Living in a Landscape of Scarcity - Materiality and Cosmology in West Africa

In her close ethnography of a Dogon village of Mali, Laurence Douny shows how a microcosmology develops from people's embodied daily and ritual practice in a landscape of scarcity. Viewed through the lens of containment practice, she describes how they cope with the shortage of material items central to their lives-water, earth, and millet. Douny's study is an important addition to ecological anthropology, to the study of West African cultures, to the understanding of material culture, and to anthropological theory.

List of contents

Living in a Landscape of Scarcity

About the author

Laurence Douny

Summary

In her close ethnography of a Dogon village of Mali, Laurence Douny shows how a microcosmology develops from people's embodied daily and ritual practice in a landscape of scarcity. Viewed through the lens of containment practice, she describes how they cope with the shortage of material items central to their lives—water, earth, and millet. Douny’s study is an important addition to ecological anthropology, to the study of West African cultures, to the understanding of material culture, and to anthropological theory.

Product details

• Authors: Laurence Douny
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.06.2021
• EAN: 9781611328929
• ISBN: 978-1-61132-892-9
• No. of pages: 257
• Weight: 358 g
• Illustrations: Farb., s/w. Abb.
• Series: UCL Institute of Archaeology Publications
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general)