Michael Jackson

Relates the stories of political leaders and ordinary people in the aftermath of cataclysmic violence. In 2002, Michael Jackson returned to Sierra Leone, to help Sewa Bockarie (S. B.) Marah - a prominent figure in Sierra Leonean politics - write his autobiography, Jackson's experiences during his stay led him to create a more complex work

In 2002, as Sierra Leone prepared to announce the end of its brutal civil war, the distinguished anthropologist, poet, and novelist Michael Jackson returned to the country where he had intermittently lived and worked as an ethnographer since 1969. While his initial concern was to help his old friend Sewa Bockarie (S. B.) Marah-a prominent figure in Sierra Leonean politics-write his autobiography, Jackson’s experiences during his stay led him to create a more complex work: In Sierra Leone, a beautifully rendered mosaic integrating S. B.’s moving stories with personal reflections, ethnographic digressions, and meditations on history and violence. Though the Revolutionary United Front (R.U.F.) ostensibly fought its war (1991–2002) against corrupt government, the people of Sierra Leone were its victims. By the time the war was over, more than fifty thousand were dead, thousands more had been maimed, and over one million were displaced. Jackson relates the stories of political leaders and ordinary people trying to salvage their lives and livelihoods in the aftermath of cataclysmic violence. Combining these with his own knowledge of African folklore, history, and politics and with S. B.’s bittersweet memories-of his family’s rich heritage, his imprisonment as a political detainee, and his position in several of Sierra Leone’s post-independence governments-Jackson has created a work of elegiac, literary, and philosophical power.

Ours is a century of uprootedness, with fewer and fewer people living out their lives where they are born. At such a time, in such a world, what does it mean to be "at home?" Perhaps among a nomadic people, for whom dwelling is not synonymous with being housed and settled, the search for an answer to this question might lead to a new way of thinking about home and homelessness, exile and belonging. At Home in the World is the story of just such a search. Intermittently over a period of three years Michael Jackson lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Central Australia. This book chronicles his experience among the Warlpiri of the Tanami Desert.Something of a nomad himself, having lived in New Zealand, Sierra Leone, England, France, Australia, and the United States, Jackson is deft at capturing the ambiguities of home as a lived experience among the Warlpiri. Blending narrative ethnography, empirical research, philosophy, and poetry, he focuses on the existential meaning of being at home in the world. Here home becomes a metaphor for the intimate relationship between the part of the world a person calls "self" and the part of the world called "other." To speak of "at-homeness," Jackson suggests, implies that people everywhere try to strike a balance between closure and openness, between acting and being acted upon, between acquiescing in the given and choosing their own fate. His book is an exhilarating journey into this existential struggle, responsive at every turn to the political questions of equity and justice that such a struggle entails.A moving depiction of an aboriginal culture at once at home and in exile, and a personal meditation on the practice of ethnography and the meaning of home in our increasingly rootless age, At Home in the World is a timely reflection on how, in defining home, we continue to define ourselves.

The working life of Sir John Martin (1904-1991), which is the subject of this book, was based on the Colonial Office, serving his belief that "colonial rule was one of the best British gifts to the world". Through his eyes, readers are given a detailed picture of work at the centre of some of the most important events in modern British history, including World War II and the end of empire. Four years after entering the Colonial Office, Martin was seconded for three years' field service in Malaya, and attended the Bangkok Opium Conference, and in 1936 he was called to serve as Secretary to the Palestine Royal Commission. In 1940 he went to 10 Downing Street as Churchill's Private Secretary, where from 1941-45 he was Principal PS with management of the Private Office. After the war, in senior positions in the Colonial Office he was in Malaysia, central Africa, Palestine, Cyprus and Malta, working towards decolonization. It also fell to Martin to represent British colonial policy at the new United Nations. For his last two years before retirement he was High Commissioner for Malta. The book offers insights into the background to all these events and the personalities involved.

The postmodern opposition between theory and lived reality has led in part to an anthropological turn to "dialogic" or "reflexive" approaches. Michael Jackson claims these approaches are hardly radical, as they still drift into such abstractions as "society" or "culture". This text proposes an existential anthropology that recognizes even abstract relationships as modalities of interpersonal life. Jackson's work shows how general ideas are always anchored in particular social events and critical concerns. Emphasizing the intersubjective encounter over objective descriptions of the whole historical and contemporary situation of a given people, the author illustrates the power and originality of existential anthropology through a series of vignettes from his field work in Sierra Leone and Australia.

The postmodern opposition between theory and lived reality has led in part to an anthropological turn to "dialogic" or "reflexive" approaches. Michael Jackson claims these approaches are hardly radical, as they still drift into such abstractions as "society" or "culture". This text proposes an existential anthropology that recognizes even abstract relationships as modalities of interpersonal life. Jackson's work shows how general ideas are always anchored in particular social events and critical concerns. Emphasizing the intersubjective encounter over objective descriptions of the whole historical and contemporary situation of a given people, the author illustrates the power and originality of existential anthropology through a series of vignettes from his field work in Sierra Leone and Australia.

Engineering a Cathedral offers professional engineers, architects and interested lay people a unique opportunity to study the construction of one of the world's finest buildings. Durham cathedral celebrates its 900th anniversary in 1993 and to mark the event a group of engineers have applied their modern knowledge and techniques to its structure. With over 80 illustrations, Engineering a Cathedral is not only relevant to Durham, it is relevant to all other medieval buildings, those who care for them and those who simply stand and wonder.

Twenty thousand copies of the first edition of this book were sold. An attractive and comprehensive guidebook, it has been completely revised and updated by the author. The reader will find an easy-to-use text which details the natural history of the plants and animals found in the Galapagos Islands. Management and conservation of the Galapagos National Park is discussed, and visitor information and notes about the various tourist sites are given. An index and checklist of plants and animals with page references and a glossary of technical terms are provided.

'People ask me how I make music. I tell them I just step into it. It's like stepping into a river and joining the flow. Every moment in the river has its song. So, I stay in the moment and listen.'MICHAEL JACKSON (1958 - 2009)Dancing the Dream is one man's hauntingly beautiful, provocatively personal view of the world around us, and the universe within each of us. Whether his prose and poetry focused on creativity, the people that surrounded him, or the plight of the noble elephant, his observations and concerns all illustrated his belief that trust, love and faith are the foundation stones for a life well lived.Containing Michael Jackson's personal writings and over one hundred glorious photographs, drawings, and paintings from his own collection, this book is a must have for all fans of an incredible, inspiring man who died as he lived - dancing his dream.

This book was originally published in paperback in 1991, during a time of growing global concern over the loss of gene resources in crop plants. The future was seen as being dependent on their immediate conservation and effective use by plant breeders. The text is aimed at providing a comprehensive introduction to the form and availability of crop diversity, as well as how this diversity may be gathered, conserved and ultimately combined with new cultivars. Techniques are defined within the fields of data management, tissue culture and genetic engineering, and the overall concept of plant genetic resources is discussed within a political context. A comprehensive bibliography is included.

What is it really like in 'the hole'? On what basis do prison officials employ the most drastic of carceral punishments – solitary confinement – and to what effect? Michael Jackson, lawyer, professor, activist, made a point of finding out. Approached in 1974 by a group of prisoners in the British Columbia Penitentiary, Jackson listened to their stories, investigated, and became convinced that these prisoners were being held in solitary confinement under unlawful conditions and for arbitrary and unjustified reasons. He then helped launch proceedings on their behalf to have the imposition of solitary confinement in the B.C. Penitentiary declared 'cruel and unusual punishment.' Jackson sets out the facts and legal arguments presented to the Federal Court of Canada against a background of the historical evolution of solitary confinement and penitentiary discipline. Successfully argued, the McCann case (1975) was unique in Canadian judicial history. Since then Jackson has remained in close touch with his prison contacts, maintaining a watching brief on whether prison practice has conformed to the rule of the law. He traces the continuation of solitary confinement in the newest of Canada's maximum security institutions and describes the conditions in the 'special handling units,' the most recent addition to Canada's 'carceral archipelago.' It is clear from his findings that prison officials continue to violate human rights. Though Jackson eschews sensationalism, the raw facts and the record of direct testimony he presents make Prisoners of Isolation a disturbing book.

" . . . a model of judiciousness and integrative analysis . . . " —Research in African Literatures Poet and anthropologist Michael Jackson brings to this study of the folktales of the Kuranko people of Sierra Leone a sensitivity to the philosophical nuances of literature.