People at the Well: Kinds, Usages and Meanings of Water in a Global Perspective

ISBN-13: 9783593396101 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 250 str.

Hans Peter Hahn; Karlheinz Cless; Jens Soentgen

Opis

"People at the Well" investigates habits, practices, and meanings of water through case studies from around the world. With its wide range and impressive diversity, this volume points to water practices in different cultures and shows that water is much more than a commodity, a resource, or a substance it is a focal point of meanings and practices and thereby reflects culture as such. By providing close scrutiny, the contributors explore and discover the fundamental differencesand dynamics of various water-related practices and cultural phenomena.
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Spis treści

Contents

Preface7

Introduction
Karlheinz Cless and Hans Peter Hahn9

Water as substance and meaning: Anthropological perspectives
Hans Peter Hahn23

Virtual water and water footprints: Global supply and production chains and their impacts on freshwater resources
Simon Meissner44

What is water? Some philosophical considerations
Klaus Ruthenberg65

An essay on dew
Jens Soentgen79

People at the well: Experiences around water
Karlheinz Cless98

Water magic
Richard Wilk126

Consumption and production: Changing perceptions of water in northern Ghana
Wolfram Laube145

Neglecting the opportunity? Productive water uses for small income generation
Irit Eguavoen170

Water makes the difference: The case of South India
Bettina Weiz190

Making connections: Accessing water in Mumbai's settlements
Nikhil Anand217

Water in Amazonia
Klaus Hilbert232

Water management by divine benevolence along the River Nile: Artificial water reservoirs as pastoral meeting places in the Meroitic Sudan (ca. 350 B.C. to 350 A.D.)
Petra Weschenfelder246

Water beliefs and changing times in Nigeria
Emmanuel M. Akpabio266

Guarded by the devil: The fear of pollution from wells among the Iraqw of northern Tanzania
Anne-Christina Achterberg-Boness281

Figure and Table Credits299

Notes on Contributors303

Index of Persons and Subjects307

Index of Locations315

O autorze

Hans Peter Hahn ist Professor am Institut für Ethnologie der Universität Frankfurt am Main, Karlheinz Cless, Dr. rer. oec., ist dort Doktorand. Jens Soentgen, Dr. phil., ist wissenschaftlicher Leiter am Wissenschaftszentrum Umwelt der Universität Augsburg.