One of the most popular anthropological case studies published in the last two decades, the latest edition of
The Gebusi incorporates important new fieldwork and includes Update sections at the end of individual chapters, bringing a riveting story fully up to date. Readers are welcomed into the lives of Papua New Guinea rainforest dwellers to witness a dramatic arc of cultural change and human transformation.
When Knauft first studied them, Gebusi practiced powerful spirit séances and sorcery divinations, held resplendent initiations that included distinctive sexual customs, and endured high rates of violence. Sixteen years later, he found them participating in market activity, schooling, government programs, and sports; performing their own popular music; and practicing Christianity. More recently, Gebusi have been battered by economic hardship and withdrawal of government services but have admirably revitalized their culture and livelihood. Sustained by traditions, access to land and waterways, and a keen sense of humor and vitality, Gebusi exhibit resilience and dignity amid conditions of continuing uncertainty and change.
An absorbing, well-written, and humanistic account based on profound scholarship, The Gebusi, 4/E includes end-of-chapter Broader Connections that link Gebusi experiences to major anthropological topics subsistence, kinship and marriage, politics, religion, gender and sexuality, ethnicity, nationalism, modernity, and the ethics of engaged and applied anthropology. Sixty photos, including twenty in a full-color insert, accentuate Knauft's absorbing narrative. Callouts to new instructional videos recorded with Gebusi and to an extensive online image bank on the author's website enrich the ethnography.
Not-for-sale instructor's resource materials available online to college and university faculty only; contact publisher directly.
"I think this is a fine piece of ethnographic research. It is rich because of the extended period of research, the depth of understanding on the part of the ethnographer, and importance of the group being studied. The narrative style humanizes the people as well as the ethnographic process." --Marcella Mazzarelli, Massachusetts Bay Community College
"This book is integral to my class, a great companion to an introductory anthropology text. We come back to it over and over in class to illustrate concepts in the primary text. It is very relatable as Knauft is young when he first visits the Gebusi. I like the coverage of multiple time periods, and the availability of so much online material." --Barbara Wolff, Montgomery College
"This is a much-improved edition—easier to read, more photographs, and updated. It is among the most effective ethnographies I've used in forty years of teaching introductory cultural anthropology." --Lawrence Breitborde, Knox College
