Dynamics of Human Biocultural Diversity: A Unified Approach

by Sobo; Elisa J.

• ISBN13: 9781611321906
• ISBN10: 1611321905
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-11-15
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

This lively text offers a unique, holistic approach to human diversity for undergraduate courses in fields including anthropology, medicine, human ecology, and general education. Leading medical anthropologist Elisa Sobo rises to the challenge of truly integrating biology and culture. Her inviting writing style and fascinating examples make important new ideas from complexity theory and epigenetics accessible to undergraduates from all disciplines, regardless of academic background. Students learn to conceptualize human biology and culture concurrently--as an adaptive biocultural capacity that has helped to produce the rich range of human diversity seen today. With clearly structured topics, an extensive glossary and suggestions for further reading, this text makes a complex, interdisciplinary topic a joy to teach.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 7
A Systems View of Human Adaptation	p. 15
Anthropology and Complexity	p. 19
Genetic Adaptation	p. 33
Developmental Adjustment and Epigenetic Change	p. 51
Emergence of Culture and People Like Us	p. 69
Global Expansion, Human Variation, and the Invention of 'Race'	p. 87
Socio-political and Economic Factors	p. 111
Foraging: A Human Baseline	p. 115
Agricultural Revolution: Another Great Divide	p. 141
Epidemics: Human Settlement and Sociality	p. 165
Political Economy of Variation in Human Health	p. 185
Meaningful Practices	p. 203
Diversity in Mind-Body Relations: Stress, Meaning, and Health	p. 207
Gender Diversity	p. 233
Variation in Body Ideals and Outcomes	p. 263
Kinship: So Relative	p. 283
Conclusion Respecting Connections	p. 305
Appendix Selected Websites	p. 315
Glossary	p. 317
References	p. 335
Index	p. 343
About the Author	p. 356
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