PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Abner Cohen Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, SOAS, University of London
'The book is built up in a lucid way and written in a clear style. It may be of value for scholars interested in the subject of political aspects of cultural events, carnival, as well as the politico-cultural situation of West Indians living in Britain.'Social Anthropology'Cohen's discussion of the many styles for participation in and resistance to the Notting Hill Carnival and of the utility of these in political mobilisation makes this work a major contribution to the anthropology of urban festivals.'Anthropological Forum'Cohen's work is a welcome departure from the academically popular analyses of both Turner and Bakhtin, neither of whom systematically argues from ethnography of any particular festival, including the many contexts which become defined in multiple styles for participation in and resistance to it. Such approcahes tend to obscure the relations between culture and politics. Cohen's discussion of the many styles for participation in and resistance to the No
