Sandra Bell - Böcker

This work is a cross-cultural inquiry into the practice of celibacy around the world and through the ages, among groups as diverse as: Kenyan villagers; US prisoners; Mazatec shamans; Buddhist nuns and monks; Shaker Church members; and anorexic women. The examples of celibacy described illustrate the complex relationship between human sexuality and its particular sociocultural context. Ideas about the body, gender, family, work, religion, health, and other dimensions of life come sharply into focus as the contributors examine many practices and institutions surrounding sexual abstinence. They show that, though celibacy is certainly sometimes a punishment or a deliberate ritual abstinence, it also serves many other social and material functions and in some cases contributes to kin-group survival and well-being.

Friendship is usually seen as a vital part of most people's lives in the West. From our friends, we hope to derive emotional support, advice and material help in times of need. In this pioneering book, basic assumptions about friendship are examined from a cross-cultural point of view. Is friendship only a western conception or is it possible to identify friends in such places as Papua New Guinea, Kenya, China, and Brazil? In seeking to answer this question, contributors also explore what friendship means closer to home, from the bar to the office, and address the following:* Are friendships voluntary?* Should friends be distinguished sharply from relatives?* Do work and friendship mix?* Does friendship support or subvert the social order?* How is friendship shaped by the nature of the person, gender, and the relationship between private and public life?* How is friendship affected when morality is compromised by self-interest?This book represents one of the few major attempts to deal with friendship from a comparative perspective. In achieving this aim, it demonstrates the culture-bound nature of many assumptions concerning one of the most basic building-blocks of western social relationships. More importantly, it signposts the future of social relations in many parts of the world, where older social bonds based on kinship or proximity are being challenged by flexible ties forged when people move within local, national and increasingly global networks of social relations.

Friendship is usually seen as a vital part of most people's lives in the West. From our friends, we hope to derive emotional support, advice and material help in times of need. In this pioneering book, basic assumptions about friendship are examined from a cross-cultural point of view. Is friendship only a western conception or is it possible to identify friends in such places as Papua New Guinea, Kenya, China, and Brazil? In seeking to answer this question, contributors also explore what friendship means closer to home, from the bar to the office, and address the following:* Are friendships voluntary?* Should friends be distinguished sharply from relatives?* Do work and friendship mix?* Does friendship support or subvert the social order?* How is friendship shaped by the nature of the person, gender, and the relationship between private and public life?* How is friendship affected when morality is compromised by self-interest?This book represents one of the few major attempts to deal with friendship from a comparative perspective. In achieving this aim, it demonstrates the culture-bound nature of many assumptions concerning one of the most basic building-blocks of western social relationships. More importantly, it signposts the future of social relations in many parts of the world, where older social bonds based on kinship or proximity are being challenged by flexible ties forged when people move within local, national and increasingly global networks of social relations.

China is certainly doing its best to keep the world mesmerized by its e- nomic achievements. The Chinese economic growth story that begun 30 years ago has in terms of dynamics and duration long since surpassed all those “economic miracles” which have brought Germany, Japan, and the South East Asian Tigers into the top–league of the industrialized world. The rapid expansion of the Chinese economy has gone along with a fu- fledged re-integration of China into the global economic system. In the course of the last 30 years China has become a major player in the global economy and today is on a trajectory towards even greater prominence. In recent years, the Chinese economy seems to have reached an imp- tant threshold line of economic development and global integration. In the first quarter century of reform and global opening, Chinese enterprises have been largely confined to a ‘passive’ role in the global division of - bor. Foreign enterprises as the proprietors of greatly superior business models, production technologies, management models as well as very competitively established brands have been integrating Chinese players in their value chains and global operations. Lacking the necessary production technologies, products as well as marketing knowledge to successfully - dress OECD-consumers, Chinese enterprises have been hardly able to - ter the global markets without such guidance. Now, this constellation is changing.