This book explores how beliefs and practices have shaped the interactions between different ethnic groups in Western Hunan, as well as considering how religious life has adapted to the challenges of modern Chinese history. Combining historical and ethnographic methodologies, chapters in this book are structured around changes that occurred during the interaction between Miao ritual traditions and religions such as Daoism, with particular focus on the commonalities and differences seen between Western Hunan and other areas of Southwest China. In addition, investigation is made into how gender and ethnicity have shaped such processes, and what these phenomena can teach about larger questions of modern Chinese history. As such, this study transcends existing scholarship on Western Hunan - which has stressed the impact of state policies and elite agendas - by focusing instead on the roles played by ritual specialists. Such findings call into question conventional wisdom about the 'standardization' of Chinese culture, as well as the integration of local society into the state by means of written texts. Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Western Hunan during the Modern Era will prove valuable to students and scholars of history, ethnography, anthropology, ethnic studies, and Asian studies more broadly.

New methodologies from social theory, cultural anthropology, and gender studies have emerged which take religion and cultural values into perspective. Particular light shed on social transformations, religious practices and theological perspectives.

Gender, Race and Religion brings together a selection of original papers published in Ethnic and Racial Studies that address the intersections between gender relations, race and religion in our contemporary environment. Chapters address both theoretical and empirical aspects of this phenomenon, and although written from the perspective of quite different national, social and political situations, they are linked by a common concern to analyze the interface between gender and other situated social relationships, from both a conceptual and a policy angle. These are issues that have been the subject of intense scholarly research and analysis in recent years, as well as forming part of public debates about the significance of gender, race and religion as sites of identity formation and mobilization in our changing global environment. The substantive chapters bring together insights from both theoretical reflection and empirical research in order to investigate particular facets of these questions. Gender, Race and Religion addresses issues that are at the heart of contemporary scholarly debates in the field of race and ethnic studies, and engages with important questions in policy and public debates. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

This collection of essays focuses attention on how medieval gender intersects with other categories of difference, particularly religion and ethnicity. It treats the period c.800-1500, with a particular focus on the era of the Gregorian reform movement, the First Crusade, and its linked attacks on Jews at home.

This book compares shifting formulations of gender, interfaith, and ethnic relations across continents from antiquity to the Nineteenth century. Contributors address three areas: depictions of homosexual and transgendered behaviours, conceptualizations of femininity and masculinity, and the marriageability of ethnic and religious minorities.

Bringing together a wealth of scholarship which provides a unique integrated approach to identity, The Archaeology of Identity presents an overview of the five key areas which have recently emerged in archaeological social theory: * gender * age * ethnicity * religion * status. This excellent book reviews the research history of each areas, the different ways in which each has been investigated, and offers new avenues for research and exploring the connections between them. Emphasis is placed on exploring the ways in which material culture structures, and is structured by, these aspects of individual and communal identity, with a particular examination of social practice. Useful for social scientists in sociology, anthropology and history, under- and postgraduates will find this an excellent addition to their course studies.

Multicultural aspects of psychology have received some attention in the literature in the last decade. A number of texts currently address these significant concerns, for example, Counseling the Culturally Different (Sue & Sue, 2008); Handbook of Multicultural Counseling ( Poterotto et l., 2009); and Handbook of Multicultural Counseling Competencies (Pope-Davis & Coleman, 2005). In their most recent editions, several of these books address more nuanced complexities of diversity, for example, the intersections of gender or social class with race-ethnicity. Meanwhile, other texts have addressed gender issues in psychology (Handbook of Counseling Women, Counseling Men), with some attention paid to racial-ethnic and other diversity concerns. Clearly the progression of scholarship in this field reflects the importance of incorporating multiple aspects of diversity within psychology. However, no book currently exists that fully addresses the complexities of race-ethnicity and gender together. Better understanding of the dual impact of race-ethnicity and gender on psychological functioning may lead to more effective conceptualizations of a number of mental health issues, such as domestic violence, addictions, health-related behaviors and achievement. Exploring the impact of race-ethnicity and gender also may provide a broader understanding of self-in-community, as this affects individuals, families and other social groups and work and career development. Topics of interest may include identity development, worldviews and belief systems, parenting styles, interventions for promoting resilience and persistence and strategies for enhancing more accurate diagnostic and treatment modalities. Today’s world is comprised of multiple and intersecting communities that remain in need of psychological models and interventions that support and promote both individual and collective mental health. We believe that utilizing unidimensional conceptual models (e.g. focusing solely on race-ethnicity or gender) no longer adequately addresses psychological concerns that are dynamic, complex and multi-faceted. The proposed Handbook will focus on timely topics which historically have been under-addressed for a number of diverse populations.