Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

Iparraguirre, Gonzalo, Cultural Rhythmics: Applied Anthropology and Global Development from Latin America. (Emerald Points) 156 pp. 2022:7 (Emerald, UK) <682-967>
ISBN 978-1-80382-824-4 hard ¥13,464.- (税込) US$ 60.00 *

Presenting an anthropological tool for decision makers and academics who deal with the well-known limitations of linear models of development, Cultural Rhythmics proposes future design strategies useful for business, community leaders, political decision-makers and scientists from all over the world. Framed in the field of applied anthropology and development studies with an action-research pragmatic perspective, Iparraguirre analyses four study cases, calling attention to a specific set of rhythms of life and imaginaries. Introducing cultural rhythmics as a new method to study temporality, spatiality, and rhythms of daily life simultaneously rather than as separate elements, this pioneering ethnographic and interpretative study combines over fifteen years of fieldwork in public sector management of development programs with a symbolic analysis of cultural imaginaries and rhythms of life. Analyzing the symbolic dimension of development in Argentina, Cultural Rhythmics deploys alternative proposals for political and scientific management of these processes in Latin America. Beyond an innovative analysis of the cases presented, Iparraguirre' s rhythmics perspective can be extrapolated to the practices of development and agendas design in other territories of Argentina, Latin America and the Global South. A must-read for development scholars interested in a colonial matrix of thought, Cultural Rhythmics delves into the imaginaries of development and their correlated governance practices applicable in Latin America and beyond.

Rosenberg, Michael, The Dynamics of Cultural Evolution: The Central Role of Purposive Behaviors. (Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation 12) 203 pp. 2022:8 (Springer, GW) <682-1122>
ISBN 978-3-031-04862-3 hard ¥26,737.- (税込) EUR 109.99

This book explores the nature of cultural and culturally structured social and behavioral entities, their evolutionary interactions, and the central role purposive behaviors play in those interactions. It, first, makes the case for cultural and cultural structured systems being considered as true entities bounded in time and space, and not ephemera in a constant state of becoming another system. Second, it examines how these entities interact to produce evolutionary culture change. It then argues that the intent of purposive behaviors is reliably knowable in the aggregate, at least when dealing with expressions of behavioral tendencies in the animal kingdom, humans included. Finally, the book references well documented behavioral tendencies for examples of proximate causation in the evolution of settled village societies and, following that, socially complex societies. Through these efforts, the book synthesizes the various approaches to the evolution of culture and provides a completeand comprehensive picture of the process. It provides a corrective to the tendency to view cultural systems as entirely open ended and as capable of changing in any direction; and also to treating cultural evolution as solely a result of selective forces, that is, in terms of only ultimate causation. This book provides an engaging and critical counterview to established theories of cultural evolution and is of interest to scholars and students of different disciplines, from anthropology and archeology, to evolutionary biology and epigenetics.

Chao, Hing / Jaquet, Daniel / Kim, Loretta (eds.), Martial Culture and Historical Martial Arts in Europe and Asia: A Multi-perspective View on Sword Culture. (Martial Studies 2) 358 pp. 2022:9 (Springer, GW) * paper 2023 <682-1082>
ISBN 978-981-19-2036-3 hard ¥12,151.- (税込) EUR 49.99
ISBN 978-981-19-2039-4 paper ¥9,720.- (税込) EUR 39.99 *

This open access book is the first publication to provide a comparative framework for the study of martial culture and historical martial arts in Europe and Asia, in particular in Italy and China. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of martial studies, contributors to this volume include historians, archeologists, art historians, scholars of fencing literature, metallurgists, as well as contemporary master swordsmiths and masters-of-arms in historical martial arts. Assembling researchers from these diverse fields, this book offers a multi-perspectival and dynamic view of martial culture across time and space. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary significance of this book cannot be overemphasized. Whereas a number of contributors are internationally recognized and, indeed, leading authorities in their respective fields; for example, Jeffrey Shaw has been a world-leading new media artist and scholar since the 1970s, while Ma Mingda is a well-known historian and the contemporary founder of Chinese martial studies; and while there are significant overlaps in their research interests, this book brings their research within a single volume for the first time. Equally significant, the book is structured in such a way to reflect the various core aspects of martial studies, particularly in relation to the study of historic sword culture, including history, culture, philosophy, literature and knowledge transmission, material culture, as well as the technical aspects of historical fencing. As one of the first titles on martial studies, this book becomes a reference not only for scholars taking an interest in this subject, but also for historians; scholars with interest in Chinese and/or Italian history (particularly of the Medieval or early modern periods), the history of international relations in Asia / Far East; anthropologists; scholars of martial (arts) studies and researchers in sword-making and/or historic metallurgy.

Salmi, Anna-Kaisa (ed.), Domestication in Action: Past and Present Human-Reindeer Interaction in Northern Fennoscandia. (Arctic Encounters) 252 pp. 2022:9 (Palgrave Macmillan, UK) * paper 2022 <682-1000>
ISBN 978-3-030-98642-1 hard ¥26,737.- (税込) EUR 109.99 *
ISBN 978-3-030-98645-2 paper ¥26,737.- (税込) EUR 109.99 *

Reindeer have been an integral part of the lives of people in Northern Fennoscandia in prehistoric and historic times. Today, reindeer herding practices are changing fast due to climate change, land use pressures and new technologies. This book outlines recent advances in the archaeology of reindeer domestication and development of reindeer herding among the Sami of Northern Fennoscandia, focusing especially on the identification and understanding of various reindeer herding tasks and practices through archaeological evidence and traditional knowledge of reindeer herders. Covering more than a thousand years of history of reindeer herding, the book explores how reindeer herding practices have always been dynamic and adapted to the changing social, economic and environmental pressures. While reindeer herding practices have changed, they have also retained memory and tradition. The continuity and adaptation of reindeer herding testifies of the resilience of reindeer herders and their animals, and the importance of their relationship in the changing Arctic. This book will be of interest to scholars interested in archaeology, anthropology, and history of the Arctic, as well as local communities and reindeer herders.