Synopses & Reviews
Although it is commonly believed that deafness and disability limits a person in a variety of ways, Valuing Deaf Worlds in Urban India describes the two as a source of value in postcolonial India. Michele Friedner argues that the experiences of deaf people offer an important portrayal of contemporary self-making and sociality under new regimes of labor and economy in India.and#160;and#160;Friedner contends that deafness actually becomes a source of value for deaf Indians as they interact with nongovernmental organizations, with employers in the global information technology sector, and with the state. In contrast to previous political economic moments, deaf Indians increasingly depend less on the state for education and employment, and instead turn to novel and sometimes surprising spaces such as NGOs, multinational corporations, multilevel marketing businesses, and churches that attract deaf congregants. They also gravitate towards each other. Their social practices may be invisible to outsiders because neither the state nor their families have recognized Indian Sign Language as legitimate, but deaf Indians collectively learn sign language, which they use among themselves, and they also learn the importance of working within the structures of their communities to maximize their opportunities. and#160;and#160;Valuing Deaf Worlds in Urban India analyzes how diverse deaf people become oriented toward each other and disoriented from their families and other kinship networks. More broadly, this book explores how deafness, deaf sociality, and sign language relate to contemporary society.and#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
andquot;What makes this book so special is that it does not stop at description, as do most ethnographies. It goes on to explain Sinhalese childhood and child rearing, doing so within a well-considered, smartly-deployed psychoanalytic framework.andquot;
Review
andquot;Chapin's work is a significant contribution to the anthropology of childhood. It tackles important questions about the meaning of child care practices and patterns.andquot;
Review
andquot;Michele Friednerandrsquo;s groundbreaking ethnography takes us on a rich, grounded journey with deaf young adults in Bangalore and shows us how they make their way through schools, vocational training, and religious worlds. From the opening scene to the last page, Friedner invites our appreciation of and#39;deaf gainand#39; and how community, conviviality, kinship, value, and possibility are created.andquot;
Synopsis
Childhood in a Sri Lankan Village starts with a mystery: why do Sri Lankan children, normally rambunctious and demanding as toddlers, become uncannily compliant as they grow older? To answer this question, anthropologist Bambi Chapin spent over a decade tracking the development of children in a rural Sri Lankan village. What she learned gives us a fresh perspective on the ways children think and on how cultural beliefs are passed down through the generations.
Synopsis
Like toddlers all over the world, Sri Lankan children go through a period that in the U.S. is referred to as the andldquo;terrible twos.andrdquo; Yet once they reach elementary school age, they appear uncannily passive, compliant, and undemanding compared to their Western counterparts. Clearly, these children have undergone some process of socialization, but what?
Over ten years ago, anthropologist Bambi Chapin traveled to a rural Sri Lankan village to begin answering this question, getting to know the toddlers in the village, then returning to track their development over the course of the following decade. Childhood in a Sri Lankan Village offers an intimate look at how these children, raised on the tenets of Buddhism, are trained to set aside selfish desires for the good of their families and the community. Chapin reveals how this cultural conditioning is carried out through small everyday practices, including eating and sleeping arrangements, yet she also explores how the villageandrsquo;s attitudes and customs continue to evolve with each new generation.
Combining penetrating psychological insights with a rigorous observation of larger social structures, Chapin enables us to see the world through the eyes of Sri Lankan children searching for a place within their families and communities. Childhood in a Sri Lankan Village offers a fresh, global perspective on child development and the transmission of culture.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
Valuing Deaf Worlds in Urban India analyzes how diverse deaf people become oriented toward each other and disoriented from their families and other kinship networks. Michele Friedner argues that the experiences of deaf people offer an important portrayal of contemporary self-making and sociality under new regimes of labor and economy in India. More broadly, this book explores how deafness, deaf sociality, and sign language relate to contemporary society.and#160;and#160;
About the Author
MICHELE FRIEDNER is an assistant professor of health and rehabilitation sciences in the School of Health Technology and Management at Stony Brook University (SUNY), in Stony Brook, NY.and#160;