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neither anthropology nor shamanism
In this book, Paul Stoller, an ambitious graduate student, tries to make sense of social life of Songhay-speaking people in the eastern Niger.The Songhay have once possessed the largest empire in African history; their formidable magician-king Sunni Ali created an elaborate and effective administrative system extending all the way up to Timbuktu and even Morrocco and, as Stoller shows in this book, Sunni Ali's memory is still very much alive in contemporary Niger.

The book follows Stoller as he wanders around Songhay villages trying to document social mores. He quickly finds what M. Mead never did - that polling and questionnaire techniques he was taught in the US do not work with the Songhay. In Niger, a direct question typically elicits an outright lie; effective field work consists of listening and participating whereas direct interrogation is counter-productive.Stoller then falls into the hands of a local "sorko", or magician-healer, who offers to teach him the secrets of the trade.At this point, the author is faced with the question: should one maintain, in bona fide anthropological work, classical aims of "objectivity" and "impartiality" or should one immerse oneself totally and completely into indigenous life, risking drowning into it and being forever lost to science? Stoller does neither: he is awed by the power and mystery of the secrets that he is witnessing yet at the same time he seems to be unable to comprehend the most elementary laws of indigenous shamanic practices. Thus, like the proverbial deer facing headlights of a car, Stoller is is constantly paralyzed by incomprehension and fear.

For me, the book provides more evidence for the hypothesis that the "Western paradigm" is just one of many, and not that empowering at that. If we start to tinker with our paradigm by "apprenticing" to cultures based on hard, merciless and pragmatic obsession with spiritual power (such as the Songhay) we are in for a tough ride.Stoller was; he ran away and I do not blame him.

On the other hand, the dialogues in this book are great and often funny and the book is a must read for anyone contemplating visiting Niger, Mali or Burkina Faso.

An enthnographer enters the world of the Sorcerers.
I chanced upon this book a few years ago, and consider it a real find. Paul Stoller gives a edge-of-the-seat account of his fieldwork amoung the Songhay of Niger. Very readable, detailed, and often humerous. It raises many questions about the nature of anthropological fieldwork. ... Read more

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Griots, a uniquely African profession, fulfill a variety of roles as genealogists, historians, spokespersons, diplomats, musicians, teachers, praise singers, and advisors.Telling the story of these remarkable wordsmiths and performers, Thomas A. Hale addresses the nature of their verbal and musical art, the role of female griots, or griottes, how griots and griottes fit into their societies, and what their future might be in Africa and the rest of the world. ... Read more

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The Genius of Music & Stories
"Hale explains the importance and genius of the music and stories told by these unique community leaders in Africa." ... Read more

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The Ju/'hoan San, or Ju/'hoansi, of Namibia and Botswana are perhaps the most fully described indigenous people in all of anthropology. This is the story of how this group of former hunter-gatherers, speaking an exotic click language, formed a grassroots movement that led them to become a dynamic part of the new nation that grew from the ashes of apartheid South West Africa. While coverage of this group in the writings of Richard Lee, Lorna Marshall, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, and films by John Marshall includes extensive information on their traditional ways of life, this book continues the story as it has unfolded since 1990. PeopledA" with accounts of and from contemporary Ju/'hoan people, the book gives newly-literate Ju/'hoansi the chance to address the world with their own voices. In doing so, the images and myths of the Ju/'hoan and other San (previously called BushmenA") as either noble savages or helpless victims are discredited. This important book demonstrates the responsiveness of current anthropological advocacy to the aspirations of one of the best-known indigenous societies. ... Read more

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This volume discusses a number of issues on the contested nature of intellectual property rights (IPR) and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in the context of Southern Africa. The issues addressed include the protection of folklore, IKS in a digital era, the valuation and safeguard of heritage sites, the need for appropriate IKS legislation, community based control of natural resources and the role played by traditional music in the maintenance of community. It is this extensive exploration of IKS from the vantage points of communication and culture, and explored in terms of policy, cultural survival, international as well as intra-national politics, economics, philosophy and ethics that makes this empirical grounded collection of papers unique, a distinctive contribution to the literature and 'cause' of IKS. The specific IKS-related issues raised and dealt with in this volume are generic in the sense that the very same issues are being contested in different parts of the world. In this respect, this book highlights the particular as a means of comprehending the universal. ... Read more

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This is the first in a new series of full-colour heritage books aimed at both local and overseas tourists. The author uncovers the rich history of the indigenous people of the Cape: Stone Age people, the San and the Khoikhoi, as well as the Griqua. This is the first time this history has been presented in a comprehensive, accessible way in a single book. ... Read more

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The little-known Bantwane people are found in a tiny area in the north-eastern part of South Africa. Peter Magubane has captured on film this small group going about their daily lives - working the land, going through their various rites of passage, bringing up their children. The woman wear their hair in the distinctive "bicycle seat" style, which is decorated with "squirrels' tails" (rosettes). Although certain Western elements have been incorporated into their ceremonies - for instance a bridegroom will wear a Western suit while the bride wears traditional attire - this isolated group are keeping their African customs alive. ... Read more

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This introduction to the art of tribal peoples of North America, Africa, and the South Pacific does not briefly cover the hundreds of artistic traditions in these three vast areas but rather studies in depth thirty-six art styles within all three areas using the methods of art history, including stylistic analysis and iconographic interpretation. Emphasis is on the art in cultural context and as a system of visual communication within each tribal area. Where appropriate for a more complete understanding of the art, data from archaeology, ethnology, linguistics, religion, and other humanistic disciplines are included. ... Read more

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Googling for Corbin
I am at a total loss whenever I attend a social function and the host introduces four or five people whom I've never met before.I struggle to remember their names and try to discreetly interrogate them regarding their interrelationships, but I am able only to create a vague picture. Why did the host invite these particular people and why did he believe I would be interested in meeting them?This is analogous to the introduction Corbin offers in his book.The author simply declares that the book was "written from the point of view of an art historian" and contains selected art styles (1).For me, it is a good thing that he decided to select a limited number of traditions instead of trying to cover everything, but he never explains why these particular groups were chosen, or the criteria he used to make his choice. He states that the text will analyze the "formal qualities of the art" within the cultural context, but there is no discussion of methodology or mention of cross-cultural aspects.Instead, he begins with an overview of "three broad categories of traditional art" (2); the first two categories being body decoration and masking and the third, I construed, being architecture/handicrafts.All of the information contained in these categories resulted in hours of Googling.The upside was I finally used most of my reference books on Native Americans that have been lying dormant since I purchased them.The downside was, by page seven, I was exhausted and frustrated.

The introductory section on Native American body decoration includes illustrations of a Mandan (Google) chief and a tattooed Haidan (Google) couple.Corbin discusses the symbolism of Mandan chief's decorations, but forgoes analysis of Haidan tattoos.For that, I had to check the footnote and download the Swan Report (Google:see Swan, J.G. Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology Google Books. Retrieved on January 25, 2010) referenced in his footnote. He then jumps to body decoration in Cameroon that includes a photo of a decorated Northern Cameroon woman that, as if I couldn't see the photo, he describes in detail.He offers no explanation regarding the symbolism of the decorations, stating: "[V]ery little is known about the symbolism of this Cameroon woman's scarification patterns" (7).A little more data is presented for the Fang man, but I wish he would have explained why he chose this example and included an analysis.I own a couple references on body adornment (See Camphausen, Rufus. Return of the Tribal: A Celebration of Body Adornment. Diane Publishing Co., 1997; Gay, Kathlyn and Christine Whittington. Body Marks: Tattooing, Piercing, and Scarification. Twenty-First Century Books, 2002)that explain both the processes and significance of this art,so I find it puzzling that Corbin does not elaborate or at least reference some descriptions. The rest of the introduction follows the same pattern, so I continued to Google until the end of the chapter.

The footnotes offer a few other sources for reference, but his extensive bibliography is divided into categories instead of by chapter which made it hard to cross-reference the footnotes. If Corbin is attempting to spur the reader to research these topics further, he has succeeded.The text will probably work as a minimal introduction to the subject, and it does have an abundance of photographs (the hardcover version photos are much better), but if this was an invitation to a party, I would send my regrets. ... Read more

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This book focuses on the ways in which the British settler colonies of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa treated indigenous peoples in relation to political rights, commencing with the imperial policies of the 1830s and ending with the national political settlements in place by 1910. Drawing on a wide range of sources, its comparative approach provides an insight into the historical foundations of present-day controversies in these settler societies.
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This volume emphasizes Africa's indigenous institutions as a vital part of the people's past, a source of order and security, and crucial ingredients to an effective administrative system. It reassesses the vital roles these institutions played over the years to anchor nation building efforts. ... Read more

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This book makes current issues in political ecology and the question of globalization accessible to undergraduate students, as well as to non-academic readers. It is also empirically and theoretically rigorous enough to appeal to an academic audience.CONSERVATION AND GLOBALIZATION opens with a discussion of these two broad issues as they relate to the author's fieldwork with Maasai herding communities on the margins of Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. It explores different theoretical perspectives (Neo-Marxist and Foucauldian) on globalization and why both are relevant to the case studies presented. Students are introduced to the practice of multi-sited ethnography and its centrality to the anthropological study of globalization. While drawing on examples from specific Maasai communities, the book is more broadly concerned with the historical and contemporary links between these communities and a global system of institutions, ideas, and money. The ecological incompatibility of Western national park-style conservation with East African savanna ecosystems and Maasai resource management practices, are highlighted. The concept of national parks is traced temporally and geographically from Maasai communities to the enclosure movement in 18th century England and westward expansion in 19th century North America. The relationships of parks to Judeo-Christian assumptions about "man's place in nature," colonial ideologies like Manifest Destiny and the Civilizing Mission, and capitalist notions of private property and "The Tragedy of the Commons," are explored. The book also looks at the latest conservation paradigm of "Community-Based Conservation," and explores its connections to the Soviet Collapse, economic and political liberalization, and the global proliferation of NGOs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Fantastic.A must read.
This is a wonderfully critical examination of conservation, globalization and social change.This book really helped me focus my interests and become much more critical thinker.

Postcolonial Critique, Colonial History, and Ethnographic Detail...
... all these are present in this fine study.I am especially impressed with the criticisms that Igoe mounts about "fortress conservation," and it brings to mind the debates over exclusionary conservation versus "wise use" in the U.S., following John Muir, Gary Snyder, and others.The historical threads to late 19th-century U.S. preservation and the English enclosure movements are valuable, and they echo in works by Vandana Shiva and other critics of multinational corporatization.

Recently I was asked to sit for a short interview on camera related to immigration issues and policy in central Iowa.The camera, from a local TV station, was shut down by a hotel manager because of "private property."This enclosure of politics - its conduct on private turf instead of in public forums and spaces - is very parallel to the privatization of lands and the management of parks that Igoe describes in East Africa.These are only some of the consequences that capitalist privatization bring to us: the end to meaningful public debate, the dislocation of otherwise grounded and vested local communities, and so on.

I highly recommend this book for courses in environmental science, land and resource management, globalization, and, of course, any of a number of related specializations in sociocultural anthropology.It would be a good book for introductory courses as well.

Inspiration for Aspiring Community Development Reseachers
From the first page of his introduction, Jim Igoe's assertiveness in presenting his work on why and how community-based conservation is failing in parts of Tanzania as well as in the United States hits readers hard, sparking their interest in these issues. Over the last decade the term conservation has reached a fluid state in which it presents the world with a new obstacle of maintaining a balance between humans and the environment, which will ideally promote reciprocal productivity in a sustainable measure. Igoe's account of the state of conservation surrounding National Parks in both the United States and Northern Tanzania is unique. Not only was he able to portray his experiences in a manner in which a western reader can relate to, but he was also able to maintain an outside perspective while becoming immersed in a new culture. In affect, Igoe was able to make correlations between two indigenous cultures who are experiencing similar struggles as they have been pushed off their land in the interest of national conservation. Additionally, he critically assesses the current approaches, which are being used to address the issue of conflict between indigenous people, political leaders and environmental conservationists.
I found two dominant strengths in this literature, the first of which is his use of diverse cultural examples. As an undergraduate student with a strong interest in this topic as well as some previous knowledge concerning the issues presented, I found Igoe's narrative style refreshing as well as engaging. Readers are able to get a direct insight into the Maasai culture and a clear historical account of the implications of colonialism and religion. Additionally, Igoe presents the progression of the development of national parks and what resulted in western fortress conservation in Tanzania. Together this information provides a solid background allowing readers who are both educated and new to these topics to gain a better understanding of how the current state of conservation arose. Secondly, his combination of information creates a piece of literature that addresses critical global issues, which can be applied to a wide variety of disciplines. Alone this speaks highly for the books adaptability in various classrooms as well as a reference for professionals in various fields. Furthermore, it supports the fact that in order for new forms of conservation to be successful it is necessary to bring together experts in various social, political, and scientific disciplines.

Conservation Through the Eyes of a Native
The social consequences that conservation brings to indigenous people has often been ignored by those trying to protect natural resources and wildlife. Jim Igoe explains and displays what happens and has happened to the people who live outside the famous national parks many of us know and cherish around the world. He presents case studies of how people who live outside the parks have suffered all over the globe. He describes this situation with passion and personal examples, as he lived with many of the people he describes. His work has given him a unique perspective, as he did not travel or live like the typical tourist who wants to view the native flora and fauna that has been protected.

The book's primary focus is East Africa, but Jim includes a substantial amount of material from other regions and cultures. His strength, in this text, is his ability to look at conservation through a global lens, but with a native's perspective. His knack for engaging people at all levels shows in this book. Jim's writing is easy to follow, crystal clear, and relates his first hand experiences and examples in a way that quickly give his work broad appeal. He brings to life the reality of indigenous people struggling to adapt to globalization and the pressure on natural resource base they have relied on for centuries.

This book has appeal at many levels. For high school and undergraduate students it offers an interesting examples of how important anthropology is to understanding the human issues of many global problems. His personal examples and ideas offer discussion points, which once read will not be forgotten.For graduate students Jim offers many ideas on how his own work with NGO's (Non government organizations) got started, progressed, and changed his life. The importance of understanding land tenure, community control, the role of NGO's and different types of parks, as well as the capacity of the local people are all shown to clearly impact both conservation and local people.Forconservationists, researchers, and the general public this book offers a unique perspective and voice of the people who have been displaced, lost their livelihoods, and in a few cases successfully adapted to this change.

Globalization has affected us all, and in many cases has had negative consequences for indigenous people. Jim clearly shows that there are much larger forces at work than simply protecting interests of the wildlife and wild areas. Exploring policies of the National Park Service in the United States, as well as policies of other countries, he weaves together the similarities and clearly points out the different ways in which natural resources are managed. In addition to offering an important critique of failed policies, Jim Igoe offers alternative solutions necessary for both the environment and social justice, while providing lessons in history, land tenure and policy making from all over the globe. I recommend this book to all of my students traveling abroad to work with indigenous people.

A clear and challenging account
Good authorship requires two things - a story to tell and good way of communicating it. Jim Igoe has both in buckets. Conservation and Globalisation is a clear and challenging story of how conservation practices can disrupt local lives and how apparently straightforward solutions to the problems resulting are riven with complexity and difficulty.

The book is based primarily on fieldwork in East Africa and Prof Igoe's enlivens his account of the problems of understanding the worlds he encountered there with a down to earth uncomplicated style that takes the reader right out to the towns and plains where the work was conducted. This is a must-read for any student contemplating ethnographic or anthropological fieldwork. But its scope is far more than merely East Africa. Prof Igoe's pen takes us to England before the Industrial Revolution and to the latest developments in National Parks in the US, Australia, Nepal, Brazil and Panama. He quite clearly shows how the problems of conservation and civil society are global in their origins and nature and have to be understood through a multitude of sites.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its analysis of civil society, local movements and non-governmental organisations. At a time when much hope and expectation is vested in democratisation and local empowerment this work is a sanguine wake-up call to the problems that these notions bring with them. It quite clearly demonstrates how these ideas are manipulated by local actors, often with very different agendas from global organisations, and transformed by the perpetuated dysfunction typical of the institutions implementing of global development and conservation ideals.

I would, therefore, recommend this book to students, conservationists and development workers in all situations. Its language and style are accessible to all. Its questions and challenges will inform expert practitioners, university teachers and PhD students. This is an excellent book. ... Read more

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Jan Kubas was an eyewitness of the events that took place following the defeat of Herero combatants in Namibia at the battle of Hamakari in 1904 and the German pursuit of the Herero community into the parched Omaheke and Kalahari Desert. When interviewed 13 years later he struggled to articulate his memories, complaining that "Words cannot be found to relate what happened; it was too terrible". Yet the words of Jan Kubas and 46 other eyewitnesses of events, which have been described as "war atrocities" (and even "genocide"), that took place during the German colonial period in Namibia were recorded and published in an official British "Blue Book" in 1918. These statements form a rare documentation of African voices describing the encounter of African communities with a colonial power. However, in 1926, only a few years after its publication, the "Blue Book" was withdrawn from the public domain and orders given for its destruction. The year 2004 will mark the centenary of the outbreak of the Namibian war against German rule. It is the intention of the authors that this annotated re-publication of the "Blue Book" will, in some measure, be a memorial to those that died. ... Read more

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Post 1994, the Republic of South Africa establisheda Human Rights enshrined Constitution. Commissionslike the Commission for the Promotion and Protectionof the Rights of Cultural, Religious and LinguisticCommunities in South Africa were established tochange the historically racist and segregationistnation, into one unified in its cultural diversity.This commission has successfully engaged in newmodes of coexistence for diverse cultures. However,it is not adequate to address KhoeSan issues, asthey need a specific body to address their issues ofcultural development, education, economicimprovement, restoration of their territories andthe inequality of their power relations with thecurrent Nation State. The change from addressing ahostile regime to addressing a well meaning regime,whose main shortcomings lay in what is not beingdone, calls for very different tactics and lines ofarguments. The KhoeSan are using ethno-politics as atool to reverse historically negative stereotypesdirected toward their ?primitiveness'; as a means tohighlight their distinctiveness; and to call for amoral commitment by the state to address theirissues. ... Read more

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This book argues that indigenous modes of communication - for example the oral tradition, drama, indigenous entertainment forms, cultural modes and local language radio - are essential to the societies within which they exist and which create them; and that coupled with newer, or modern forms of communication technology such as the internet and digitised information, endogenous modes of communication are paramount to the processes of human development in Africa. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent collection and story
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves African Art and will have the opportunity to see thecollection in Dallas.The photographs are excellent, the masks are very high quality examples from a broad range of tribal areas. I look forward to revisiting the Dallas Museum of Art to see this collection.I like the way the book is organized around the "cycle of life" themes and showing how these events are reflected in tribal art across the continent.The text accompanying the photos of the art and the ceremonial photos all combine to make this a good selection for my library and one I would think many others would also enjoy for a long time.

Excellant review of 40 years of collecting at the Dallas Museum of Art
Dr. Walkers recently published book is an in depth research into the history of The Dallas Museum of Art collection of African art.This review of the first forty years is outstanding. One can only hope that this institution will continue to grow this wonderful collection under her guidance as the Senior Curator of the Arts of Africa, and the Pacific and The Margaret McDermott Curator of African Arts.Once you start to read it you find it hard to put down. Her knowledge of the culture, art and it's people seem endless.The photography of the pieces is equally impressive.If you are a collector or interested in increasing your knowledge of the Arts of Africa you owe it to yourself to add this book to your collection. I look forward to a Volume II. ... Read more