The master plant
Subtitle: tobacco in lowland South America
By: edited by Andrew Russell and Elizabeth Rahman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2015
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 259
ISBN-13: 9781472587541; 9781472587558; 9781472587565
Subjects: Tobacco; History; Social life and customs; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural; HISTORY / Latin America / Central America
Description: "For many indigenous groups living in lowland South America, tobacco is a seminal 'master plant', a blessing from the gods that is an essential element in human and non-human relationships, as well as a source of everyday health and wellbeing. This contrasts markedly with the demonic position it holds in contemporary public health discourse. This book presents contemporary accounts from leading anthropologists and other researchers who have first-hand experience of the role of tobacco in the lives of indigenous peoples of lowland South America: the 'source' region of this important plant. Offering the first critical overview and comparison of tobacco in local ethnographic contexts, this study will be essential reading not only for those interested in the culture, society and history of Latin America but also for public health academics and practitioners working in tobacco control who are seeking alternative perspectives on this ubiquitous plant"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-243) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note:; title: ForewordRobin Wright, University of Florida, Gainesville, USAIntroduction: The Changing Landscape of Tobacco Use in Lowland South AmericaAndrew Russell, Durham University, UK and Elizabeth Rahman, University of Oxford, UKPart One: Tobacco in Ecological and Historical Contexts1. A Deep History of Tobacco in Lowland South AmericaAugusto Oyuela-Caycedo, University of Florida, USA and Nicholas C. Kawa, Ball State University, USA2. Methods of Tobacco Use among Two Arawakan-speaking Peoples in Southwestern Amazonia: A Case Study of Structural DiffusionPeter Gow, University of St Andrews, UK3. Tobacco and Shamanic Agency in the Upper Amazon: Historical and Contemporary PerspectivesFrancoise Barbira-Freedman, University of Cambridge, UKPart Two: Shifting Perspectives4. Singing White Smoke and Blowing the Song: Tobacco Songs from the Ucayali ValleyBernd Brabec de Mori, University of Graz, Austria5. Cool Tobacco Breath: The Uses and Meanings of Tobacco among the People of the CentreJuan Alvaro Echeverri, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia6. Tobacco and Water: Everyday BlessingsElizabeth Rahman, University of Oxford, UKPart Three: Changing Landscapes7. Commercial Cigarettes and Tami; Ale among the Wayana in Northern Amazonia Renzo S. Duin, Leiden University, The Netherlands8. Landscapes of Desire and Tobacco Circulation in the Yanomami Ethos Alejandro Reig, University of Oxford, UK9. Of Tobacco and Wellbeing in Indigenous AmazoniaJuan Pablo Sarmiento Barletti, University of St Andrews, UK10. Smoking Tobacco and Swinging the Chicha: On Different Modes of Sociality among Kuna PeoplePaolo Fortis, Durham University, UKAfterwordStephen Hugh-Jones, University of Cambridge, UKIndexBibliography.