Envisioning power : ideologies of dominance and crisis
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Envisioning power : ideologies of dominance and crisis
University of California Press, c1999
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-330) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780520215368
Description
This text explores the historical relationship of ideas, power, and culture. Responding to anthropolgy's long reliance on a concept of culture that takes little account of power, it is argued that power is crucial in shaping the circumstances of cultural production. It also demonstrates that social-science notions of ideology incorporate power but disregard the ways ideas respond to cultural promptings connect through the medium of culture. Using three societies, Kwakiutl Indians of the Northwest Pacific coast, the Aztecs of pre-Hispanic Mexico and National Socialist Germany, to study, it asks how these societies faced tension posed by ecological, social, political, or psychological crisis, and prompted ideological responses that draw on distinctive, historically rooted cultural understandings. In each study it is analysed how the regnant ideology intertwines with power around the pivotal relationship that govern social labour.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780520215825
Description
With the originality and energy that have marked his earlier works, Eric Wolf now explores the historical relationship of ideas, power, and culture. Responding to anthropology's long reliance on a concept of culture that takes little account of power, Wolf argues that power is crucial in shaping the circumstances of cultural production. Responding to social-science notions of ideology that incorporate power but disregard the ways ideas respond to cultural promptings, he demonstrates how power and ideas connect through the medium of culture. Wolf advances his argument by examining three very different societies, each remarkable for its flamboyant ideological expressions: the Kwakiutl Indians of the Northwest Pacific Coast, the Aztecs of pre-Hispanic Mexico, and National Socialist Germany. Tracing the history of each case, he shows how these societies faced tensions posed by ecological, social, political, or psychological crises, prompting ideological responses that drew on distinctive, historically rooted cultural understandings. In each case study, Wolf analyzes how the regnant ideology intertwines with power around the pivotal relationships that govern social labor.
Anyone interested in the history of anthropology or in how the social sciences make comparisons will want to join Wolf in Envisioning Power.
Table of Contents
PREFACE
I
Introduction
2
Contested Concepts
3
The Kwakiutl
4
The Aztecs
5
National Socialist Germany
6
Coda
NOTES
REFERENCES
INDEX
by "Nielsen BookData"
