MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
HABITAT, HABITATION AND HEALTH IN THEHIMALAYAS
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PEOPLE OF SIKKIM AND THE GADDIS OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
VEENA BHASIN (University of Delhi, Delhi, India)
1990 • Pages: XVI+350 • Maps: 60 • Plates: 16 • Size: 180 × 240 mm •
ISBN 81-85264-03-1 • Binding: Hard • Price: US $ 65/- Rs. 950/-
This volume is a valuable source of biological, socio-economic, and demographic data for two Himalayan regions, Sikkim State and one district in Himachal Pradesh, India.
The strength of this book is its wealth of information....I welcome this volume as a source of information for demographers and human biologists
—HUMAN BIOLOGY (U.S.A.)
Man Könnte das Buch insofern als eine Art sozialmedizinische Landeskunde bezeichnen.
—ZEITSCHRIFT FUR MORPHOLOGIE UND ANTHROPLOGIE (GERMANY)
Bhasin’s endeavour is significant to studies on population ecology and medical anthropology
—JOURNAL OF HUMAN ECOLOGY
The present study analyses various facets of Population ecology of the people of SikkimState and Bharmour Tehsil, Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh to Project some fresh insight into certain areas not yet fully explored, which will eventually lead to a more comprehensive overview of population ecology and its various problems. No study can be
completely exhaustive but the present one claims to be a step in that direction.Inecosystems of which human beings, including human settlements, form a part, human cultural components are taken into account. Although culture is a product of human populations and is ineffectual as an ecological force in the absence of such populations, it is neverthless useful to depict culture as a separate set of components of the system. Though it is generally understood that human well-being in a human settlement is essential, it does not have a commonly accept critierion. It may be vague or ambigous and hence elude definition. Well being has physical, mental, ethical, socio-economic, political and ecological dimensions. What constitutes “health” or “welfare” or “pathology” changes according to cultural setting, environmental conditions and ecologicalrelationship.
CONTENTS
Preface
- Introduction •
- Natural and Human Environment •
- Field Area and Methodology •
- Human Settlement and Amenities •
- Economic Pursuits •
- Socio-Cultural Factors •
- Estimates, Trends and Differentials in Fertility and Mortality •
- Health, Disease Incidence and Health Care •
- Concluding Remarks and Suggestions •
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
