Marilyn Silverman – författare

In recent years the study of history has become a central area of inquiry within anthropology. While classical anthropology focused on the present, current approaches seek to "do history" by using a variety of conceptual and methodological approaches. Approaching the Past is a highly provocative and original volume that examines the issues, themes, and difficulties emerging out of the new anthropological concern with history. Anchoring the discussion with a wide range of ethnographic case studies from Ireland, the contributors to this volume establish a sophisticated interdisciplinary dialogue and assess the degree to which anthropological concepts and methodologies can be applied to historical inquiry. With a variety of essays representing sociological, geograhical, and historical perspectives, Approaching the Past is an invaluable contribution to a discipline that is expanding and reconstituting itself anew.

Richard Salisbury (1926-1989) was a pioneer in development anthropology and one of the founders of McGill University''s anthropology department. His work had immense influence in the areas of economic anthropology, ethnographic practice (New Guinea, northern Canada) and policy formation. This volume commemorates and explores his life and work. Ethnography and Development presents eighteen articles written by Salisbury between 1954 and 1988, framed by seven original essays that explore his basic ideas as well as the intellectual and personal contexts in which he worked. The articles and essays highlight many of the issues that informed those of his generation who worked in economic and political anthropology, the anthropology of development, public anthropology, advocacy and applied anthropology, and in developing the organisational vehicles on which the profession currently depends. Salisbury''s broad socio-economic vision, conceptual ideas, and socio-cultural ethnographic theories continue to exert a powerful influence on the discipline. Contributors include Harvey A. Feit (McMaster University), Henry J. Rutz (Hamilton College), and Colin H. Scott (McGill University).

In An Irish Working Class, Marilyn Silverman explores the dynamics of capitalism, colonialism, and state formation through an examination of the political economy and culture of those who contributed their labour. Stemming from the author's academic research on Ireland for over two decades, the book combines archival data, interviews, and participant observation to create a unique and intricate study of labourers' lives in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, between 1800 and 1950. Political anthropology, Gramscian approaches to hegemony, and the work of social historians on class experience all inform Silverman's perspective in this volume.Silverman explores the complex and changing consciousness, politics, and social relations of a cross-section of workers. These workers were employed in the mills, tanneries, artisanal shops, and retail outlets, and on the landed estates, farms, and public works projects which typified this highly differentiated locality. In constructing the social history of workers in a particular place over time, An Irish Working Class makes an important contribution to Irish Studies, European historical ethnography, and the anthropology of working-class life.

In An Irish Working Class, Marilyn Silverman explores the dynamics of capitalism, colonialism, and state formation through an examination of the political economy and culture of those who contributed their labour. Stemming from the author's academic research on Ireland for over two decades, the book combines archival data, interviews, and participant observation to create a unique and intricate study of labourers' lives in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, between 1800 and 1950. Political anthropology, Gramscian approaches to hegemony, and the work of social historians on class experience all inform Silverman's perspective in this volume.Silverman explores the complex and changing consciousness, politics, and social relations of a cross-section of workers. These workers were employed in the mills, tanneries, artisanal shops, and retail outlets, and on the landed estates, farms, and public works projects which typified this highly differentiated locality. In constructing the social history of workers in a particular place over time, An Irish Working Class makes an important contribution to Irish Studies, European historical ethnography, and the anthropology of working-class life.