From The University of Arizona Press State Healthcare and Yanomami Transformations A Symmetrical Ethnography By José Antonio Kelly 288 pp. / 6.0 x 9.0 / 2011 Buy This Book

Related Interest Anthropology First Peoples Initiative Latin American Studies

Amazonian Indigenous peoples have preserved many aspects of their culture and cosmology while also developing complex relationships with dominant non-Indigenous society. Until now,

That long-standing dichotomy is challenged in this new ethnography by anthropologist Kelly. Kelly places the study of culture and cosmology squarely within the context of the modern nation-state and its institutions. He explores Indian-white relations as seen through the operation of a state-run health system among the Indigenous Yanomami of southern Venezuela.

With theoretical foundations in the fields of medical and Amazonian anthropology, Kelly sheds light on how Amerindian cosmology shapes concepts of the state at the community level. The result is a symmetrical anthropology that treats white and Amerindian perceptions of each other within a single theoretical framework, thus expanding our understanding of each group and its influences on the other. This book will be valuable to those studying Amazonian peoples, medical anthropology, development studies, and Latin America. Its new takes on theory and methodology make it ideal for classroom use.

José Antonio Kelly is a lecturer in anthropology at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.

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