More than an ethnography, this book clarifies one of the most important current debates in anthropology: How should anthropologists regard culture, history, and the power process?

Since the 1980s, the Thakali of Nepal have searched for an identity and a clarification of their "true" culture and history in the wake of their rise to political power and achievement of economic success. Although united in this search, the Thakali are divided as to the answers that have been proposed: the "Hinduization" of religious practices, the promotion of Tibetan Buddhism, the revival of practices...

An interdisciplinary case study of a project to dam the Narmada River in central and western India so that it can be used productively. Diverse opinions of proponents and opponents are expressed, as are studies on human rights of disadvantaged groups displaced by the work.