian of spatial boundaries, and shows how this “peripheral” status has changed in recent times as his shrines have grown in size and have appeared in diverse and often central locations in villages and cities. Drawing on temple surveys and recently published guides to Hanuman shrines, it offers a verbal pilgrimage to well-known temples throughout India, and then presents more detailed descriptions of five major sites, each suggestive of a different aspect of Hanuman's character. The sites include two prominent temples in Delhi, a healing shrine specializing in the treatment of possession by ghosts, a martial arts club devoted to wrestling, and a New Age temple in the American Southwest. The chapter then turns to the implications of Hanuman's bodily immortality: the lore and experience of his embodied presence in particular locales and forms, as well as his occasional manifestation in human avataras.
Emma Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195323351
- eISBN:
- 9780199785575
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323351.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The reader is introduced to possession, and many of the key “why” questions that the book addresses, through the description of a possession healing ceremony and to the principal ethnographic focus ...
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The reader is introduced to possession, and many of the key “why” questions that the book addresses, through the description of a possession healing ceremony and to the principal ethnographic focus of the book—a terreiro, or Afro‐Brazilian cult house in the city of Belém, northern Brazil. Brief introductions to dominant approaches to possession within academic scholarship and to the explanatory approach adopted by the author are given. This is followed by a chapter‐by‐chapter summary of the book.Less
The reader is introduced to possession, and many of the key “why” questions that the book addresses, through the description of a possession healing ceremony and to the principal ethnographic focus of the book—a terreiro, or Afro‐Brazilian cult house in the city of Belém, northern Brazil. Brief introductions to dominant approaches to possession within academic scholarship and to the explanatory approach adopted by the author are given. This is followed by a chapter‐by‐chapter summary of the book.
Emma Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195323351
- eISBN:
- 9780199785575
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323351.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Chapter 7 addresses the social cognition of possession activities. Some researchers have noted that possession observation is often characterised by ambiguity, contradiction, and inconsistency. This ...
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Chapter 7 addresses the social cognition of possession activities. Some researchers have noted that possession observation is often characterised by ambiguity, contradiction, and inconsistency. This is the first attempt to explain why using established and recent hypotheses and data from social psychology (on social perception processes and biases) and neuroscience together with observations and interview data from the field.Less
Chapter 7 addresses the social cognition of possession activities. Some researchers have noted that possession observation is often characterised by ambiguity, contradiction, and inconsistency. This is the first attempt to explain why using established and recent hypotheses and data from social psychology (on social perception processes and biases) and neuroscience together with observations and interview data from the field.
Randy E. Barnett
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297291
- eISBN:
- 9780191598777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297297.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The liberal conception of justice is introduced and refined in light of the need to address the first‐order problem of knowledge. ‘Justice’ is respect for the rights of individuals and associations. ...
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The liberal conception of justice is introduced and refined in light of the need to address the first‐order problem of knowledge. ‘Justice’ is respect for the rights of individuals and associations. These rights include: (1) The right of several property specifies a right to acquire, possess, use, and dispose of scarce physical resources—including their own bodies. While most property rights are freely alienable, the right to one's person is inalienable. (2) The right of first possession specifies that property rights to unowned resources are acquired by being the first to establish control over them. (3) The right of freedom of contract specifies that a rightholder's consent is both necessary (freedom from contract) and sufficient (freedom to contract) to transfer alienable property rights.Less
The liberal conception of justice is introduced and refined in light of the need to address the first‐order problem of knowledge. ‘Justice’ is respect for the rights of individuals and associations. These rights include: (1) The right of several property specifies a right to acquire, possess, use, and dispose of scarce physical resources—including their own bodies. While most property rights are freely alienable, the right to one's person is inalienable. (2) The right of first possession specifies that property rights to unowned resources are acquired by being the first to establish control over them. (3) The right of freedom of contract specifies that a rightholder's consent is both necessary (freedom from contract) and sufficient (freedom to contract) to transfer alienable property rights.
Randy E. Barnett
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297291
- eISBN:
- 9780191598777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297297.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The incentive problem concerns ensuring that persons have an adequate incentive to make choices reflecting the knowledge to which they have access and to discover new information. This problem is ...
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The incentive problem concerns ensuring that persons have an adequate incentive to make choices reflecting the knowledge to which they have access and to discover new information. This problem is addressed by the rights of first possession, freedom from contract, and freedom to contract. The rule of law also addresses the incentive problem by providing a set of legal precepts that do not change too frequently and can therefore be relied upon. To preserve the incentives created by justice and the rule of law, takings must be compensated by requiring the perpetrator of the transfer to make restitution to the victim. The incentive problem created by public goods is less serious than some suppose and free riding can usually be addressed in a number of ways without the need for nonconsensual rights transfers.Less
The incentive problem concerns ensuring that persons have an adequate incentive to make choices reflecting the knowledge to which they have access and to discover new information. This problem is addressed by the rights of first possession, freedom from contract, and freedom to contract. The rule of law also addresses the incentive problem by providing a set of legal precepts that do not change too frequently and can therefore be relied upon. To preserve the incentives created by justice and the rule of law, takings must be compensated by requiring the perpetrator of the transfer to make restitution to the victim. The incentive problem created by public goods is less serious than some suppose and free riding can usually be addressed in a number of ways without the need for nonconsensual rights transfers.
Johan Rooryck and Guido Vanden Wyngaerd
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199691326
- eISBN:
- 9780191731785
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199691326.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This book adopts the strong Minimalist thesis that grammar contains no rules or principles specifically designed to account for anaphors and pronouns. Lexically, anaphors have unvalued φ-features, ...
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This book adopts the strong Minimalist thesis that grammar contains no rules or principles specifically designed to account for anaphors and pronouns. Lexically, anaphors have unvalued φ-features, which need to be valued under Agree. This leads to the novel assumption that anaphors c-command their antecedents. This idea underlies the analysis of both simplex and complex reflexives. Simplex reflexives are merged in a configuration of inalienable possession, with the simplex reflexive c-commanding its antecedent inside a possessive small clause. Self-reflexives share the syntax of self-intensifiers and floating quantifiers, raising to a vP-adjoined position to c-command their antecedents. In contrast to anaphors, pronouns have lexically valued φ-features. Postsyntactic lexical insertion accounts for absence of Principle B effects observed in many languages. The behaviour of pronouns and self-forms in snake-sentences is related to the nature of the Axpart projection of the locative preposition. Semantically, the difference between simplex and complex reflexives derives from the way they refer to spatiotemporal stages of their antecedents.Less
This book adopts the strong Minimalist thesis that grammar contains no rules or principles specifically designed to account for anaphors and pronouns. Lexically, anaphors have unvalued φ-features, which need to be valued under Agree. This leads to the novel assumption that anaphors c-command their antecedents. This idea underlies the analysis of both simplex and complex reflexives. Simplex reflexives are merged in a configuration of inalienable possession, with the simplex reflexive c-commanding its antecedent inside a possessive small clause. Self-reflexives share the syntax of self-intensifiers and floating quantifiers, raising to a vP-adjoined position to c-command their antecedents. In contrast to anaphors, pronouns have lexically valued φ-features. Postsyntactic lexical insertion accounts for absence of Principle B effects observed in many languages. The behaviour of pronouns and self-forms in snake-sentences is related to the nature of the Axpart projection of the locative preposition. Semantically, the difference between simplex and complex reflexives derives from the way they refer to spatiotemporal stages of their antecedents.
Aviad Kleinberg
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174701
- eISBN:
- 9780231540247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174701.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Where one particularly sly Dominican demoniac makes an incredible stink.
Where one particularly sly Dominican demoniac makes an incredible stink.
Jacob T. Levy
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297123
- eISBN:
- 9780191599767
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297122.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Peter Knoepfel
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781447345053
- eISBN:
- 9781447345091
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447345053.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Building on Knoepfel’s previous book, Public policy analysis, this book offers a conceptually coherent view of ten public policy resources: force, law, personal, money, property rights, information, ...
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Building on Knoepfel’s previous book, Public policy analysis, this book offers a conceptually coherent view of ten public policy resources: force, law, personal, money, property rights, information, organisation, consensus, time and political support. The book demonstrates the interplay of the different resources in a conceptually coherent framework and presents numerous illustrations of ways of mobilising the resources and managing them in a sustainable way, resource exchanges and the role of institutions governing the interrelationships between actors and resources. The book will be valuable to postgraduate students as well as those working in policy programming and implementation across both public and private sectors and in non-governmental organisations.Less
Building on Knoepfel’s previous book, Public policy analysis, this book offers a conceptually coherent view of ten public policy resources: force, law, personal, money, property rights, information, organisation, consensus, time and political support. The book demonstrates the interplay of the different resources in a conceptually coherent framework and presents numerous illustrations of ways of mobilising the resources and managing them in a sustainable way, resource exchanges and the role of institutions governing the interrelationships between actors and resources. The book will be valuable to postgraduate students as well as those working in policy programming and implementation across both public and private sectors and in non-governmental organisations.
Anne Storch
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199768974
- eISBN:
- 9780199914425
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199768974.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are ...
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This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are often—if not always—considered to be secret, and are at the same time expressions of difference and power. The central thesis on which the explorations of manipulated language in this book are based is that language here—deliberately diverging from the norm—is central to the construction of social norms, and that exactly by manipulation and alteration identity may be explored and defined. Manipulated language and deliberate linguistic change are thus seen as the creation of a medium through which speakers attempt to preserve certain structures. The complexity and diversity of linguistic manipulation and how it is linked to the structure of society are dealt with in this book by referring to secrecy, mimesis, sacrilege, and ambiguity as leading concepts of power. This study concentrates on case studies from the Jukun-speaking areas of Nigeria, as well as Nilotic and Bantu-speaking parts of Uganda (and to a lesser extent Sudan), but also presents data on manipulated languages from many other parts and speaker communities of the continent, as well as examples from the African diaspora.Less
This book deals with a specific form of language change: deliberate manipulations of a language by its speakers. These manipulations are based and depending on cultural and social contexts, they are often—if not always—considered to be secret, and are at the same time expressions of difference and power. The central thesis on which the explorations of manipulated language in this book are based is that language here—deliberately diverging from the norm—is central to the construction of social norms, and that exactly by manipulation and alteration identity may be explored and defined. Manipulated language and deliberate linguistic change are thus seen as the creation of a medium through which speakers attempt to preserve certain structures. The complexity and diversity of linguistic manipulation and how it is linked to the structure of society are dealt with in this book by referring to secrecy, mimesis, sacrilege, and ambiguity as leading concepts of power. This study concentrates on case studies from the Jukun-speaking areas of Nigeria, as well as Nilotic and Bantu-speaking parts of Uganda (and to a lesser extent Sudan), but also presents data on manipulated languages from many other parts and speaker communities of the continent, as well as examples from the African diaspora.
Tony K. Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195392722
- eISBN:
- 9780199777327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392722.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The pivotal role of the Caitanya caritāmṛta as community-building tool can best be understood in the context of the different beliefs it sought to hierarchize. The earliest hagiographies presented ...
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The pivotal role of the Caitanya caritāmṛta as community-building tool can best be understood in the context of the different beliefs it sought to hierarchize. The earliest hagiographies presented Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa descended to earth, the traditional Vaiṣṇava avatāra. His childhood was invariably a recapitulation of Kṛṣṇa’s. Murāri Gupta’s Sanskrit Kṛṣṇacaitanyacaritāmṛta depicted Caitanya as the celestial sovereign Viṣṇu Nārāyaṇa, who sent a portion or aṃśa of himself to curb unrighteousness. Kavikarṇapūra’s Sanskrit Kṛṣṇacaitanyacaritāmṛta mahākāvya and Vṛndāvana Dāsa’s Caitanya bhāgavata explored Caitanya’s divinity through the aesthetic concept of bhāva, love for Kṛṣṇa that manifested itself as divine madness or possession, āveśa. The Bengali construction of madness provided a framework within which devotees could emulate Caitanya’s actions as model devotee, while acknowledging the mystery of his appearance as the lord. Often manifested in singing called kīrtana, the telltale signs of this madness, sāttvika bhāvas, became indexes to the presence of genuine devotion.Less
The pivotal role of the Caitanya caritāmṛta as community-building tool can best be understood in the context of the different beliefs it sought to hierarchize. The earliest hagiographies presented Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa descended to earth, the traditional Vaiṣṇava avatāra. His childhood was invariably a recapitulation of Kṛṣṇa’s. Murāri Gupta’s Sanskrit Kṛṣṇacaitanyacaritāmṛta depicted Caitanya as the celestial sovereign Viṣṇu Nārāyaṇa, who sent a portion or aṃśa of himself to curb unrighteousness. Kavikarṇapūra’s Sanskrit Kṛṣṇacaitanyacaritāmṛta mahākāvya and Vṛndāvana Dāsa’s Caitanya bhāgavata explored Caitanya’s divinity through the aesthetic concept of bhāva, love for Kṛṣṇa that manifested itself as divine madness or possession, āveśa. The Bengali construction of madness provided a framework within which devotees could emulate Caitanya’s actions as model devotee, while acknowledging the mystery of his appearance as the lord. Often manifested in singing called kīrtana, the telltale signs of this madness, sāttvika bhāvas, became indexes to the presence of genuine devotion.
William R. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336214
- eISBN:
- 9780199868537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336214.003.0007
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
In 1989, partly as a result of America's participation in the 1972 International Biological Weapons Convention, but also in response to growing concerns about terrorist use of biological weapons, ...
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In 1989, partly as a result of America's participation in the 1972 International Biological Weapons Convention, but also in response to growing concerns about terrorist use of biological weapons, Congress passed the first of a series of bioterrorism acts, this one entitled The Antiterrorism Act of 1989. The next significant piece of legislation to appear had the grim title, The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. A large-scale, bipartisan effort initiated in 1999 resulted in the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002. In March of 2003, a Strategic National Stockpile (SNS)was created to ensure the rapid availability of anti-bioterror medicines and vaccines. Finally, in 2006, Congress produced a National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. In this chapter, these various plans and strategies are evaluated for their ability to protect America during catastrophic biological emergencies.Less
In 1989, partly as a result of America's participation in the 1972 International Biological Weapons Convention, but also in response to growing concerns about terrorist use of biological weapons, Congress passed the first of a series of bioterrorism acts, this one entitled The Antiterrorism Act of 1989. The next significant piece of legislation to appear had the grim title, The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. A large-scale, bipartisan effort initiated in 1999 resulted in the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002. In March of 2003, a Strategic National Stockpile (SNS)was created to ensure the rapid availability of anti-bioterror medicines and vaccines. Finally, in 2006, Congress produced a National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. In this chapter, these various plans and strategies are evaluated for their ability to protect America during catastrophic biological emergencies.
Lesley A. Sharp
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520080010
- eISBN:
- 9780520918450
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520080010.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter reevaluates a number of assumptions that have been critical throughout this work. It has sought to explore the manner in which symbolic power may extend beyond the temporary realm of ...
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This chapter reevaluates a number of assumptions that have been critical throughout this work. It has sought to explore the manner in which symbolic power may extend beyond the temporary realm of ritual. Thus, how might religious experience be politically charged and have long-term effects on everyday life? If one assumes the perspective of Ambanja's inhabitants, tromba possession is not a peripheral experience, but a significant force within indigenous culture. The significance of tromba can only fully be understood if it is explored in relation to indigenous notions of identity, which operate on personal, social, and cultural levels.Less
This chapter reevaluates a number of assumptions that have been critical throughout this work. It has sought to explore the manner in which symbolic power may extend beyond the temporary realm of ritual. Thus, how might religious experience be politically charged and have long-term effects on everyday life? If one assumes the perspective of Ambanja's inhabitants, tromba possession is not a peripheral experience, but a significant force within indigenous culture. The significance of tromba can only fully be understood if it is explored in relation to indigenous notions of identity, which operate on personal, social, and cultural levels.
Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297337
- eISBN:
- 9780191711220
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297337.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
The main goal of this book is to demonstrate that the languages and dialects of Europe are becoming increasingly alike. This unifying process — that goes at least as far back as the Roman empire — is ...
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The main goal of this book is to demonstrate that the languages and dialects of Europe are becoming increasingly alike. This unifying process — that goes at least as far back as the Roman empire — is accelerating and affects every one of Europe’s 150 or so languages, including those of different families such as Basque and Finnish. The changes are by no means restricted to lexical borrowing, but involve every grammatical aspect of the language. They are usually so minute that neither native speakers nor trained linguists notice them. But they accumulate and give rise to new grammatical structures that lead, in turn, to new patterns of areal relationship. The book describes linguistic transfer from one language to another in terms of grammatical replication, using grammaticalization theory as a framework. The linguistic domains covered in more detail are definite and indefinite articles, possession, case marking, and the relationship between questions and subordination.Less
The main goal of this book is to demonstrate that the languages and dialects of Europe are becoming increasingly alike. This unifying process — that goes at least as far back as the Roman empire — is accelerating and affects every one of Europe’s 150 or so languages, including those of different families such as Basque and Finnish. The changes are by no means restricted to lexical borrowing, but involve every grammatical aspect of the language. They are usually so minute that neither native speakers nor trained linguists notice them. But they accumulate and give rise to new grammatical structures that lead, in turn, to new patterns of areal relationship. The book describes linguistic transfer from one language to another in terms of grammatical replication, using grammaticalization theory as a framework. The linguistic domains covered in more detail are definite and indefinite articles, possession, case marking, and the relationship between questions and subordination.
