How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.82 (944 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1541412184 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 326 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-07-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Review of How Forests Think" according to Trevor Neal. In 'How Forests Think,' the author, Eduardo Kohn, has undertaken an ambitious project, challenging anthropology to be inclusive of non-human life. To carry out this project, Mr. Kohn has employed Review of How Forests Think Trevor Neal In 'How Forests Think,' the author, Eduardo Kohn, has undertaken an ambitious project, challenging anthropology to be inclusive of non-human life. To carry out this project, Mr. Kohn has employed 4 perspectives; ecology, colonial history, semiotics, and the Runa, an indigenous group in the Amazon rain forest of Ecuador. He seeks to weave each perspective together symbiotically in order to gain a deeper understanding of the context the Runa participate in, and through the eyes of the Runa, a different viewpoint on how we can relate to the non-human world.For a r. perspectives; ecology, colonial history, semiotics, and the Runa, an indigenous group in the Amazon rain forest of Ecuador. He seeks to weave each perspective together symbiotically in order to gain a deeper understanding of the context the Runa participate in, and through the eyes of the Runa, a different viewpoint on how we can relate to the non-human world.For a r. it does not recommend an accompanying shift in epistemology Ayure-Inga Agana Anthropology beyond the human is a proposition for an ontological paradigm shift from one that fundamentally separates human and non-human realities to one that views all living beings as existing in continuities. Anthropologists are encouraged to extend their studies beyond human material practices to include interactions with other beings that are not human. The idea is that human constructions such as language, which constitute the main forms of knowing and representation by humans, derive from, and relate to, a broader form of existence – the nonhuman. Matthew L. Schaut said Can't say enough good things about this book. Can't say enough good things about this book. Complements books by Robin Riddington on the Dunne Va and Richard Preston on the Cree, both hunter cultures from Northern Canada remarkably well. The discussion of the dangers of someone getting "too big" is especially helpful, making sense of much the confusion around the role and purpose of sorcery, mental illness, and windigos that never really has made much sense to me before. The commonalities in these unconnected cultures are amazing.
"What’s so welcome about Kohn’s approach is that he walks a tightrope with perfect balance: never losing sight of the unique aspects of being human, while refusing to force those aspects into separating us from the rest of the abundantly thinking world."
Whether or not we recognize it, our anthropological tools hinge on those capacities that make us distinctly human. How Forests Think seizes on this breakdown as an opportunity. Based on four years of fieldwork among the Runa of Ecuador's Upper , Kohn draws on his rich ethnography to explore how ians interact with the many creatures that inhabit one of the world's most complex ecosystems. However, when we turn our ethnographic attention to how we relate to other kinds of beings, these tools (which have the effect of divorcing us from the rest of the world) break down. In this groundbreaking work, Kohn takes anthropology in a new and exciting direction-one that offers a more capacious way to think about the world we share with other kinds of beings.. Avoiding reductionistic solutions, and without losing sight of how our lives and those of others are caught up in the moral webs we humans spin, this book skillfully fashions new kinds of conceptual tools from the strange and unexpected properties of the living world itself. Can forests think? Do dogs dream? In this astonishing book, Eduardo Kohn challenges the very foundations of anthropology, calling into question our central assumptions about what it means to be human-and thus distinct from all other life forms