New open access books published in November 2024
Posted on 2nd December, 2024
The end of the year is nigh, and Winter is upon us (in the Northern hemisphere, at least). As things start to wind down for the end of year festivities, we’re here with news of four new open access books to devour in the quieter moments.
Caring is Sharing? Couples navigating parental leave at the transition to parenthood was the first title we published in November. In this absorbing book, Katherine Twamley explores how mixed-sex couples make decisions around parental leave and how these decisions shape their work and family care practices. Drawing on a longitudinal study of couples in England, it shows that practices of couple intimacy influence the processes through which they enact divisions of parental leave and care.
The latest instalment of the Embodying Inequalities: Perspectives from Medical Anthropology series, Packaged Plants: Seductive supplements and metabolic precarity in the Philippines, offers an absorbing ethnography and cultural history of how the production and consumption of plants for food and medicine has gone through ‘metabolic rifts’, increasingly processed into commodities with adverse impact on health and aggravating existing economic and social inequities. The book also describes ultra-processed foods that are linked to metabolic syndrome, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity- a topic of great interest to people across the globe!
Polish Cities of Migration: The migration transition in Kalisz, Piła and Płock analyses how Poland is transitioning to a new identity as a ‘country of immigration’, although its ‘country of emigration’ identity remains strong outside a handful of bigger cities. The book explores two interconnected puzzles: how Poland’s migration transition is influenced by the fact that it is simultaneously a country of emigration, and why migrants are spreading out beyond the metropolises, often settling with their families in smaller cities with limited labour markets, cities from which Poles themselves continue to migrate. An excellent companion to 2018’s The Impact of Migration on Poland.
The first volume in the Textbook of World and Minority Languages series, Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic: An Introductory Text, is dedicated to spoken Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic and is designed to guide beginners to an advanced level, with the goal of enabling basic conversations. It focuses on common expressions of this unique dialect and opens a window to Baghdad’s historic Jewish culture. The 10 lessons guide readers through a particular topic, such as greetings, family, shopping or cuisine, and consist of sample texts, key vocabulary, grammar points and exercises. If you enjoyed the Grammars of World and Minority Languages series, you’ll enjoy this new series!
As always, we’ll be back again next month with a round up of the very best new open access books. As always, stay safe, and wrap up warm!