Veins of Devotion

Reviews / Votes

An excellent piece of scholarship that synthesizes classic themes in theindological literature--sacrifice, gift-giving, caste, asceticism,guru/chela relationships--with the very contemporary and iconicallymodern, biomedical procedure of blood donation - Joseph S. Alter (University of Pittsburgh) No book covers the same terrain or anything close to what Copemanaccomplishes with VEINS OF DEVOTION. It is an extraordinarily smart bookthat sets the standard for future work on biomoral exchange in anthropology. - Lawrence Cohen (University of California, Berkeley) A very impressive achievement. Copeman quite brilliantly illuminates some of the most dramatic and important developments in contemporary Indian public life. - James Laidlaw (Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge) Fascinating. Copeman's richly conceptualized study, in which he nimbly moves from his underlying frame of the Indian notions of gift and service to touch on a range of related topics, from national integration to Indian notions of asceticism, sacrifice, sin, and caste lucidly connects a range of Indian spiritual idioms to the seemingly unlikely, mundane context of voluntary blood donation. (Journal of Asian Studies) Veins of Devotion is a fascinating ethnography of everyday tissue exchange in urban India. For medical anthropologists, Copeman expands the dimensions of ideology, structure, and agency in bodily donation. For scholars of religion and South Asia, he provides a new venue for analyzing the shifting domains of sacred and secular in contemporary urban India. Accessibly written, this volume is eminently teachable for a graduate or upperdivision undergraduate course. It is an excellent work of scholarship. (American Ethnologist) An excellent piece of scholarship that synthesizes classic themes in theindological literature--sacrifice, gift-giving, caste, asceticism,guru/chela relationships--with the very contemporary and iconicallymodern, biomedical procedure of blood donation - Joseph S. Alter (University of Pittsburgh) No book covers the same terrain or anything close to what Copemanaccomplishes with VEINS OF DEVOTION. It is an extraordinarily smart bookthat sets the standard for future work on biomoral exchange in anthropology. - Lawrence Cohen (University of California, Berkeley) A very impressive achievement. Copeman quite brilliantly illuminates some of the most dramatic and important developments in contemporary Indian public life. - James Laidlaw (Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge) Fascinating. Copeman's richly conceptualized study, in which he nimbly moves from his underlying frame of the Indian notions of gift and service to touch on a range of related topics, from national integration to Indian notions of asceticism, sacrifice, sin, and caste lucidly connects a range of Indian spiritual idioms to the seemingly unlikely, mundane context of voluntary blood donation. (Journal of Asian Studies) Veins of Devotion is a fascinating ethnography of everyday tissue exchange in urban India. For medical anthropologists, Copeman expands the dimensions of ideology, structure, and agency in bodily donation. For scholars of religion and South Asia, he provides a new venue for analyzing the shifting domains of sacred and secular in contemporary urban India. Accessibly written, this volume is eminently teachable for a graduate or upperdivision undergraduate course. It is an excellent work of scholarship. (American Ethnologist)