This thesis focuses on young and educated British South Asian Muslim women, and their negotiations of gendered identities and marriage in multicultural Britain. I conducted 30 in-depth interviews with Muslim women from northern England so as to explore how educational and employment experiences are altering women’s gender identities and consequently, their understandings of marriage. Firstly, I look at how Muslim women develop ‘alternative’ identities as they navigate ‘Islamic’ and ‘British’ ideals. I analyse whether higher education and paid employment influence women’s perspectives in constructing ‘new’ identities as they explore boundaries. My analysis is embedded within theoretical frameworks encompassing racialised, politicised and gendered discourses on Muslim identities in the UK. In essence, I concentrate on how women manage Muslimness as they evolve in their socio-political contexts. Secondly, I focus on how marriage is perceived by British South Asian Muslim women. The debates revolve around the gendered expectations women face from their communities; for instance, women navigate ‘choice’ and ‘agency’ in cultural practices such as arranged marriages. Furthermore, marriage, as an institution, remains a ‘religious duty’ in Islam. I raise questions about how Muslim women frame marriage as they generate new understandings of marriage through their negotiations of the ‘nikah’ and the civil registry (secular state law). Throughout these thematic discussions, the tensions engendered by the dichotomy ‘religion’ v/s ‘culture’ remain evident as Muslim women navigate contextual identities. Cultural gendered ‘traditions’ expected from their families are re-worked as they delay marriage so as to gain degrees and secure careers. Clearly, women are deconstructing stereotypical notions of ‘Muslimness’ as fixed categories so as to express individual definitions of meanings of British Muslimness. The prioritising of an Islamic identity over other identities (ethnic, citizenship and national) is evident. However, with education, women are contesting and interpreting Islam from new angles. They critique gendered practices such as ‘talaq’ and polygamy, concepts associated with Islamic marriage, in an attempt to embrace a discourse of equality within marriage, hence leading them to generate new gender identities.

In the first part of the thesis (Chapters I to 7)1 discuss two Yanomami myths of origin, namely the myth of the origin of the night, and the myth of the master of banana plants. While drawing heavily on Lizot's ethnographical and linguistic work, my analysis of the myth will be embedded within two interconnected debates of present concern to anthropology: On the one hand, the strong linkage between the poetics of myth narration and the poetics of the everyday life. To better explore this relationship I will also drawn on Overing's recent work on the fundamental importance of understanding the political philosophy that pervades such linkage. On the other hand there is also the important role that the world of the felt, the senses and passions play in Yanomami conceptions and practices of sociality. In part 2 of the thesis, I deal with the issue of Yanomami warfare by describing Yanomami people's understanding of warfare. In doing this, I endeavour to develop a shift from the anthropologist's theories of war among the Yanomami to the Yanomami's own theories about both peace and its failure. War and conflict are addressed here from the point of view of the Yanomami aesthetics of their own convivial relations and sociality, along with its multiple oral expressions. I demonstrate that Yanomami people have their own (strong) theories about what is conducive to peace and war and how these theories are grounded in moral and political values attached to a particular Yanomami aesthetics of egalitarianism. In doing this, I explore the way Lizot emphasises the dialectic between Yanomami conceptions of peace and warfare. Furthermore, through an exploration of the linkage Lizot establishes between Yanomami warfare and their morality, I wish to shed new light on the political dimensions of their conflicts and the place of warfare in their culturally specific aesthetics of egalitarian relationships. Part 3 of the thesis (chapters 9, 10, 11) deals with the Yanomami elders' speech, a mode of communication that has been almost neglected in other previous works. After having discussed various topics (myth and the everyday, Yanomami warfare) through which various aspects of Yanomami moral and political philosophy can be grasped, in this last part of the thesis I show the strong linkage between such philosophy and this type of speech. The elders' speech is dealt with in various parts of the thesis and also in various ways. First, and departing from the way a myth of origin explicitly makes references to it, I illustrate, the way Yanomami people conceive of this type of speech. I do this by describing, following Hymes' (1981,2003) insights, the way in which the myth teller "describes" this speech in his narrative. Second, in Chapter 3, I make a brief description of the speech and in Chapters 9, 10, and 11 I provide fragments of the speech of an elder that I transcribed and analysed.

The ethnographic object of study of my thesis is a group of penitents, called ‘Ave de Jesus’, that dwells in the hinterlands of Northeast Brazil. As many other groups and penitents of this area they have a strong devotion to Padre Cicero -a deceased priest who founded the city in which they live, Juazeiro do Norte - who they believe to be Jesus himself. In fact, according to them, all the events of the Bible there in Juazeiro do Norte, such that they live in a biblical time, the Bible being their actual history which should culminate in destruction - A final end to the world. The Ave de Jesus have incorporated into their form of life the ways of being and relating to the world of those missionaries and religious leaders from the past, such as Padre Ibiapina, Antonio Conselheiro, Padre Cicero, and many ‘beatos’ who wandered throughout the ‘Sertao’* preaching penance and charity. Although these religious images make a lot of sense for those who live in such a harsh area as the ‘Sertoes’, there is no doubt that they are also in conflict with the mainstream system of interpretation of reality. In my thesis I explore how the biblical images take part in the construction and negotiation of truth and meaning, and how they work as references for acting, thinking and ‘feeling’. Because these biblical images are invariably related to moral sentiments - such as compassion, generosity, mercy, commiseration and a highly moral evaluation of the experience of suffering - that underlies the way of life of many penitents in Juazeiro, my thesis focuses on the social role of emotion in building up truth and creating sociability. The Chapter I provides the Introduction in which is given a bibliographical review on messianic and millenarian movements and pilgrimage, and points to my own theoretical choice. It is also in the introduction that I discuss the issue of rationality, ideology and narratives related to the problem of my research and the methodological approach. In Chapter III provide an overall ethnography of penance within the surrounds of Juazeiro do Norte in the past and present. In Chapter III I first introduce a brief ethnography of the Ave de Jesus. In Chapter IV I explore the situation of conflict between systems of interpretation within which Master Jose - the leader of the Ave de Jesus - finds himself. The subject of discussion in this chapter is the role of the affective and beauty in negotiating meaning and constructing truth. In Chapter VI dwell upon Emotions. In this chapter I provide a discussion concerning the importance of emotions in understanding the way of life of many penitents in Juazeiro do Norte, with special attention to the Ave de Jesus. Another subject of discussion is what an emotion is about and their relation to action and thought. In my ethnography and interpretation of emotions I have focused on those emotions which are cognitively stressed by the Ave de Jesus, such as suffering, compassion, mercy, etc. which underlies their form of life. In Chapter VI I provide a discussion on how images of charity are related to an ideal image of society -a Utopia. By going deeper into the relation between images of suffering, poverty and mendicancy I explore how the Ave de Jesus creates a sociality based on generosity, hospitality and sharing whereby they realise a messianic expectation. In the Conclusion I have tried to answer the main task of my thesis, that is, to provide an understanding of how sadness is beautiful. Through all the issues elected to for discussion in each chapter I intend to give support to my interpretation of the role and importance of emotions within the social life of the Ave de Jesus. *The semi-arid backlands of Northeast Brazil

The thesis endeavours to assess the changes which have taken place, due to urbanization, in certain fundamental aspects of Quechua culture among migrants from the Southern Peruvian Sierra who have settled in the pueblos jóvenes, “shanty towns” of Arequipa, Peru. In 7 chapters, based on material taped from 45 Quechua informants, the thesis discusses the urban milieu, evidence for the continuance of a riddling tradition, a folk song tradition, and traditional Quechua belief systems in the city. The thesis also examines the linguistic aspect of Quechua in the urban environment, whether it still constitutes a functional means of communication, and whether the closer proximity to Spanish in the city has resulted in what might be classed as an urban dialect of Quechua. The thesis concludes that whereas Quechua immigrants to the city have been willing to adapt to city life in its more material aspects, in the more symbolic aspects of their culture, they have been less willing to change. Consequently, many features of Quechua culture appear, for the present, to be thriving in the city. Evidence for the survival of the symbolic aspects of Quechua culture are contained throughout the main body of the thesis in the Quechua transcriptions and English/Spanish translations of interviews given by informants, in the English translations of the riddles, in the synopses of the folktales narrated by the informants, and in the appendices, where the full Quechua transcriptions of some 32 folktales, 36 riddles and 24 songs are contained. The thesis maintains that the Quechua immigrants to Arequipa constitute a new subculture which looks to the city for material support, but which is still heavily based on Quechua linguistic and cultural values. There has been a weakening of Quechua language and cultural traits in the city as a result of urbanization, but there does not appear to be the wholesale adoption of “western” ways to the detriment of Indian language and culture as was once suspected.

The thesis is in the broadest terms an anthropological exploration of intercommunication; it concerns concepts and practices of speech and hearing among a Lowland Amazonian people, the Pa'ikwene, concentrating particularly on the community of Deuxieme Village Esperance in southern Guyane (French Guiana). A significant aspect of the subject is the axiological one, i. e., the moral and aesthetic values attaching to proper dialogic, and consequently social, relations - or what Ingold describes (1986: 141) as the "conversation that is social life". Revealing the speech of ordinary people to be as `powerful' in its way as that of chiefs, the study addresses the instrumentality of speaking and hearing in the creation and maintenance of sociality. Essentially, I argue that intersubjective communication does not so much `imply' Pa'ikwene society (Levi-Strauss 1973: 390) as construct it as a sociable, pleasurable and egalitarian entity; that it is, in short, one of the fundamental `tools for conviviality' (Illich 1973). While the role of language in the process of society has long been recognised by anthropology, and comprehensively investigated, tht of listening to it seems, perhaps because of the more `private' nature of the act, not to have enjoyed the same level of sociological interest. Given this imbalance, special emphasis is laid on native audition as embodied by the cultural phenomenon of "Tchimap", "to hear-listen-understand", and its use in three key spheres, the political, economic and magico-religious. One central issue deals with the agency and perceived value of "good hearing" in the generation of good relations between humans, and of productive ones between humans and non-humans. Another major theme, of relevance to the ongoing theoretical debate on 'individualismcollectivism', involves the efficacy of "Tchimap" as a performative means of personal autonomy, within and as part of, rather than in opposition to, the group.

In this monograph I interpret a wide-ranging native theory of sociality of the Muinane, an indigenous group of the Colombian Amazon. This theory simultaneously addresses their livelihood activities, some aspects of their phenomenological experience, their bodily form, their group identity, and their views on the achievement of a uniquely human, morally sociable way of life. The Muinane understand their thoughts/emotions as well as their bodies to be material in origin and character. Proper bodies and thoughts/emotions are made out of ritual substances and foodstuffs, which have divine subjectivities and agencies of their own, and which ‘sound’ through people, establishing people's subjectivities and agencies. Such subjectivities and agencies lead to the communal achievement of `coolness', the state of convivial sociability, tranquility, abundance and generalised good health that constitutes ideal community life. Because they share substances, kin are also understood to share bodily features and thoughts/emotions. Their consubstantiality leads to mutual love and to an intersubjectivity that enables them to live well together, without unseemly contestations or differences in ultimate moral purposes. However, the material character of bodies and thoughts/emotions is also a source of danger. Animals and other evil beings can sabotage proper community life by replacing people's moral substances with their own false ones, causing people to experience mad, envious, angry and even sorcerous thoughts/emotions, and to suffer from weakening or lethal bodily diseases. It is the moral obligation and inclination of properly constituted human beings to make new human beings, by intentionally forging their bodies, their thoughts/emotions and their ‘baskets of knowledge.’ They must do this by transforming evil substances into proper substances, through work and through everyday or sporadic rituals. The matters addressed in this monograph -native theories of sociality, of self, of livelihood and so on- are of central pertinence to ongoing discussions in Amazonianist anthropology.

This thesis focuses on the concept of sense of place in relation to five calendrical, place-based festivals in two regions of northern Italy: Lombardy and Piedmont. Drawing from interdisciplinary critical thought, including archaeology, environmental philosophy, ritual studies and perfonnance studies, among others, the thesis examines how place is honoured, experienced and embodied. The thesis reviews critical thought on the interanimation of place and society, demonstrating how the agency of place can emerge in ritualised community celebrations, such as feasting and festival. The fundamental argument put forth is that in heterotopic and polychronic space such as that offered by ritual and festival, a bridge can be created showing profound communication between humanity and place. The symbolic actions and traditions observed and studied here manifest local or regional identity, with specific gastronomic and agricultural customs that offer uncommon perfonnances of place-based traditions in annual community gatherings. Politics, history, identity and foodways are examined through the lens of engagement with place as well as with community. Theories on the agency of place, on temporality and materiality figure centrally in the argument, which illustrates how bonds and communication between place and humanity exhibit a sometimes surprisingly profound relational epistemology in late modem Western society. The analysis springs from both heuristic and henneneutic philosophies of methodology, which maintain a historical, philosophical and ecological perspective. Based upon an extensive examination of the critical literature and the thesis' ethnographic surveys, the Italian festival fieldwork is analysed through the use of an indexed' Scale of Engagement'.

This interdisciplinary dissertation draws upon Islamic, socio-cultural and legal studies to present an original investigation of an under-researched minority group, namely Arab Muslim women living in Great Britain. It investigates the construction of a social identity which is challenged by opportunities for integration into a secular society, and contrasting obligations posed by fumity traditions and the Shariah. The empirical section of this dissertation is based on 32 semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with Arab Muslim women resident in the UK in 2005-2006. The interviews sought to understand participants' perceptions of their ethno-religious heritage in the light of their experience of living in urban, multi-cultural Great Britain where they are required to obey two systems of law - English Family Law and the Shariah. Interview data were supplemented by email questionnaires returned by five legal experts. These lawyers expressed a range of opinions on the issue of legal pluralism in Great Britain and the degree to which Muslim religious and cultural practices are accommodated in the UK. While views included in the interview data are not statistically representative, they arguably reflect a range of prevailing opinion among the wider population of Arab Muslim women in Great Britain. The findings emphasise that participants were able to express valuable insights by reflecting on how they perceive themselves and on how they feel they are perceived by others: This research concludes by noting that Arab Muslim women's identity, perhaps as a result of its transitional context, is considerably more fluid than media stereotypes would suggest, and that their attitudes towards Shariah injunctions governing their personal status convey an ambivalent mixture of piety and pragmatism. It is anticipated that these conclusions can stimulate others to embark on future research projects in this dynamic field.

Chapter one forms the first part of my explication of 'essential' reflexivity. It discusses the marmer in which analysts have sought to 'remedy' the problem of context, and the ways in which indexical utterances have been regarded as problematic by logicians, and latterly by sociological analysts. I argue that 'essential' reflexivity must treat members" utterances as contexted, and not seek to 'remedy' this feature of natural language. Chapter two discusses the marmer in which Garfinkel advocates' essential' reflexivity as a feature of accounts which is uninteresting to members. However, it is important to note that reflexivity is an essential component of accounts and the circumstances they describe. I show how Garfinkel's 'analytic mentality' produces a non-ironic treatment of members sense-making practices within the natural attitude. Chapter three is a treatment of the work of Edward Rose and his ethnoinquiries analytic mentality. It is arguably the first thorough treatment of Rose's 'small languages' project, which is used to illustrate the marmer in which natural language is employed by members as a descriptive resource. Rose's approach is also shown to yield a non-ironic diachronic analysis of the relationship of words to things in the world, and is contrasted with the work of Foucault. Chapter four discusses correspondence and coherence epistemologies in an attempt to show how we may illustrate the epistemological commitments of the two modes of reflexivity that are discussed in the thesis. I argue that 'essential' reflexivity may be regarded as employing a coherence theory wherein accounts are constitutive of the world, while 'stipulative' reflexivity' employs a correspondence theory that may privilege analytic accounts of the world. Chapter five discusses the reflexivities to be found within the sociology of scientific knowledge. It critically assess the 'strong programme', 'discourse analysis' and 'new literary forms' arguing that each arrogates interpretive privilege to the analyst. The chapter ends with a comparison between the 'stipulative' reflexivities and the ethnomethodological study of scientific practice. Chapter six treats the work of those anthropologists who follow Clifford and Marcus (1986). I show how a reflexivity concerned with the text and the production of texts can only be stipulative in that it arrogates interpretive privilege to analysts suggesting that such a treatment may re-contextualise artefacts and accounts. I return to the themes of the first two chapters in my critique of this mode of reflexivity, saying that we must treat accounts in context if they are to remain 'phenomenologically intact'.

The study is concerned with the relationships between the legitimation of the State and the legitimation of the status of the individual in an administrative district of Eastern Liberia. There are three sections. In the first, background data essential to the exposition of the main theme is presented. The history of the District in the period prior to, and following, the establishment of Liberian rule is reviewed (Chapter 2), to show the ways in which the political structure , of the region was conducive to a colonial-style occupation, and to a process of incorporation involving minimum accommodation to existing interests. Present-day economic conditions are reviewed (Chapter 3) to establish the low level of socialization of the relations of production, and the limited extent of the penetration of market forces into the District. It is argued, however, that the District has not remained isolated in other ways from forces emanating from the State, and that incorporation has involved extraction of value on a considerable scale, in the name of the Liberian government. Three types of transfer (taxation, labour and land) are considered, which substantiate this theme (Chapter 4). The following section (Section B) is concerned with the ways in which these relationships of imbalance are stabilized and legitimated. First, the role of administrative employment in the process of incorporation is considered, focussing on the manner in which the allocation of resources, vis-a-vis the redistribution of wealth by the State, appears to be patterned according to a set of 'rules' of political competition (Chapters 5 and 6). These rules both introduce an element of predictability into government affairs, and yet, paradoxically, force the local population to accept a considerable degree of uncertainty in their relations with the government. In Chapter 7, consideration is given to the manner in which influences referred to in preceding chapters foster an idiosyncratic image of 'government' in the District, an image which serves both to extend the sphere of bureaucratic influence into the community and to create legitimacy for the established order, thereby. The two subsequent chapters are concerned, firstly, with the ways in which communitarian sentiments tend to become a focus for a counter-culture which draws upon the tribal - civilized contrast implicit in the dominant ideology of the State, and with the ways in which the politically divisive implications of this tendency are mitigated by forces at the local level (Chapter 8). Secondly, the manner in which Christianity in the District tends to support, rather than challenge, existing political relations is established (Chapter 9). Finally, (Section C), an extended case-study concerning a congressional election and an important political trial which followed this election is examined, to illustrate the ways in which the themes considered in the previous chapters relate to the actual processes of politics at the local level. It is argued that political trials such as the one under consideration function as important ritual events. The necessity for such rituals is related both to factors discussed earlier in the study and to conventional theory of ritual. It is suggested that contradictions exist within the structure of 'rules' fostered by the central government, and that the latter employs ritual techniques to segregate out from this structure those roles and relationships which are, at any one time, conducive to the maintenance of its interests in the hinterland.