Resources and Population
A study of the Gurungs of Nepal
By Alan Macfarlane
Ratna Pustak Bhandar, Kathmandu, 2003
pp xxvi+364, no recommended price
ISBN 99933-0-377-1
This is the second edition of the 1976 classic originally published by Cambridge University Press. Written from a perspective that combines the tools of anthropology and populations studies, this work is based on extensive field work among the Gurung community in the Annapurna range in the central Himalaya. Primarily this is a study of resource use, growth of rice cultivation and the depletion of forests and the consequences of these trends. A new preface to the current edition records the changes that Macfarlane observed in the thirty years that elapsed between his first visit in 1968 and now. Reissued by a Kathmandu publisher, the book is of interest to students of Himalayan societies, development professionals and cultural activists, apart from professional anthropologists of Nepal.
Another World is Possible
Popular Alternatives to Globalization at the World Social Forum
Edited by William F Fisher and Thomas Ponniah
(Foreword by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri)
Zed Books, London and New York, 2003
pp xx+364, no recommended price
ISBN 1-84277-329-1
The conflict between giant corporations seeking larger market shares and the movement for global justice has become increasingly sharper in recent years. These have been most forcefully expressed at the summits of the developed country governments and the forums of the alternative movements, most notably the World Social Forum. This book brings together the voice of the opposition to predatory globalisation. The foreward by the two most prominent ideologues of the contemporary global social movement, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, is a manifesto for reconstituting the left movement globally and nationally. The editors of this anthology have brought together the writings of some of the most well-known intellectuals, social activists and organisations involved in movements across the world. Essential reading for activists and students of globalisation, whether pro or anti.