Thesis (Honors)--University of South Florida, 2009. / "Spring 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-31).

Risālat al-Mājistīr - Jāmiʻat al-Qāhirah. / At head of title: al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah al-Muttaḥidah. Wizārat al-Thaqāfah. Bibliography: p. 381-383.

Risālat al-Mājistīr - Jāmiʻat al-Qāhirah. / At head of title: al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah al-Muttaḥidah. Wizārat al-Thaqāfah. Bibliography: p. 381-383.

The Iban of Sarawak, East Malaysia, are the inhabitants of a vast equatorial rain forest which not only plays a crucial role in satisfying their material needs, but also provides them with a rich source of imagery for the portrayal of key cultural concerns and social values. That is to say, one finds that Iban collective representations are characterized by a profusion of floral and botanical forms, while the ritual use of plants features strongly in Iban religious life. Often these 'sacred' and 'profane' aspects of the plant world coincide, as in the case of Iban rice farming which both provides them with their staple diet, and at the same time is imbued with a deeply religious significance. The primary interest of this study, then, lies in its examination of the special relationship between man and plant in Iban culture. The research is based on library materials and takes, as its epistemological starting point, the idea that an understanding of metaphor can be usefully employed in the interpretation of symbolic phenomena. This approach works on two levels. On the one hand, there is the idea that a systematic examination of recurrent metaphorical forms - be they expressed in mythological narrative, ritual imagery, or everyday language - can be linked to dominant cultural values and social orientations. On the other hand, there is also the idea that a theory of metaphor - as developed in the field of literary criticism and semantics - can provide valuable insight into the way in which so-called 'symbolic phenomena' are 'actualized', or 'understood', by those for whom they operate. In the last instance, the study seeks to transcend the formal strictures of conventional structural analysis by suggesting ways in which the elaborate structures that are revealed by the latter are actually realized, or at least represented, in daily life - whether it be in the rarefied atmosphere of a religious ceremony or the more mundane setting at some commonplace activity. In doing so, the study raises a number of issues that are of a metaphysical nature - among them the question of indigenous notions of causation - thereby providing not just simply a re-evaluation of the existing ethnographic record, but also a point of departure for future inquiries in the field.

No description available.

This thesis has a number of aims. The first is to give an account of the social organization of a particular Amazonian society that of the Yaminahua, an indian group of South Eastern Peru. The descriptive part of the thesis gives an account of such things as: the organization of work and production, the structures and ,developmental cycles of households, communities and local groups, the organization of kinship and marriage. All these things present features common to many Amazonian societies: an economic system based on swidden agr iculture, hunting and fishing; small communities which regularly move to exploit new hunting grounds and garden sites; extended family residencial units; a fluid political system based upon the .consensus mobilized by headmen; a simple classificatory kin s hip terminology associated with bilate~al cross-cousin marriage; in short? a simple society with every appearance of extreme fluidity and minimal "structur-e". From a theoretical perspective, the thesis aims to reconcile this fluidity of social practice with the fact that there also exists, within Yaminahua ideology, a highly elaborate and systematic set of ideas about their own social stru~fure. These centre around a system of personal-name categories and moieties, which are in turn linked to concepts of a dual order inherent in the constitution of the world as a whole. The ·central question of the thesis, is; "How are we to understand this apparant paradox?", a question which it tries to answer by considering, firstly , the historical tran sformations of Yaminahua society over the last one hundred years, and secondly, at a more theoretical level, the intrinsic nature of the "fit" between this type of ideology (highly symbolic, highly logical - · - what used to be called a totemic system) with social practice an~ the exigencies of social life. Here the thesi s addresses certain issues arising from the debates about Levi-Straussian str ucturalism and the other types of symbolic analysis which have dominated this field in recent years. One of the assumptions of this work is that these have misrepresented Amazonian ideologies by flattening them out into a static web of analogies and symbols. It argues that these ideologies can only be under stood when their symbolic content is reintegrated with their conceptual content, and when their highly systematic aspects (ritual and totemic systems) are reintegrated with the much less systematic aspects, closer to the domain of every-day social concerns. This line of argument is demon strated with an extended consideration of shamanism, looking at its conceptual bases in theories of the person, spirit and causality. The discussion shows how these are intimately linked to the ideas of structure and order in the world already mentioned but also how, as a practical activity, it interweaves ideas and symbols quite independently of that structure and can, in no sense, be Understood as merely its expression or a means of reasserting it.

This paper addresses the concept of consumer tribes, and how various resource exchanges and plundering is carried out within this context. The concept of plundering has been introduced in research, yet only from a theoretical point of view. Hence this study provides a first attempt at taking the concept of plundering from a theoretical representation to an embodied explanation. This was examined through an ethnographic method consisting of 70 hours participating observations, 237 observations online and seven interviews. The chosen context of this study was a CrossFit box. Three major findings have been revealed. First, plundering of resources only occur outside the tribe with external actors, while an in-group mentality prevail in exchanges occurring inside the tribe. The second finding reveals that plundering can be carried out despite present motives or inducements as love or passion towards specific products or brands. The third finding holds that the consumer tribe exhibit consumers engagement in an interplay of logics and modes of exchanges to enable plundering, heighten their endowment and benefit the community. Finally, marketing managers are advised to see plundering as a playful challenge that nonetheless could provide opportunities since consumers share their prey with other devoted and passionate members and mutual plundering exist within this context.

Thesis advisor: Ali Banuazizi / Thesis advisor: Kathleen Bailey / An overview of trends in tribe-state relations in Afghanistan from pre-history to the present. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Islamic Civilization and Society Honors Program. / Discipline: Islamic Civilizations and Societies .

This article is mainly to discuss the components, structures and other related issues as well in two kinds of arm forces, ¡§Tribe Arms¡¨ and ¡§Emperor¡¦s Arms¡¨ in the Shang Dynasty as the research scope. The components of ¡§Tribe Arms¡¨ are the frequently-seen ¡§Crowd¡¨ or ¡§Numerous People¡¨ in the Oracle Inscriptions, which is mainly composed of infantry served as by a crowd or numerous people and then is assisted by the professional military forces, ¡§Horses¡¨ and ¡§Bows.¡¨ With regard to ¡§Emperor¡¦s Arms,¡¨ its components include three fighting units-- ¡§Shi¡]®v¡^,¡¨ ¡§Horses¡¨ and ¡§Bows,¡¨ among which ¡§Shi¡¨ is infantry; ¡§Horses,¡¨ chariot soldiers; and ¡§Bows,¡¨ bow-and-arrow shooting soldiers. The component of ¡§Shi¡¨ is the frequently-seen ¡§People¡¨ in the Oracle Inscriptions, and the People directly belong to the Shang Emperor and are the professional fighting soldiers. The components of ¡§Horses¡¨ and ¡§Bows¡¨ are served as by the noblemen and the noble juniors. In addition, this article also discusses the other related issues, such as the original meaning of ¡§Shi,¡¨ the usage of ¡§Shi¡¨ and ¡§Ci¡]¦¸¡^¡¨ in the Oracle Inscriptions, and the meanings of ¡§Ya¡]¨È¡^,¡¨ ¡§Brigade¡¨ and ¡§Shu¡]¦§¡^¡¨.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1972. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.