Search

Archaeological constructs guided by ethnographic and ethnohistorical information are tested against archaeological data from Neolithic Shandong. The study of Neolithic burials shows that intensive pug production was important not only for human diet and ritual hut also for the display of individual wealth and in equality in the rise of political elites. In addition, pigs served as funds of power for controlling exotic sumptuary items in order to achieve chiefly political hegemony. The data suggest that, in the long term, the fluctuation of pig skulls in mortuary symbolism coincides with that of prestige goods from long-distance exchange. in short, pigs most likely functioned in ancient China as both means of subsistence and objects of social production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article comments on the analysis by Sally Engle Merry and Rachel E. Stern of the female inheritance in Hong Kong. The article points out that Merry and Stern offer an eloquent and perceptive theorizing of local translation of global rights. Essentially, they examine how gender equality and human rights could be used to deal with discrimination against women by traditional cultures.

This article presents an author's commentary on the article by Sally Engle Merry and Rachel E. Stern analyzing the female inheritance rights movement in Hong Kong, China. The author asserts that Merry and Stern have demonstrated effectively how the indigenous women gradually adopted the international language of rights and how changes in the social environment in Hong Kong contributed to a political ecology that favored the passage of the ordinance amendment.

This article presents the authors' reply to comments on their study on the female inheritance movement in Hong Kong. Some commentaries either requests more detail about other players in the movement or suggest slightly different ways of aligning them. The authors emphasize that the players, namely, the media, other indigenous women in New Territories, and the Heung Yee Kuk, are a deconstruction of the female inheritance movement, and not an exhaustive list of everyone involved in the debate.

This article comments on the study by Sally Engle Merry and Rachel E. Stern of the female inheritance in Hong Kong. The study is considered as an important empirical grounded contribution to the debate on globalization and human rights. It points out the two fundamental problems entailed in the translating process that the study discussed: the problem of alienation and the tension between individual and structural approaches.

This article presents an author's commentary on the article by Sally Engle Merry and Rachel E. Stern exploring contemporary social movements, local identity, and globalization in Hong Kong, China. The author relates Merry and Stern's work implies that anthropologists are an integral part of layers of various political and social struggles in the world. It also reinforces the idea that anthropologists can potentially function as cultural translators who make a difference by fully exploring the experiences of local subjects.