Roy Ellen

University of Kent, School of Anthropology and Conservation, Emeritus

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Firth, Raymond (1901-2002)

Scopus (Elsevier), Jul 25, 2018

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Nature Wars: Essays Around a Contested Concept

The title of this book is deliberately provocative and deliberately ambiguous. An obvious allusio... more The title of this book is deliberately provocative and deliberately ambiguous. An obvious allusion for many will be to recent controversies in the politics of the environment, and indeed it is partly about this. However, these episodes in our recent and current history cannot be understood except in relation to parallel academic controversies of equal ferocity (though less open to public view) concerning 'nature' as an idea, both as apparent in public discourse and in science, between the sciences, and in philosophy and the humanities. This volume is organised around issues, debates and discussions concerning the various ways in which the concept of nature has been used, abused, endlessly deconstructed and reclaimed, as reflected in anthropological, scientific, and similar writing over the last several decades. It comprises ten chapters (mostly previously published), with a completely new introduction connecting the chapters and taking the arguments forward

The problem of nature: Environment, culture and European expansion - Arnold,D

A synoptic view of the Co-management of natural resources

Curzon eBooks, Jun 1, 2003

... 28 no. 1, pp. 1-17. Kemp, J.(1988) Seductive Mirage: the Search for the Village Community in ... more

The Bajau Laut: Adaptation, History, and Fate in a Maritime Fishing Society of South-eastern Sabah. By Clifford Sather. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. xviii, 359. Tables, Figures, Maps, Plates, Bibliography, Index

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Mar 1, 1998

... The Bajau Laut: Adaptation, History, and Fate in a Maritime Fishing Society of South-eastern ... more

5 Anger, Anxiety, and Sorcery: An Analysis of Some Nuaulu Case Material from Seram, Eastern Indonesia

University of Hawaii Press eBooks, Dec 31, 1993

The Empty Seashell: Witchcraft and Doubt on an Indonesian Island

Sojourn, Jul 30, 2016

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Contingency and adaptation over five decades in nuaulu forest-based plant knowledge

CABI eBooks, 2017

This chapter examines several ways in which the forest knowledge of the Nuaulu (a people of centr... more This chapter examines several ways in which the forest knowledge of the Nuaulu (a people of central Seram in the eastern Indonesian province of the Moluccas) has shifted over the past five decades, while in other ways has remained remarkably stable. This is illustrated with reference to three very different examples (the genus Canarium harvested for its proteinaceous nuts; the category &#39;firewood&#39;; and rattan as a construction material) but in each case the context of how forest as a more encompassing cultural and ecological entity is also being transformed in people&#39;s material and social lives.

Nuaulu head-taking. Negotiating the twin dangers of presentist and essentialist reconstructions

Social Anthropology, Oct 1, 2002

In October 1992 two transmigrants from the island of Saparua were murdered, and their heads remov... more

On the Contemporary Uses of Colonial History and the Legitimation of Political Status in Archipelagic Southeast Seram

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Mar 1, 1997

Drawing upon data from the Seram Laut and Gorom archipelagoes, this paper examines how contempora... more Drawing upon data from the Seram Laut and Gorom archipelagoes, this paper examines how contemporary rulers legitimate their rights by asserting links with sources of traditional authority. In particular, it is argued that archaic titles remain important because the colonial period stabilized the relationship between domains, and because such titles thus provide a means of validating claims to resources, combating state incursions and competing for influence. The possession of old documents supports such claims by confirming them in writing, but also by being old “things” linked to the person of the ruler.

Elements for an Anthropology of Technology by Pierre Lemonnier

Technology and Culture

Chapter 2 RETHINKING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDIES OF ETHNOBIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN CULTURAL COGNITION

Human Origins

Chapter 5 Why Aren’t the Nuaulu Like the Matsigenka? Knowledge and Categorization of Forest Diversity on Seram, Eastern Indonesia

Landscape Ethnoecology

Ecological Anthropology

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology

How Nuaulu sago palms feature in debates around the measurement of plant use and valuation

The Cultural Value of Trees, 2022

Ethnobiology

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 2018

Ethnobiology is the study of the dynamic relationship between plants, animals, people, and the en... more Ethnobiology is the study of the dynamic relationship between plants, animals, people, and the environment. Academic and applied interests include ethnobotany, ethnozoology, linguistics, paleoethnobotany, zooarchaeology, ethnoecology, and many others. The field lies at a dynamic intersection between the social and biological sciences. The major contribution from the biological sciences has come from economic botany, which has a rich historical and scientific tradition. Indeed, the objectives of the colonial enterprise were as much about the quest for “green gold” –herbal medicines, spices, novel cultivars, and others—as it was for precious metals and sources of labor. The view that ethnobiology concerns mostly the discovery of new and useful biota extended into the 20th century. The social sciences have contributed to the field in both descriptive studies but also within quantitative approaches in cognitive anthropology that have led to general principles within ethnobiological classification. Ethnobiological research in recent years has focused increasingly on problem solving and hypothesis testing by means of qualitative and especially quantitative methods. It seeks to understand how culturally relevant biotas are cognitively categorized, ranked, named, and assigned meaning. It investigates the complex strategies employed by traditional societies to manage plant and animal taxa, communities, and landscapes. It explores the degree to which local ecological knowledge promotes or undermines resource conservation, and contributes to the solution of global challenges, such as community health, nutrition, and cultural heritage. It investigates the economic value and environmental sustainability to local communities of non-timber forest products, as well as the strategies through which individual ecological knowledge and practices encourage resilience to change —modernization, climate change, and many others. Most importantly, contemporary ethnobiological research is grounded in respect for all cultures, embracing the principles of prior informed consent, benefit sharing, and general mindfulness.

Plaited Arts From the Borneo Rainforest

South East Asia Research, 2013

much as the states into which they aim to intervene, and clearly no template exists that can be p... more much as the states into which they aim to intervene, and clearly no template exists that can be passed from one to the next. Notwithstanding the limits to which the lessons from this study can be extrapolated, in concluding I agree with another of Charlesworth’s remarks at the book opening, that Ending Forced Labour in Myanmar ‘provides a valuable source of material and inspiration not only for regional experts and those who study the workings of international institutions, but also for generalist scholars’ (2011). Unfortunately, the excessively high price of the book, which at the time of writing is not available in paperback, means that very few generalists will ever buy a copy, not to mention few specialists. Hopefully Routledge will publish a softcover edition soon. In the meantime, interested readers should recommend it to their library.

Microcosm, Macrocosm and the Nuaulu house: Concerning the reductionist fallacy as applied to metaphorical levels

Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1986

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Chapter 9: Managing ritual

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Orthography and Glossary

BRILL eBooks, 1978

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