The Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes

Book Description

Based on Enrique Mayer's 30 years of research in Peru, this collection of new and revised essays presents in one accessible volume Mayer's most significant statements on Andean peasant economies from precolonial times to the present. As a result, The Articulated Peasant is noteworthy as a sustained examination of household economies through changing historical circumstances, while considering also the relationship of the environment to systems of land use and agricultural production, notably through "verticality models" of exchange between environmental zones. Though the volume stresses the Andean context, its relevancy is wider. It will resonate with people and organizations struggling with issues of development in Latin America or elsewhere where the units of production and consumption are largely household based.

Customer Reviews:

Essential reading for those in Andean studies........2005-07-16

Eight months of the year I live in Andes, in small farming community, three hours from Cusco, Peru. I sought-out this text to enrich my historical and ethnographical understanding of Peru, but after plowing through professor Mayer's erudite monograph on Andean peasant economies I came away with little practical knowledge that would help better understand the campesinas in my community.

That is not to say that Professor Mayer work is not valuable. The text provides a quantitative and empirical study of Andean households as economic agents, and for social science theorists, those in academia and upper division students of Andean studies `The Articulated Peasant' will be essential reading. There is a short Spanish/Quechua glossary, a good index and ample biography.

insightful and refreshing anthropology book.......2004-07-15

After reading countless amounts of history and background on certain issues in the Andes, I foudn this book to include new information and different views on highly debated issues. Very insightful and informative. A good anthro book!

Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes

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Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes
Enrique Mayer
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NP5PFC

The Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes.(Book Review) : An article from: Latin American Antiquity

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The Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes.(Book Review) : An article from: Latin American Antiquity
Christine A. Hastorf
Manufacturer: Society for American Archaeology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Latin American Antiquity, published by Society for American Archaeology on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 757 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes.(Book Review)
Author: Christine A. Hastorf
Publication: Latin American Antiquity (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2003
Publisher: Society for American Archaeology
Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Page: 108(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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The Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes

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The Articulated Peasant: Household Economies in the Andes
Enrique Mayer
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MUDYJC

Book Description

American culture is obsessed with the law, the legal system, and lawyers. Much in our everyday lives revolves around the law, and we are bombarded daily by cultural images of lawyers and the legal system at work. We indulge in dramatic television shows and feature films about lawyers, we read legal thrillers, and observe trials as they unfold. Many of us wish for our children to attend law school and become lawyers.

At the same time, most people report that they don't trust lawyers and hold them and the legal system in very low esteem. Those who have had unfavorable experiences with the law have walked away bitter and resentful. Some have observed that lawyers operate according to their own professional worldview, one that is emotionally detached and unfeeling, overly logical, technical, narrow, bureaucratic, and insensitive to basic human emotions and moral principles.

We are, paradoxically, both fascinated and repulsed by our legal system. The dramatic allure of judgment keeps us enthralled; the absence of moral conviction in the law makes us furious.

In The Myth of Moral Justice, law professor and novelist Thane Rosenbaum suggests that this paradox stems from the fact that citizens and the courts are at odds when it comes to their definitions of justice. Individuals seek out lawyers and enter courtrooms because they have an emotional grievance as well as a legal complaint. They expect the law to do the right thing. Yet our legal system, bent on separating the legal from the emotional, willfully ignores basic moral criteria. As a result, the justice system undermines truth, perpetuates secrets and lies, prevents victims from telling their stories, promotes adversarial enmity over community repair, and fails to equate legal duty with moral responsibility. Legal outcomes that make sense to lawyers and judges feel simply wrong to most people and enrage others.

With a lawyer's expertise and a novelist's sensibility, Rosenbaum tackles complicated philosophical questions about our longing for moral justice. He also takes a critical look at what our legal system does to the spirits of those who must come before the law, along with those who practice within it. Rosenbaum reinforces his themes with artistic representations of lawyers and legal systems from the classic works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Franz Kafka, along with various important feature films that illuminate why our legal system fails to do what's right.

Customer Reviews:

All law students, lawyers, and judges should read this book!.......2007-04-28

I took two classes with Thane Rosenbaum at Fordham Law School, both of which were highly enjoyable. This book was required reading for both classes. Rosenbaum paints a portrait of the American legal system that is often hidden from us. While many are dissatisfied with the legal system, we cannot pinpoint exactly why it is so inadequate, or what can be done to change it.

In this eye-opening book, Rosenbaum conveys that it is the lack of morality and spirituality in our legal system that leads to such unhappiness. He shows us how TV and movies have distorted the true nature of the legal system, adding a moral component that does not exist. He tells us how and why the legal system has failed, highlighting that many artists in literature realized this long ago. For example, Kafka's the Trial is a clear criticism of the legal system, and the Merchant of Venice shows what outside political influences can do to a trial. Rosenbaum lets us in to a view of the legal system that many of us have never thought about, and it's very refreshing.

I recommend this book to anyone considering practicing law, already in the practice of law, or even those who have experienced or will experience lawsuits. The legal system cannot provide any satisfaction without including moral components, and Rosenbaum conveys that through a frank and understandable discussion with his readers. Read this book!

Rosenbaum Fails on Several Levels.......2005-12-30

I must say at the outset that I feel slightly betrayed by the NYT on this one. The comment that this book should be read by every law student in America could not be further from the truth. I have never read a book that has been so well reviewed that has offered so little to the debate.

I share the sentiments of Mr. Currie. This book, while undoubtedly drawn from admirable intentions, suffers from several fatal flaws that, in my view, make it a mostly worthless read. I will explain a few of my problems with this book that I find the most troubling.

Firstly, Rosenbaum paints a deceptively bleak picture of the American legal system. Everyone who hasn't had any exposure to the court system would be right to be concerned about the state of our judiciary if it really worked the way that Rosenbaum implies. For example, Rosenbaum talks about the unfairness of statutes of limitation which preclude claims brought after a certain period of time. What Rosenbaum doesn't mention is that statutes of limitations are frequently tolled if, for example, the defendant actively covers up her crime, and that time limits during a trial are frequently extended if the other party has suffered no harm from the delinquent filing. In this way, courts are frequently able to give relief for claims that may be technically filed too late. Similar discussion of ways that the legal system attempt to balance the interests of the parties involved is missing from most of the rest of the book. It simply doesn't portray an accurate representation of the way the legal system works in practice.

This leads me to my second point; Rosenbaum's central theme is that the American legal system needs to be more moral. However, he does not define or explain what he means by morality aside from noting that morality does not have to be synonymous with religious morality. In my view, this is the central flaw in the book. Everyone in America has a different view of morality, and even if we could agree on some central tenants of morality to guide the legal system, Rosenbaum does not seem to realize how a moral system of justice would translate into a pragmatic system for adjudicating disputes. Instead, as Mr. Currie notes, Rosenbaum uses literary and dramatic examples where there is often a clear sense of right and wrong (For example, The Trial, where Joseph K. has clearly suffered injustice at the hands of the law.) In my view, morality necessarily involved compromise and balance - there are no absolutes. And in my experience, while there is clearly room for improvement in the American legal system, there is a conscience effort made to balance the interests of all parties. It is not perfect, but legal disputes more often than not have no clear cut answers - otherwise they wouldn't get to court in the first place. Going back to the statute of limitations example, I do not think that a moral system of justice would allow a plaintiff or victim to have relief against a defendant forever. The goals of justice and finality are both worthy goals of the legal system. If a defendant could bring a claim forever, anyone who has ever done anything wrong (which I would venture to say is all of us at some point) would spend the rest of lives in fear of prosecution. It is hard to see how anything would get done in a world like that - especially as people's private information becomes more accessible and durable on sources such as the internet. The case of the holocaust or war crimes might be an exception, but again, this is an issue of balance, not absolute morality. Just because the result in a case may seem like an unjust outcome, doesn't mean that the process was flawed or that an injustice was done. It may just be the result of a bad case, or a situation where no matter the outcome, neither party could be made whole.

Take another example. There is an inherent tension between a speedy and expeditious trial, which Rosenbaum would support, and longer trial where maybe more facts could come out to present a fuller picture of the dispute. So a speedy trial would be good because it would provide closure, and a longer trial could be good because it could get closer to the truth. Similarly, a quick trial could be bad if it only presents a cursory image of the dispute, and a longer trial could be bad by wasting resources and confusing the issue - like Jarndyce v. Jarndyce. There is no one guiding moral principal that could satisfy both of these concerns. The outcome is a balance between competing goals of morality that Rosenbaum simply does not seem to recognize.

Some of the inconsistencies in the book clearly stem from this failure to recognize that morality is a multi-faceted concept that might be more present in the legal system then Rosenbaum likes to admit. As such, the book is rarely more than a biased critic of the U.S. legal system which offers little to this field of scholarship. In the afterword, he notes a lot of the criticism that he has had from the book, and posits that at least he has got people to talk about the issues. This may be true, but there have been many a better book written on this subject which the reader would be well advised to read before touching this one. Some of the work of Posner and Fuller come to mind.

I guess ultimately my critique is that this book doesn't seem to add anything to the debate. Obviously there is room to debate whether the U.S. legal system should be a moral system or under what circumstances it could be moral (both of which I see as almost infinitely complex questions). The inquiry into Apartheid in South Africa is a good example of a system which decided that finding out the truth was more important than punishing the participants and that hence embraced truth as the overriding moral concern. And that was a controversial and difficult decision that involved many competing interests getting together to find a compromise that would best serve the interests of South Africa. It didn't flow from any fixed or simple idea of morality. Rosenbaum's analysis fails because it doesn't grapple with the really hard questions, or provide any answers. We would all like to see a legal system that provides more justice and fairness, but when we can't even decide what those words mean, it seems frivolous to simply go on a biased diatribe about all the immoral conduct in the legal system without tackling the underlying tensions. Simple storytelling cannot be the full answer. While storytelling may be a solution for some people to air their grievances, telling a story isn't going to pay the medical bills for someone injured in a car wreck, or compensate someone whose retirement has been fraudulently taken. In those situations, settlements (which Rosenbaum mostly rejects) might be the best option because they assure the plaintiff of a recovery and avoid the risk of trial which could be substantial, especially for an unsympathetic plaintiff, or a case where the evidence simply isn't there. Again, these are complex questions.

The editors note that "perhaps provoking lawyers is part of the book's point." But I just don't see provocation for the sake of provocation as being particularly moral or worthwhile. If Rosenbaum and the NYT don't think that law schools are debating these issues today, they are sorely mistaken. We all know that the system is flawed. What is needed is a real debate into how will deal the problems. Unfortunately Rosenbaum simply doesn't provide any help.

lawyers are humans, too.......2004-11-15

I have not read this book, but I just finished watching the author give a presentation of it on television. I must disagree with the dissenting review below. The book is about lawyers as human beings who know the difference between morally right and morally wrong but who opt to perform what is ethically allowed by legal parameters. The choice on the part of the persons in charge to pursue the path of least resistance is what is corrupting our justice system. If the lawyer abdicates on his or her moral responsibility towards truth, then in what are we ordinary citizens to believe... upon what are we to depend for the justice we need to struggle? The discomforting question deserves much discussion.

Law as therapy? (Yup.) Care to explain yourself? (Nope!).......2004-06-13

I am the type of reader who, even if I think i will disagree with an author's stance, like to give the book a fair shake. Who knows? The author might present a case I've not seen and in the end, it may be worth my time and effort. (It has happened before.) Not this time. I came away from these 300+ pages thinking the book a complete and total waste of my time.

The authors case - if I may be so polite - is that the law should be more moral; it should focus on doing the 'right' thing. Lawyers and judges should become morally sensitive. Law should become more embracing of moral tenets over strict rules and focus on 'healing' the parties involved rather than being an adversarial system focused on settlement for settlements sake.

Here's the problem; the author keeps saying all of these things and NEVER actually explores the ins and outs of this thesis. For instance, when he talks of why judges and lawyers need to focus on 'rightness' rather than procedural minuteia, on 'healing' rather than settlements, he never - not once - gives a glimpse at how such a system would work, whether it is practical, or tackles objections that, at least to me, are simply obvious.

While my objections are too numerous to go into, let me give you a taste of what you are getting with this book. The author writes:

"The winner-take-all structure of the legal systemis moraly deficient because it creates a presumption that justice has been achieved when morally it has not. Sometimes the ultimate winner should not have been victorious... [O]ften, the best moral result would... approximate some measure of victory in both parties - to send them both home healed rather than ambivalent or enraged." (p. 22)

But how do we KNOW who should be morally victorious (when we were not there to know that the alleged defendant did IN FACT commit the crime)? How can a legal system function other than adversarially (can it function communally?) How can a judge (who is not a psychologist) know when both parties are healed (and, say, in a murder, is there ANYTHING that could heal the victim's family in full? Surely not a forced apology!) And how can we measure (as the judge would have to do) when both parties are 'sufficiently' healed? Is it just measured by both parties say-so? If so, does that mean the trial could last 15 years?

My point is simple: the author DOESN'T EVEN TRY to map out either a positive case or handle any of these (what I think are) obvious objections. In the interest of giving the author a fair shake, it would have been nice to hear an argument. I did not. The book merely rehashes paragraphs like the above as if the positive case is self-evident (it is not) and objections don't exist (they do).

Another flaw is that the author cites (almost exlusively) fiction books and movies to make his case. "Since in x movie, we know that x was guilty and got off, the legal system is not fair." But the flaw is that there is a difference between fiction and life. In movies, we often KNOW who is guilty. Thus, it is easy to say, "the morally right decision is x because this character did it; we saw her do it on screen." In life, we rarely come in knowing who is guilty like in the movies. Thus, citing movies is simply too easy; saying, "X is the right answer becasue we know SHE did it," presumes... that we know she did it! Thus, making the 'morally right' decision is easy in the movies; but sadly, the author does little to differentiate the fantasy land of movies from real life quandaries.

It is no exaggeration to say that I could go on for pages citing errors like these! While I can somewhat sympahtize with the author's plight on a 'gut level,' his failure to explain a positive case, sheer repetitiveness of claims he simply ASSUMES to be self-evident, and absolute failkure to handle ANY objections left me dissapointed. Simply put, this is one of the few books I can say was wasted time.

Every lawyer should read it.......2004-05-06

I agree with the NY Times reviewer - all law students should be required to read this book, but would add that all practicing lawyers should read it too. An excellent and well written book, which just might make lawyers slightly more humane.

The Myth Of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails To Do Whats Right

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The Myth Of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails To Do Whats Right
Thane Rosenbaum
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF3IOG

The myth of moral justice: why our legal system fails to do what's right.(Book Review): An article from: Real Estate Issues

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The myth of moral justice: why our legal system fails to do what's right.(Book Review): An article from: Real Estate Issues
Bowen H. "Buzz" McCoy
Manufacturer: The Counselors of Real Estate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00081NXF0
Release Date: 2005-08-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Real Estate Issues, published by The Counselors of Real Estate on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 893 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The myth of moral justice: why our legal system fails to do what's right.(Book Review)
Author: Bowen H. "Buzz" McCoy
Publication: Real Estate Issues (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: The Counselors of Real Estate
Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Page: 36(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Textbook of Seeds Pathology
D.K. Jha
Manufacturer: Sangam Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 070699812X

Book Description

The aim of this text is to integrate the processes of protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation into the complex pathways by which cellular proliferation is driven, bringing together the many different systems of control implicated in the regulation of cell growth.
Presents a survey of protein phosphorylation roles in the control of cellular proliferation and differentiation. A large number of protein kinases and phosphatases have been characterised in higher cells, and have been shown to be involved in signal transduction pathways by which growth factors, mitogens, and extracellular agents exert proliferative effects on cells. Important subjects covered include control of gene expression at the transcriptional and translational levels, and roles of the cdk kinases and cyclins in cell cycles regulation. Describes all major families of protein kinases of significance to growth regulation.

Book Description

The study of capillarity is in the midst of a veritable explosion. Hence the temptation to write a new book, aiming at an audience of students. What is offered here is not a comprehensive review of the latest research but rather a compendium of principles. How does one turn a hydrophilic surface into one that is hydrophobic, and vice versa? We will describe a few solutions. Some rely on chemical treatments, such as coating a surface with a molecular layer. Others are based on physics, for instance by controlling the roughness of a surface. We will also examine the dynamics of wetting. Drops that spread spontaneously do so at a rate that slows down with time. They can be tricked into covering large areas by spreading them suddenly. We will describe a few of the many facets of their dynamical properties. Special additives are required for water to foam. Foams are desirable in a shampoo but can be a nightmare in a dishwasher detergent. Antifoam agents have been developed and are well known, but how do they work? It is also possible to generate bubbles and foams without special additives, for example in pure and viscous liquids such as glycerin, molten glass, and polymers. As we will see, the laws of draining and bursting then turn out to be quite different from the conventional ones. This book will enable the reader to understand in simple terms such questions that affect every day life -- questions that also come up during in industry. The aim is to view systems that often prove quite complex in a way that isolates a particular physical phenomenon, often avoiding descriptions requiring advanced numerical techniques will oftentimes in favor of qualitative arguments. This strategy may at times jeopardize scientific rigor, but it makes it possible to grasp things efficiently and to invent novel situations.

Customer Reviews:

Very useful and easy to read!.......2006-03-04

This is a great book for anyone interested in capillarity and wetting phenomena. What I like about it is that it gives the reader a grasp of how things work and it goes through a lot of practical examples. The equations are voluntarily simplified (constants often omitted) to only leave the important variables and reveal the "mechanics of how things work". However, although the equations look simple, they do capture the essence of the problem and they are always perfectly sound. This is an approach that de Gennes uses a lot and which I believe makes things easier to understand. Moreover, the 3 authors of the book are, like the previous reviewer said, very well known and respected scientist in their field, which adds to the scientific soundness of their approach. In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the physics of wetting.

Intuitive, elegant, insightful, beautiful!.......2005-05-08

Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena, like every text and paper bearing the name of de Gennes is intuitive, insightful, elegant, beautiful and extremely useful text. The names de Gennes, Brochard and David Quere are well known to the researchers in this area, and this book basically brings together their deep insight about a host of different phenomena in very simple words and equations. The described physics of wetting, surface tension, droplet spreading, instabilities, bubbles, etc. is developed in a style where qualitative arguments, dimensional arguments and experimental observations are used to describe a variety of complex phenomena. The apparent lack of mathematical rigor is a blessing to everyone interested in developing a taste and temperament for this extremely important field. While one can find several related texts in the field, none other is written in this delightfully insightful way. This is one of the rare gems that everyone from a high school student to most advanced researcher in the field can read, enjoy, learn from and be delighted to possess.

Customer Reviews:

Splash through the muck that is humanity.......2007-05-17

Heavy/Light book - hard to explain. There is a realness to the characters that made me say "Hey, I know that person!" and sometimes even, "Eeek! Too like the self I don't want to be!" This ain't no fairytale collection. This is life, complete with trips to the toilet. Not exactly anti-heros, the main characters show their flaws unknowingly as they search to move forward, often even unsure what direction is forward or which way to up. Some do successfully navigate towards up. There is some hope. But some also stagnate and a few slide further down. The stories hang in my head weeks after reading them. Thankfully, Bannan has a wonderful dry wit that helps us do more than muck our way through human exposure. We can wade along splashing, enjoying the lightness of the weight that reveals our world to us and makes us think.

Keith Banner calls these stories "brutal honesty".......2004-07-21

Keith Banner, just reviewed in the New York Times for his "Smallest People Alive," also from Carnegie Mellon University Press, says on the Inventing Victor back cover: "Jennifer Bannan's Inventing Victor is a sharply written collection of funny, unnerving short stories that never settle for easy answers. Bannan's characters, self-reflective losers negotiating their ways through life with the low-volume enthusiasm of pro-bowlers, narrate each story in deceptively simple voices. But the stories themselves are never simple or deceptive. Bannan is after a kind of truth most literary writers try to avoid: brutal honesty in the face of all the bad things human beings do to each other. The title story alone is worth the price of admission. Fast-paced yet creepily intense, hilarious and very sad, it tells the story of a 15-year-old girl who can't stop lying, even while she knows this lying is slowly destroying her life. As you read this story, you start questioning all the lies you've ever told in order to impress people, all the ways in which dishonesty is sometimes all you have to keep yourself interesting, and maybe even aware of who you are."

A reason to love short fiction.......2004-03-26

This is the kind of book you want to give as a gift to all your friends. In fact, I did that. It's a beautiful collection of witty and moving stories, with characters who are so vividly drawn they seem like people you might have known once. It's the kind of book you'll read more than once; the kind of book that makes you remember why you love short stories. I highly recommend it.

Stunning.......2004-03-09

We've all read stories that wipe out any trace of energy by trying so hard to be profound. And then there is gorgeous prose that doesn't manage to say much of anything. And then there is Inventing Victor. With pitch-perfect language, fresh takes on familiar insecurities and fantasies, and one wicked sense of humor, this one stays with you long after you're turned the last page. A really stunning debut.

A Voice of Her Own.......2004-02-16

Ms. Bannan's style defies categorization in that her stories are seemingly unrelated and there is no recognizable theme unifying them, which makes for each story its' own unique read, and makes for a small book packing an assortment of refreshing voices. She also embodies a literary style that is both masculine and feminine, vulnerable and pragmatically caustic. She is a fine teller of stories, less focused on melodic writing than on luring you in with the guts of the story itself, with the guts of the characters' thoughts and actions, and thus you are anxious to know what precisely is going to happen next. Written with a good deal of assurance, confidence and downright moxy.

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