Research Catalog

Title

Pursuits of happiness : well-being in anthropological perspective / edited by Gordon Mathews and Carolina Izquierdo.

Publication

New York : Berghahn Books, 2009.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Mathews, Gordon.
• Izquierdo, Carolina.

Description

x, 278 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm

Summary

"Anthropology has long shied away from examining how human beings may lead happy and fulfilling lives. This book, however, shows that the ethnographic examination of well-being - defined as "the optimal state for an individual, a community, and a society" - and the comparison of well-being within and across societies is a new and important area for anthropological inquiry. Distinctly different in different places, but also reflecting our common humanity, well-being is intimately linked to the idea of happiness and its pursuits." "Noted anthropological researchers have come together in this volume to examine well-being in a range of diverse ways and to investigate it in a range of settings: from the Peruvian Amazon, the Australian outback, and the Canadian north, to India, China, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

• Quality of life > Cross-cultural studies
• Well-being > Cross-cultural studies
• Anthropology > Philosophy
• Happiness > Cross-cultural studies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction. Anthropology, Happiness, and Well-Being / Gordon Mathews and Carolina Izquierdo -- Pt. 1. Theoretical Background -- Ch. 1. Why Anthropology Can ill Afford to Ignore Well-Being / Neil Thin -- Ch. 2. Is a Measure of Cult ural Well-Being Possible or Desirable? / Benjamin Nick Colby -- Pt. 2. Well-Being in Small-scale Societies -- Ch. 3. Well-Being among the Matsigenka of the Peruvian Amazon : Health, Missions, Oil, and "Progress" / Carolina Izquierdo -- Ch. 4. Embodied Selves and Social Selves: Aboriginal Well-Being in Rural New South Wales, Australia / Daniela Heil -- Ch. 5. The Shifting Landscape of Cree Well-Being / Naomi Adelson -- Pt. 3. Well-Being, Culture, and the State -- Ch. 6. Well-Being: Lessons from India / Steve Derue -- Ch. 7. Well-Being, Cultural Pathology, and Personal Rejuvenation in a Chinese City, 1981-2005 / William Jankowiak -- Ch. 8. Finding and Keeping a Purpose in Life: Well-Being and Ikigai in Japan and Elsewhere / Gordon Mathews -- Pt. 4. New Anthropological Directions -- Ch. 9. Pleasure Experienced: Well-Being and the Japanese Bath / Scott Clark -- Ch. 10. Selfscapes of Well-Being in a Rural Indonesian Village / Douglas Hollan -- Ch. 11. Well-Being and Sustainability of Daily Routines: Families with Children with Disabilities in the United States / Thomas S. Weisner -- Conclusion. Towards an Anthropology of Well-Being / Gordon Mathews and Carolina Izquierdo.

ISBN

• 9781845454487 (hardcover : alk. paper)
• 1845454480 (hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

• 2008028586
• 40016411849

OCLC

• 191924276
• ocn191924276
• SCSB-5457488

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries