In Japan, people labeled as Buraku-min are usually described as the descendants of pre-modern occupational groups who were engaged in socially-polluting tasks like leather work, meat-packing, street entertainment, and drum-making. This book explores the representations of the buraku in contemporary Japan, with a special focus on performances and museum exhibitions. In particular, the book is the result of an ethnographic work conducted in Kinegawa and Naniwa leather towns, respectively in Tokyo and Osaka, and with the Monkey Dance Company performers. (Series: Freiburg Studies in Social...

Does East Go West? examines the study of post-socialism from an anthropological perspective. These social systems have posed a challenge to anthropological theory that has been the subject of lively exchanges for over 20 years now. Can post-socialism as a concept adequately apply to the current situation in Eastern Europe? One of the answers proposed here is that specific elements derived from postcolonial studies may prove very useful in analyzing Eastern Europe's post-socialist countries. (Series: Freiburg Studies in Social Anthropology / Freiburger Sozialanthropologische Studien / Etudes...

The coherence of the various contributions presented in this book is determined by a distinct vision of political anthropology based on the interpretative approach of Max Weber and his successors, in particular Alfred Schutz. Accordingly, a disenchanted political anthropology does not conform to fashionable trends, but rather is shaped by the classics of social sciences, anthropology and sociology foremost. The disquieting allure of disenchanted anthropology lies precisely in its nonconformist and deeply sceptical regard eloigne through which, by means of discomfiting empirical material and...

With the aim of shedding some light on the many ambiguities that contemporary dramatic events have brought to the fore, this volume collects eight ethnographic contributions-the product of fieldwork conducted in the last two years in geographical problem areas-upon fundamentalism and transnationalism, religiously driven deviations, and challenges in data collection. This book also provides a slightly different contribution from the dominant academic rhetoric, with chapters that cut across established historical "academic" regions while intersecting anthropological and cultural areas, thus...

The countries of the larger region of Eastern Europe pass through change and "modernization" processes with ambivalent effects. This book tackles aspects of cultural diversity and change in the Baltic States, in Southeast Europe and in the Southern Caucasus. These regions are diverse not only with regard to their historical, political and religious traditions but also with regard to their status as EU-members or non-members. The articles focus on the situation of ethnic minorities and related political and public discourses as well as on aspects of political cultures. The anthology also...