Even in a world where secular scientific discoveries and assumptions have come to dominate the lives of so many people, science cannot be said to have rendered religion obsolete. Since the nineteenth century, one particular debate has been of central importance in apparent conflicts between science and religion: that of evolutionist versus creationist views on human origins. This book presents both the history and the contemporary dimensions of disputes over the emergence of our species. It focuses on the ways in which conservative Protestants have either opposed or attempted to appropriate the languages and methods of secular scientists in defence of a Genesis-based account of the origins of life. Leading authorities on creationism and creation science are brought together from such disciplines as anthropology, sociology, religious studies, history and philosophy. This is the first book to attempt a comprehensive comparative survey of creationist movements around the English-speaking world. A central question addressed by the contributors is why anti-evolutionist ideas appear to flourish in some social and cultural contexts, but are ridiculed in others.

Christians today are stuck in a gridlock of extremes. Fundamentalists vs. social activists. Pacifists vs. God-state militarists. Snider's book explains the influences that created these contrasting forms of Christianity.

As reproduction is seen as central to kinship and the biological link as the primary bond between parents and their offspring, Western perceptions of kin relations are primarily determined by ideas about "consanguinity," "genealogical relations," and "genetic connections." Advocates of cultural constructivism have taken issue with a concept that puts so much stress on heredity as being severely biased by western ideas of kinship. Ethnosociologists in particular developed alternative systems using indigenous categories. This symbolic approach has, however, been rejected by some scholars as plagued by the problems of the analytical separation of ideology from practice, of largely overlooking relations of domination, and of ignoring the questions of shared knowledge and choice. This volume offers a corrective by discussing the constitution of kinship among different communities in South Asia and addressing the relationship between ideology and practice, cultural models, and individiual strategies.

For most of humanity, most people were destined to live and die anonymously. To be 'somebody' in this world, a somebody whose opinions would be heard in any way beyond close friends, was a privilege very few had enjoyed. In this environment, there would eventually be no point for most people to continue to think of themselves as a 'unique individual'. It surely looks amazing in hindsight, how far we have come in less than two decades. This book is primarily about my journey to become a ‘somebody’ with something to say. Topics covered include how technology has enabled people like myself to have a voice, what it feels like to join the cultural conversation and take cultural stances, and participating in politics and the ‘culture wars’ through citizen journalism. I will also examine the bigger cultural impacts of this democratization of culture creation. Throughout this book, I will be telling my own story so far, as a cultural voice in this rapidly changing world. But I will also be illustrating the wider story of how profoundly the world changed, in these first two decades of the 21st century. The technology changed first, and that was groundbreaking enough, but I think that the greatest change was in the culture.