Anthropological Perspectives on Technology

Anthropological Perspectives on Technology

Author: Michael B. Schiffer

Publisher: UNM Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780826323699

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These fourteen original essays accept a dual premise: technology pervades and is embedded in all human activities. By taking that approach, studies of technology address two questions central in anthropological and archaeological research today-accounting for variability and change. These diverse yet interrelated chapters show that to understand human lives, researchers must deal with the material world that all peoples create and inhabit. Therefore an anthropology of technology is not a separate, discrete inquiry; instead, it is a way to connect how people make and use things to any activity studied, ranging from religion, to enculturation, to communication, to art. Each contributor discusses theories and methods and also offers a substantial case study. These detailed inquiries span human societies from the Paleolithic to the computer age. By moving beyond the usual approach of examining ancient technologies, particularly chipped stone and low-fired ceramics, this volume probes for the construction of meaning in the material world across millennia. The authors of these essays find technology to be an inclusive and flexible topic that merges with studies of everything else in human activity. "A provocative and powerful discussion of the role of technology in human cultures. At a time when archaeology has become less focused on theory, and archaeology and social anthropology seem to fracture farther and farther apart, the book is a breath of fresh air."--Professor John Douglas, University of Montana


Book Synopsis Anthropological Perspectives on Technology by : Michael B. Schiffer

Download or read book Anthropological Perspectives on Technology written by Michael B. Schiffer and published by UNM Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These fourteen original essays accept a dual premise: technology pervades and is embedded in all human activities. By taking that approach, studies of technology address two questions central in anthropological and archaeological research today-accounting for variability and change. These diverse yet interrelated chapters show that to understand human lives, researchers must deal with the material world that all peoples create and inhabit. Therefore an anthropology of technology is not a separate, discrete inquiry; instead, it is a way to connect how people make and use things to any activity studied, ranging from religion, to enculturation, to communication, to art. Each contributor discusses theories and methods and also offers a substantial case study. These detailed inquiries span human societies from the Paleolithic to the computer age. By moving beyond the usual approach of examining ancient technologies, particularly chipped stone and low-fired ceramics, this volume probes for the construction of meaning in the material world across millennia. The authors of these essays find technology to be an inclusive and flexible topic that merges with studies of everything else in human activity. "A provocative and powerful discussion of the role of technology in human cultures. At a time when archaeology has become less focused on theory, and archaeology and social anthropology seem to fracture farther and farther apart, the book is a breath of fresh air."--Professor John Douglas, University of Montana


Technology, Anthropology, and Dimensions of Responsibility

Technology, Anthropology, and Dimensions of Responsibility

Author: Birgit Beck

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-02-19

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 3476048969

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“With great power comes great responsibility.” In today’s world, with our growing technological power and the knowledge about its impact, we are considered to be responsible for many instances that not long ago would have been deemed a matter of fate. At the same time, the looming options of, e.g., genome editing or neuroprosthetics, threaten traditional notions of responsibility if no longer the person but the technology involved is deemed to be responsible for a specific behaviour. The growing ethical debate on the expansion of human responsibility, e.g. when it comes to human-machine-interaction, ambient intelligence, or reproductive technologies, thus intertwines with the challenge to formulate an appropriate understanding of the concept of personal responsibility and our respective anthropological self-understanding in today’s technological world. The volume brings together both perspectives and aims at illuminating crucial dimensions of responsibility in light of technological innovation and our self-understanding as responsible beings.


Book Synopsis Technology, Anthropology, and Dimensions of Responsibility by : Birgit Beck

Download or read book Technology, Anthropology, and Dimensions of Responsibility written by Birgit Beck and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-02-19 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “With great power comes great responsibility.” In today’s world, with our growing technological power and the knowledge about its impact, we are considered to be responsible for many instances that not long ago would have been deemed a matter of fate. At the same time, the looming options of, e.g., genome editing or neuroprosthetics, threaten traditional notions of responsibility if no longer the person but the technology involved is deemed to be responsible for a specific behaviour. The growing ethical debate on the expansion of human responsibility, e.g. when it comes to human-machine-interaction, ambient intelligence, or reproductive technologies, thus intertwines with the challenge to formulate an appropriate understanding of the concept of personal responsibility and our respective anthropological self-understanding in today’s technological world. The volume brings together both perspectives and aims at illuminating crucial dimensions of responsibility in light of technological innovation and our self-understanding as responsible beings.


Rethinking Anthropological Perspectives on Migration

Rethinking Anthropological Perspectives on Migration

Author: Graciela S. Cabana

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2020-03-17

Total Pages: 540

ISBN-13: 0813065534

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"Cabana and Clark have chosen to base their research into migration on careful study of how real people actually behave over time and space. We are well served by this rugged empiricism and by the multidisciplinary breadth of their approach."—Dean R. Snow, Pennsylvania State University "A thorough survey of the ways in which anthropologists across the four subfields have defined and analyzed human migration."—John H. Relethford, author of Reflections of Our Past: How Human History Is Revealed in Our Genes All too often, anthropologists study specific facets of human migration without guidance from the other subdisciplines (archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistics) that can provide new insights on the topic. The equivocal results of these narrow studies often make the discussion of impact and consequences speculative. In the last decade, however, anthropologists working independently in the four subdisciplines have developed powerful methodologies to detect and assess the scale of past migrations. Yet these advances are known only to a few specialized researchers. Rethinking Anthropological Perspectives on Migration brings together these new methods in one volume and addresses innovative approaches to migration research that emerge from the collective effort of scholars from different intellectual backgrounds. Its contributors present a comprehensive anthropological exploration of the many topics related to human migration throughout the world, ranging from theoretical treatments to specific case studies derived primarily from the Americas prior to European contact. Contributors: | Christopher S. Beekman | Wesley R. Bernardini | Deborah A. Bolnick | Graciela S. Cabana | Alexander F. Christensen | Jeffery J. Clark | J. Andrew Darling | Christopher Ehret | Alan G. Fix | Catherine S. Fowler | Severin M. Fowles | Susan R. Frankenberg | Jane H. Hill | Keith L. Hunley | Kelly J. Knudson | Lyle W. Konigsberg | Scott G. Ortman | Takeyuki (Gaku) Tsuda


Book Synopsis Rethinking Anthropological Perspectives on Migration by : Graciela S. Cabana

Download or read book Rethinking Anthropological Perspectives on Migration written by Graciela S. Cabana and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Cabana and Clark have chosen to base their research into migration on careful study of how real people actually behave over time and space. We are well served by this rugged empiricism and by the multidisciplinary breadth of their approach."—Dean R. Snow, Pennsylvania State University "A thorough survey of the ways in which anthropologists across the four subfields have defined and analyzed human migration."—John H. Relethford, author of Reflections of Our Past: How Human History Is Revealed in Our Genes All too often, anthropologists study specific facets of human migration without guidance from the other subdisciplines (archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistics) that can provide new insights on the topic. The equivocal results of these narrow studies often make the discussion of impact and consequences speculative. In the last decade, however, anthropologists working independently in the four subdisciplines have developed powerful methodologies to detect and assess the scale of past migrations. Yet these advances are known only to a few specialized researchers. Rethinking Anthropological Perspectives on Migration brings together these new methods in one volume and addresses innovative approaches to migration research that emerge from the collective effort of scholars from different intellectual backgrounds. Its contributors present a comprehensive anthropological exploration of the many topics related to human migration throughout the world, ranging from theoretical treatments to specific case studies derived primarily from the Americas prior to European contact. Contributors: | Christopher S. Beekman | Wesley R. Bernardini | Deborah A. Bolnick | Graciela S. Cabana | Alexander F. Christensen | Jeffery J. Clark | J. Andrew Darling | Christopher Ehret | Alan G. Fix | Catherine S. Fowler | Severin M. Fowles | Susan R. Frankenberg | Jane H. Hill | Keith L. Hunley | Kelly J. Knudson | Lyle W. Konigsberg | Scott G. Ortman | Takeyuki (Gaku) Tsuda


What is Techno-anthropology?

What is Techno-anthropology?

Author: Tom Børsen

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9788771121230

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This anthology explores the different approaches to and readings of 'Techno-Anthropology, ' which is a new interdisciplinary research and study area at Aalborg University. Techno-Anthropology is a hybrid that, in different ways, redefines and transcends distinctions, such as humans vs. technologies, or the natural sciences vs. the humanities. Thereby, gaps are bridged between different disciplines and professions working with new technologies, and between technological artifacts and their users. The book will appeal to scientists, anthropologists, engineers, philosophers, designers, sociologists, planners, educators, innovators, and decision makers. Its chapters are concerned with a wide range of issues related to Techno-Anthropology: ethnographic field work in expert and technology cultures * interdisciplinary perspectives on education * collaboration and communication * philosophical analyses and ethical judgments of new and emerging technologies * digital anthropology * anthropology-driven design. (Series: Series in Transformational Studies / Serie om Laerings-, forandrings- og organisationsudviklingsprocesser -- Vol. 3)Ã?Â?


Book Synopsis What is Techno-anthropology? by : Tom Børsen

Download or read book What is Techno-anthropology? written by Tom Børsen and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology explores the different approaches to and readings of 'Techno-Anthropology, ' which is a new interdisciplinary research and study area at Aalborg University. Techno-Anthropology is a hybrid that, in different ways, redefines and transcends distinctions, such as humans vs. technologies, or the natural sciences vs. the humanities. Thereby, gaps are bridged between different disciplines and professions working with new technologies, and between technological artifacts and their users. The book will appeal to scientists, anthropologists, engineers, philosophers, designers, sociologists, planners, educators, innovators, and decision makers. Its chapters are concerned with a wide range of issues related to Techno-Anthropology: ethnographic field work in expert and technology cultures * interdisciplinary perspectives on education * collaboration and communication * philosophical analyses and ethical judgments of new and emerging technologies * digital anthropology * anthropology-driven design. (Series: Series in Transformational Studies / Serie om Laerings-, forandrings- og organisationsudviklingsprocesser -- Vol. 3)Ã?Â?


Techno-Anthropology in Health Informatics

Techno-Anthropology in Health Informatics

Author: L. Botin

Publisher: IOS Press

Published: 2015-08-06

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1614995605

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Techno-Anthropology is an emerging interdisciplinary research field focusing on human/technology interactions and relations, and how these can be understood and facilitated in context. Techno-Anthropology also considers how technological innovation, development and implementation can be made in an appropriate and pragmatic way in relation to understanding work practices. Techno-Anthropology has much to offer the health informatics and eHealth fields, and this book presents the work of experienced international researchers who share here how they have applied Techno-Anthropology methodologies to their research. The book is divided into three sections: ethnographic and anthropological perspectives on methodology; ethical and sociotechnical approaches; and users, participation and human factors. Topics covered include: learning the craft of Techno-Anthropology; anthropological approaches in studying technology induced errors; technology and the ecology of chronic illness in everyday life; Techno-Anthropologists as agents of change; and using rapid ethnography to support the design and implementation of health information technologies, as well as many more. Of interest to researchers and practitioners within the health informatics field as well as students and scholars, the book will inspire researchers and practitioners to examine health informatics from a new perspective.


Book Synopsis Techno-Anthropology in Health Informatics by : L. Botin

Download or read book Techno-Anthropology in Health Informatics written by L. Botin and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2015-08-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Techno-Anthropology is an emerging interdisciplinary research field focusing on human/technology interactions and relations, and how these can be understood and facilitated in context. Techno-Anthropology also considers how technological innovation, development and implementation can be made in an appropriate and pragmatic way in relation to understanding work practices. Techno-Anthropology has much to offer the health informatics and eHealth fields, and this book presents the work of experienced international researchers who share here how they have applied Techno-Anthropology methodologies to their research. The book is divided into three sections: ethnographic and anthropological perspectives on methodology; ethical and sociotechnical approaches; and users, participation and human factors. Topics covered include: learning the craft of Techno-Anthropology; anthropological approaches in studying technology induced errors; technology and the ecology of chronic illness in everyday life; Techno-Anthropologists as agents of change; and using rapid ethnography to support the design and implementation of health information technologies, as well as many more. Of interest to researchers and practitioners within the health informatics field as well as students and scholars, the book will inspire researchers and practitioners to examine health informatics from a new perspective.


Elements for an Anthropology of Technology

Elements for an Anthropology of Technology

Author: Pierre Lemonnier

Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 0915703300

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Book Synopsis Elements for an Anthropology of Technology by : Pierre Lemonnier

Download or read book Elements for an Anthropology of Technology written by Pierre Lemonnier and published by U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Anthropological Data in the Digital Age

Anthropological Data in the Digital Age

Author: Jerome W. Crowder

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-11-01

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 3030249255

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For more than two decades, anthropologists have wrestled with new digital technologies and their impacts on how their data are collected, managed, and ultimately presented. Anthropological Data in the Digital Age compiles a range of academics in anthropology and the information sciences, archivists, and librarians to offer in-depth discussions of the issues raised by digital scholarship. The volume covers the technical aspects of data management—retrieval, metadata, dissemination, presentation, and preservation—while at once engaging with case studies written by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists returning from the field to grapple with the implications of producing data digitally. Concluding with thoughts on the new considerations and ethics of digital data, Anthropological Data in the Digital Age is a multi-faceted meditation on anthropological practice in a technologically mediated world.


Book Synopsis Anthropological Data in the Digital Age by : Jerome W. Crowder

Download or read book Anthropological Data in the Digital Age written by Jerome W. Crowder and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-11-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than two decades, anthropologists have wrestled with new digital technologies and their impacts on how their data are collected, managed, and ultimately presented. Anthropological Data in the Digital Age compiles a range of academics in anthropology and the information sciences, archivists, and librarians to offer in-depth discussions of the issues raised by digital scholarship. The volume covers the technical aspects of data management—retrieval, metadata, dissemination, presentation, and preservation—while at once engaging with case studies written by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists returning from the field to grapple with the implications of producing data digitally. Concluding with thoughts on the new considerations and ethics of digital data, Anthropological Data in the Digital Age is a multi-faceted meditation on anthropological practice in a technologically mediated world.


An Introduction to Childhood

An Introduction to Childhood

Author: Heather Montgomery

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-09-09

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1444358251

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In An Introduction to Childhood, Heather Montgomery examines the role children have played within anthropology, how they have been studied by anthropologists and how they have been portrayed and analyzed in ethnographic monographs over the last one hundred and fifty years. Offers a comprehensive overview of childhood from an anthropological perspective Draws upon a wide range of examples and evidence from different geographical areas and belief systems Synthesizes existing literature on the anthropology of childhood, while providing a fresh perspective Engages students with illustrative ethnographies to illuminate key topics and themes


Book Synopsis An Introduction to Childhood by : Heather Montgomery

Download or read book An Introduction to Childhood written by Heather Montgomery and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-09-09 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In An Introduction to Childhood, Heather Montgomery examines the role children have played within anthropology, how they have been studied by anthropologists and how they have been portrayed and analyzed in ethnographic monographs over the last one hundred and fifty years. Offers a comprehensive overview of childhood from an anthropological perspective Draws upon a wide range of examples and evidence from different geographical areas and belief systems Synthesizes existing literature on the anthropology of childhood, while providing a fresh perspective Engages students with illustrative ethnographies to illuminate key topics and themes


Techniques and people

Techniques and people

Author: Steven A. Rosen

Publisher: Editions De Boccard

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9782701802695

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In techniques and people, Rosen and Roux have assembled a collection of studies documenting the embeddedness of technology in the cultures of the late prehistoric and early historic periods of the southern Levant (with one comparative study from France). Unlike studies focusing on specific technologies, this collection cross-cuts technological realms, includings analyses of a wide range of techniques and materials (ceramics, metallurgy, chipped stone, bone working, lapidary, ground stone) and in this large view traces social and cultural patterns across technologies. Focusing primarily on the basic organizing principle of chaîne opératoire, these analyses demonstrate how the structures of technology and society are integrated. They thus provide insights into structural relations within societies and into the dynamics of social evolutionary change.


Book Synopsis Techniques and people by : Steven A. Rosen

Download or read book Techniques and people written by Steven A. Rosen and published by Editions De Boccard. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In techniques and people, Rosen and Roux have assembled a collection of studies documenting the embeddedness of technology in the cultures of the late prehistoric and early historic periods of the southern Levant (with one comparative study from France). Unlike studies focusing on specific technologies, this collection cross-cuts technological realms, includings analyses of a wide range of techniques and materials (ceramics, metallurgy, chipped stone, bone working, lapidary, ground stone) and in this large view traces social and cultural patterns across technologies. Focusing primarily on the basic organizing principle of chaîne opératoire, these analyses demonstrate how the structures of technology and society are integrated. They thus provide insights into structural relations within societies and into the dynamics of social evolutionary change.


Debating Authenticity

Debating Authenticity

Author: Thomas Fillitz

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2012-12-01

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0857454978

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The longing for authenticity, on an individual or collective level, connects the search for external expressions to internal orientations. What is largely referred to as production of authenticity is a reformulation of cultural values and norms within the ongoing process of modernity, impacted by globalization and contemporary transnational cultural flows. This collection interrogates the notion of authenticity from an anthropological point of view and considers authenticity in terms of how meaning is produced in and through discourses about authenticity. Incorporating case studies from four continents, the topics reach from art and colonialism to exoticism-primitivism, film, ritual and wilderness. Some contributors emphasise the dichotomy between the academic use of the term and the one deployed in public spaces and political projects. All, however, consider authenticity as something that can only be understood ethnographically, and not as a simple characteristic or category used to distinguish some behaviors, experiences or material things from other less authentic versions.


Book Synopsis Debating Authenticity by : Thomas Fillitz

Download or read book Debating Authenticity written by Thomas Fillitz and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2012-12-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The longing for authenticity, on an individual or collective level, connects the search for external expressions to internal orientations. What is largely referred to as production of authenticity is a reformulation of cultural values and norms within the ongoing process of modernity, impacted by globalization and contemporary transnational cultural flows. This collection interrogates the notion of authenticity from an anthropological point of view and considers authenticity in terms of how meaning is produced in and through discourses about authenticity. Incorporating case studies from four continents, the topics reach from art and colonialism to exoticism-primitivism, film, ritual and wilderness. Some contributors emphasise the dichotomy between the academic use of the term and the one deployed in public spaces and political projects. All, however, consider authenticity as something that can only be understood ethnographically, and not as a simple characteristic or category used to distinguish some behaviors, experiences or material things from other less authentic versions.