The Gaddi of North India are agro-pastoralists who rear sheep and goats following a seasonal migration around the first Himalayan range. While studies on pastoralists have focused either on the pastoralists’ adaptation to their physical environment or treated the environment from a symbolic perspective, this book offers a new, holistic perspective that analyzes the ways in which people “make” place. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book not only describes a contemporary understanding of the Gaddi’s engagement with the environment but also analyzes religious practices and performances of social relations, as well as media practices and notions of aesthetics. Thereby, the landscape in which the Gaddi live is understood as a network of places that is constantly being built and rebuilt through these local practices. The book contributes to the growing interest in approaches of practice within environmental anthropology.

An engaging and at times sobering look at the coexistence of humans and animals in the 21st century and how their sometimes disparate needs affect environments, politics, economies, and culture worldwide. There is an urgent need to understand human-animal interactions and relations as we become increasingly aware of our devastating impact on the natural resources needed for the survival of all animal species. This timely reference explores such topics as climate change and biodiversity, the impact of animal domestication and industrial farming on local and global ecosystems, and the impact of human consumption of wild species for food, entertainment, medicine, and social status. This volume also explores the role of pets in our lives, advocacy movements on behalf of animals, and the role of animals in art and media culture. Authors Julie Urbanik and Connie L. Johnston introduce the concept of animal geography, present different aspects of human-animal relationships worldwide, and highlight the importance of examining these interconnections. Alphabetical entries illustrate key relationships, concepts, practices, and animal species. The book concludes with a comprehensive appendix of select excerpts from key primary source documents relating to animals and a glossary.

An extensive, illustrated bibliography for the Hindu god Śiva in the arts of South and Southeast Asia, offering detailed indices and easy access to resource repositories.

Quality of Life: An Interdisciplinary Perspective presents the Quality of Life using a contemporary and interdisciplinary approach. Various socio-cultural, spiritual, technological, and human factors aspects, which have an immense bearing on our lives, are an integral part of this book. This book highlights cultural differences in terms of Quality of Life. It recognizes the presence of cultural differences resulting from the social status attributed to an individual’s age, gender, class, race, and ethnicity. It can be used as a guide in the field of global well-being and for future research. It presents clues to complex problems and empirical materials, and attempts to bring out a more comprehensive picture of global and contemporary Quality of Life and well-being. This book can also fill a gap in teaching and research. Those who will find this book useful are researchers, academicians, practitioners, and students of management, behavioral science, human factors, psychology, health economics, sociology, public health, and politics.

This book identifies and analyzes livelihood impacts of recent environmental and socio-economic changes in urban and rural settings of the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, north western Himalaya, India. The findings of the research deal with the broader objectives of the changing patterns of agricultural production with special reference to diversification, as well as forest-based livelihood outcomes, Clean Development Mechanism forest project activities, the roles of different ethnic groups and non-governmental organizations and the benefits and shortcomings of tourism as a livelihood source. These tasks are studied by using an exploratory approach, with participant observation, interviews through random and cluster sampling among villagers, local land users and officials, as well as with land cover interpretation and secondary statistical data. This book is relevant for educational use together with policy input on the issues exploring livelihood security in a rapidly growing developing country.

Kirin Narayan’s imagination was captured the very first time that, as a girl visiting the Himalayas, she heard Kangra women join their voices together in song. Returning as an anthropologist, she became fascinated by how they spoke of singing as a form of enrichment, bringing feelings of accomplishment, companionship, happiness, and even good health—all benefits of the “everyday creativity” she explores in this book. Part ethnography, part musical discovery, part poetry, part memoir, and part unforgettable portraits of creative individuals, this unique work brings this remote region in North India alive in sight and sound while celebrating the incredible powers of music in our lives. With rare and captivating eloquence, Narayan portrays Kangra songs about difficulties on the lives of goddesses and female saints as a path to well-being. Like the intricate geometries of mandalu patterns drawn in courtyards or the subtle balance of flavors in a meal, well-crafted songs offer a variety of deeply meaningful benefits: as a way of making something of value, as a means of establishing a community of shared pleasure and skill, as a path through hardships and limitations, and as an arena of renewed possibility. Everyday Creativity makes big the small world of Kangra song and opens up new ways of thinking about what creativity is to us and why we are so compelled to engage it.

Indian indigenous societies are especially known for their elaborate rituals, which offer an excellent chance for studying religion as practice. However, few detailed ethnographic works exist on the ritual practices of these societies. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Jharkhand, India this book offers insights into contemporary, previously not described rituals of the Santal, one of the largest indigenous societies of Central India. Its focus lies on culturally specific notions of place as articulated and created during these rituals. In three chapters the book discusses how the Santal "make place" on different local, regional and global levels through their rituals: They reaffirm their ancestral roots in their land during large sacrificial rituals. They offer sacrifices to the dangerous deities of the forest in exchange for rain. And they claim their region to be a "Santal region" through large festivals celebrated in sacred groves, which they link to national and global discourses of indigeneity and environmentalism. Through an analysis of the rituals of a specific society, this book addresses broader issues. It presents an example of how to study religion as a practical activity. It portrays culture-specific perceptions of the environment. And last, the book underlines the potential that lies in choosing place as a lens to study social phenomena in context.

In Encounters across Difference, Natalia Bloch examines tourism encounters in the informal sector in India and their potential to empower subaltern communities. Drawing from ethnographic evidence in Hampi and Dharamshala, Bloch explores the potential of tourism to promote political engagement, volunteering, sponsorship, local entrepreneurship, and women’s empowerment. Contrary to the frequent criticism of tourism to the Global South as a colonial practice, Bloch argues that workers and small entrepreneurs in displaced communities see tourists as allies in their political struggles and, on a more individual level, as an opportunity to build better lives. For more information, check out A Conversation with Natalia Bloch, author of Encounters across Difference: Tourism and Overcoming Subalternity in India.

This book explores how social discrimination in South Asia contributes to health disparities and impedes well-being. Specifically, it addresses how marginalization shapes health outcomes, both under normal circumstances and specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coming from diverse backgrounds and representing different academic disciplines, the authors have contributed a range of chapters drawing from quantitative and ethnographic material across South Asia. Chapters address reservation politics, tribal lifeways, Dalit exclusions from governmental institutions, Muslim ghettoization, gendered domestic violence, social determinants of health among migrant workers, and the pandemic fallout across South Asian society, among other subjects. Scholars draw on decades of experience and firsthand ethnographic fieldwork among affected communities. The chapters provide an innovative analysis, often in real time, of the human toll of casteism, classism, patriarchy, and religious intolerance—many set against the spectre of COVID-19. Many authors not only present social critiques but also offer specific policy recommendations. The book is of great interest to social scientists, public health practitioners, and policy advocates interested in addressing systemic inequalities and ensuring that future pandemics are not disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable.