I sat waiting for my turn to see the doctor. I watched as women went in and out. I listened as names were called. Eventually, there were only two of us left in the waiting room: another young woman and I. Quite unexpectedly, she started speaking to me – no one had said anything during the entire hour or more …
Tag Archives: Human rights
Longing for Sleep: Assessing the Place of Sleep in the 21st Century – Part 2
This article is part of the series: Longing for Sleep
Sleep has been in the news for the past decade or so as a matter of growing concern. Along with this popular, medical and scientific attention, social scientists have been increasingly interested in sleep as an object or process of study. The first major sociological book published on sleep was Simon Williams’ Sleep and Society (Routledge, 2005), after which …
Web Roundup: Dr. Jim Yong Kim at the World Bank, and, Dr. Robert Spitzer’s revocation
In the spirit of the web round-up series, this post gathers links to news stories and timely events of interest to the Somatosphere community that have appeared lately in the popular press and in medical anthropology circles. This month, the spotlight falls on two conversations, which will be treated separately: (1) the on-going conversation about ethics and humanitarianism, highlighted by …
Book Review: Erica James’ Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti
Erica James. Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. 384 pages; $24.95
Review by Hanna Kienzler (McGill University)
“Supported by a rich cultural heritage, the Haitian people retain a capacity for hope, faith, and resilience that remains a tremendous resource for any efforts to rehabilitate the nation and its people” …
Humanity: a new journal
Humanity is a new periodical published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, which describes itself as an “international journal of human rights, humanitarianism and development.” These topics have been a central interest for many anthropologists of late and indeed anthropology is well represented among the members of the editorial collective and contributors to the journal’s first issue. Here’s how …
Teaching Critique of Humanitarianism: A Syllabus for Comparative Study
This post was contributed by Chris Garces (Cornell University)
Garces Comparative Humanitarianism
… “Comparative Humanitarianism,” viewable and available for download above, expands upon my lower-division undergraduate seminar, “Love™, Ltd.: Charity, Philanthropy, & Humanitarianism,” which I taught at Cornell and Sarah Lawrence College successively over the last two years (2008 and 2009). To my surprise, this latter course attracted the largest number