Authority: Construction and Corrosion

Bruce Lincoln

Published by University of Chicago Press 1994

Authority

Construction and Corrosion

Bruce Lincoln

https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226682518

Overview
Contents

About this book

What is authority? How is it constituted? How ought one understand the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) relations between authority and coercion? Between authorized and subversive speech? In this fascinating and intricate analysis, Bruce Lincoln argues that authority is not an entity but an effect. More precisely, it is an effect that depends for its power on the combination of the right speaker, the right speech, the right staging and props, the right time and place, and an audience historically and culturally conditioned to judge what is right in all these instances and to respond with trust, respect, and even reverence.

Employing a vast array of examples drawn from classical antiquity, Scandinavian law, Cold War scholarship, and American presidential politics, Lincoln offers a telling analysis of the performance of authority, and subversions of it, from ancient times to the present. Using a small set of case studies that highlight critical moments in the construction of authority, he goes on to offer a general examination of "corrosive" discourses such as gossip, rumor, and curses; the problematic situation of women, who often are barred from the authorizing sphere; the role of religion in the construction of authority; the question of whether authority in the modern and postmodern world differs from its premodern counterpart; and a critique of Hannah Arendt's claims that authority has disappeared from political life in the modern world. He does not find a diminution of authority or a fundamental change in the conditions that produce it. Rather, Lincoln finds modern authority splintered, expanded, and, in fact, multiplied as the mechanisms for its construction become more complex—and more expensive.

Author / Editor information

Bruce Lincoln is the Caroline E. Haskell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Religions in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, where he also holds positions in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and on the Committee on Medieval Studies, with affiliations in the Departments of Anthropology and Classics.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Chapter One. CONSTRUCTING AUTHORITY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter Two. ORATORY AND RIDICULE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	14
Chapter Three. RUMORS AND PROPHECIES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
Chapter Four. LAW, CURSES, AND DERISION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Chapter Five. AGAINST AUTHORITY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
Chapter Six. AND WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
Chapter Seven. RELIGION AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORITY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
Chapter Eight. SCHOLARS AND COLD WARRIORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
Chapter Nine. PRESIDENTS AND PROTESTERS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
APPENDIX A. Mailing from the "Hundredth Monkey" Project Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
APPENDIX B. Remarks by President Ronald Reagan at National Association of Broadcasters' 70th Annual Convention 13 April 1992 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
APPENDIX C. Interview with Rick Springer, "CBS This Morning:' 17 April 1992 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	154
APPENDIX D. "The Hundredth Monkey Speaks": An Editorial from the Wall Street Journal, 21 April 1992 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
APPENDIX E. "Excuse Me, Mr. President": Excerpts from an Article by Rick Springer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
APPENDIX F. United States vs. Springer: Excerpt from the Federal Court Record Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221

Language: English
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 235
Illustrations
- Other: 18 tables
Keywords: construction; constructed; constructivism; leadership; in charge; relationships; communication; power; hierarchy; speech; communicate; subversive; speaking; discussion; argument; historical; history; cultural; response; conditioning; antiquity; law; cold war; scholarly; academic; scholarship; interdisciplinary; american; president; politics; political; women; religion; modern; postmodern; oratory

eBook

Published: August 30, 2019
ISBN: 9780226682518