Nature, Culture, and Society
Anthropological Perspectives on Life

Reflecting upon the changing human condition, Palsson addresses various conflated zones of life at particular times and scales.

Gisli Palsson (Author)

9781107085848, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 December 2015

234 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.49 kg

'In this imaginative, thoroughly grounded book, Gisli Palsson argues that life is not an essence. Rather, life emanates from the biosocial relations in which bodies are embedded. Anthropologies of life, perpetually in the making, have transformed nature since the dawn of human existence. Today, biomes, ecosystems, and Earth itself exhibit the effects of human activity comparable to geologic transformations of the past. Insightful and thought-provoking reading.' Margaret Lock, McGill University, Montréal

Life is currently one of the most active zones of politics and economic production, as biological material is increasingly the subject of engineering, banking, reproduction, and exchange. These developments represent some of the most challenging issues facing humanity in the twenty-first century and call for new forms of engagement - and new anthropologies of life. Reflecting upon the changing human condition, Palsson addresses various conflated zones of life at particular times and scales, from the genome to the human body and the global environment. Using a 'biosocial' perspective, he argues, will help us to capture the hybrid nature of life, enhancing our sensitivity to differences and similarities in hierarchies, the reproduction of bio-objects and the exchange between humans, other species, and the environment. Engaging with topical issues on the public agenda, from personal genomics to human-animal relations to the global environment, the book sets out a compelling case for meaningful change.

1. Introduction
Part I. Selves: 2. Spitting image: decode me!
3. Labouring lives: genomic stuff
4. What's in a genome? Indigenous encounters
5. Name talk: technologies of belonging
Part II. Bodies: 6. Human variation: shifting perspectives
7. Nim Chimpsky et al.: human-animal relations
8. Lucy in the sky: celestial bodies
Part III. Biospheres: 9. Enskilment at sea: situated knowledge
10. Environmental relations: political economies
11. Modernity and beyond: the grand aquarium
12. Housekeeping: oikos and the anthropocene
13. Afterword.

Subject Areas: Human biology [PSX], Physical anthropology [JHMP], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]