This beautifully written book weaves reflections on anthropological fieldwork together with evocative meditations on a spectacular landscape as it takes us to the remote indigenous villages on the shore of Lake Titicaca, high in the Peruvian Andes. Ben Orlove brings alive the fishermen, reed cutters, boat builders, and families of this isolated region, and describes the role that Lake Titicaca has played in their culture. He describes the landscapes and rhythms of life in the Andean highlands as he considers the intrusions of modern technology and economic demands in the region. Lines in the Water tells a local version of events that are taking place around the world, but with an unusual outcome: people here have found ways to maintain their cultural autonomy and to protect their fragile mountain environment. The Peruvian highlanders have confronted the pressures of modern culture with remarkable vitality. They use improved boats and gear and sell fish to new markets but have fiercely opposed efforts to strip them of their indigenous traditions. They have retained their customary practice of limiting the amount of fishing and have continued to pass cultural knowledge from one generation to the next--practices that have prevented the ecological crises that have followed commercialization of small-scale fisheries around the world. This book--at once a memoir and an ethnography--is a personal and compelling account of a research experience as well as an elegantly written treatise on themes of global importance. Above all, Orlove reminds us that human relations with the environment, though constantly changing, can be sustainable.

Proceedings of a conference held at University of Western Ontario, London, Ont., Feb. 11-12, 2005.

Anyone who has ever tied a blood knot in a leader or spun a line on the reel, felt the tug of a salmon or seen the glimmer of a brook trout in the early morning sun, understands that fishing is more than a sport. It is, for many, a way of life. In Lines on the Water, we are reminded why this is so. Writing with the same mastery that has won him praise for his fiction, Richards takes us—even those unfamiliar with days spent in chilly waters—on an unforgettable journey to the famed Miramichi River. Casting new light on the mysterious and elegant world of fly fishing, it teems with lore and wisdom, humor, and most of all, passion.

"Lines in the Water is both an unusually thoughtful book and a major contribution to the discussion on 'sustainable development.'"—James Ferguson, author of Expectations of Modernity "Ben Orlove knows the cultural communities and landscapes of Lake Titicaca like the back of his hand, but relates them to an entire body of literature about lake-dwelling cultures. His thematic approach to mountains, water, names and other elements of the Titicaca environs makes for rich reading and provocative debate. This book takes the field of political ethno-ecology to heights never before imagined by other practitioners."—Gary Nabhan, author of Cultures of Habitat and Coming Home to Eat "In this illuminating account of life around Lake Titicaca, Ben Orlove draws on his curiosity and experience to offer the reader a rich sense of places, voices, sights, and even pathways. Combining descriptions of everyday practices and history, political and economic forces, and personal memories, he provides an insightful ethnography, an imaginative achievement, and a fine read."—Stephen Gudeman, author of The Anthropology of Economy "A brave, accessible, and often lyrical account of Lake Titicaca and its people's successful struggle to manage their own resources. Orlove wears his deep learning lightly: a pleasure to read."—James C. Scott, Yale University

When asked to distinguish between different faiths, Mughal prince Dara Shikoh is said to have replied, "How do you draw a line in water?" Inspired by this question, the essays in this volume illustrate how ordinary people in South Asia and the diaspora negotiate their religious identities and encounters in creative, complex, and diverse ways. Taking the approach that narratives "from below" provide the richest insight into the dynamics of religious pluralism, the authors examine life histories, oral traditions, cartographic practices, pilgrimage rites, and devotional music and songs. Drawing on both ethnographic and historical data, they illuminate how, like lines in water, religious boundaries are dynamic, fluid, flexible, and permeable rather than permanently fixed, frozen, and inviolable. A distinct feature of the volume is its proposition of a fresh and innovative typology of boundary dynamics. Boundaries may be attractive or porous, firmly drawn or transcended. Attractive boundaries invite confluence while affirming the differences between self and other, whereas permeable boundaries facilitate exchanges that create new identities and in turn form new lines. Although people may recognize the significance of religious borders, they can choose to transcend them. Throughout this volume, the authors highlight the fascinating range of South Asian religious and cultural traditions.

Winner of the 2019 National Book Award “The sight lines in Sze’s 10th collection are just that―imagistic lines strung together by jump-cuts, creating a filmic collage that itself seems to be a portrait of simultaneity.” ―The New York Times From the current phenomenon of drawing calligraphy with water in public parks in China to Thomas Jefferson laying out dinosaur bones on the White House floor, from the last sighting of the axolotl to a man who stops building plutonium triggers, Sight Lines moves through space and time and brings the disparate and divergent into stunning and meaningful focus. In this new work, Arthur Sze employs a wide range of voices—from lichen on a ceiling to a man behind on his rent—and his mythic imagination continually evokes how humans are endangering the planet; yet, balancing rigor with passion, he seizes the significant and luminous and transforms these moments into riveting and enduring poetry. “These new poems are stronger yet and by confronting time head on, may best stand its tests.” ―Lit Hub “The wonders and realities of the world as seen through travel, nature walks, and daily routine bring life to the poems in Sight Lines.” ―Library Journal