Bücher veröffentlicht von Deelopment Resources Press

"Water is life" in Bangladesh. Based on five researchers' long-term involvement with water development projects in eight districts, this book introduces the reader to the vast range of meanings that water has in Bangladesh, where ordinary villagers struggle daily for access to safe supplies. Mythol­ogy, ancient sciences, folklore, and language provide a cultural founda­tion for water's uses in the home. large numbers of people fact the daaunting challenge of arsenic in their water supply. Reactions to this serious problem are explored through case studies and literature review. Photographs, analysis, and many case studies will sensitize scientifically-oriented development workers to the ways that cultural frameworks influence people's responses to new ideas and technologies.

This is a close examination of the ways in which plant life and human life are symbolically intertwined in two rural villages of Hassan District, Karnataka State, India. After presenting a general overview of South Asian cultural traditions related to symbolic uses of plants, the author shares results of an in-depth study of the ways that plants have been used in rites of passage by multiple castes. The author, her partner, and a local team conducted detailed interviews and observations on birth, maturation, marriage, pregnancy, death, and other rituals in 1966-67. A follow-up study of plants covered folk taxonomy, local understandings of plant types and plant parts in 1976-77. Includes photos and other illustrations, a bibliography and a glossary of botanical names.