The Origins of the Apple in Central Asia

Journal of World Prehistory - The study of agricultural origins has been revolutionized by genomic science. Whole genome sequencing of plant domesticates opens a door to multiple new approaches by...     

Understanding ethnic differences in perceptions,attitudes, and behaviours: a study of domestic water use in Sydney

There is growing realisation among environmental and social studies researchers that people's decision‐making about water use conforms to their internal norms and beliefs, which are developed in social and cultural contexts. Little research, however, has addressed the possible impacts that ethnic and cultural diversity may have on domestic water use and management. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in Sydney, with specific reference to questionnaire findings. Among respondents from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, significant differences were observed in terms of perceptions, specific knowledge, attitudes, and self‐reported behaviours in relation to water use and conservation. The disparities identified were not masking socio‐demographic and economic characteristics but were the result of a series of constructs closely tied to ethnicity, including cultural value, environmental experience, language preference, and information access. As a factor explaining variation in the engagement of pro‐conservation behaviour, ethnic status was found to be more useful than some socio‐economic factors. The study highlights the importance of including ethnicity and cultural sensitivity issues in the decision‐making process of environmental management.     

The Case for Mainstreaming Gender Politics Studies

Swers, Michele L. The Difference Women Make: The Policy Impact of Women in Congress. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Pp. xii, 194. $45.00 hardbound, $16.00 softbound.

Borrelli, Mary Anne. The President's Cabinet: Gender, Power and Representation. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002. Pp xii, 270. $59.95 hardbound, $26.50 softbound.

Watson, Robert P., and Ann Gordon, eds. Anticipating Madam President. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003. Pp. xv, 271. $55.00 hardbound, $22.50 softbound.

Carroll, Susan]., ed. Women and American Politics: New Questions, New Directions. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. xii, 250. $74.00 hardbound, $24.95 softbound.     

The case of the disorderly graves: Contemporary deathscapes in Guangzhou

The first part of this paper describes three agendas that are shaping contemporary deathscapes in Guangzhou: the modernist planning agenda; the market economy; and the Chinese Communist Party ideology and resistance to it. The second part interprets three significant aspects of these deathscapes: first, the survival of an old tradition ( fengshui ); second, the appearance of a new spatial practice (storage of ashes in landscaped cemeteries); and, third, the contemporary reinterpretation of the grave as a symbol of individual rather than lineage status. Finally, these deathscapes are analysed as 'deathspace', a symbolic system that represents a stage in an ongoing process of conflict and compromise involving the traditional and the modern, the personal and the political, and the sacred and the secular.     

Russian Peasant Beliefs and Practices Concerning Death and the Supernatural Collected in Novosokol'niki Region,Pskov Province,Russia, 1995. Part II: Death in Natural Circumstances

This article, based on fieldwork but drawing on other contemporary and historical material, examines some aspects of the present state of mortuary ritual and associated beliefs among a mixed population of official Russian Orthodox and the religious group known as Old Believers, about whose funerary practices little has been written. The ritual emerges as a complex balance of Christian and pagan elements, a clinging to archaic tradition combined with modern pragmatism and accommodation to changing socio-economic conditions.     

Russian Peasant Beliefs and Practices Concerning Death and the Supernatural Collected in Novosokol'niki Region,Pskov Province,Russia, 1995. Part I: The Restless Dead,Wizards and Spirit Beings

Fieldwork in a remote area of rural Russia, a rare opportunity for an ethnographer from western Europe, provided the basic material for this article. Its findings, presented in a historical perspective, reveal a significant degree of continuity with beliefs and practices of the past in spite of the pressures of an official ideology opposed to all aspects of the supernatural.