ISBN:
0415277949
,
9780415277945
,
0415277957
,
9780415277952
,
1280068809
,
9781280068805
,
0203426193
,
9780203426197
Language:
English
Pages:
Online Ressource (xii, 260 pages)
,
illustrations.
Series Statement:
ASA monographs v. 38
Parallel Title:
Print version Elite cultures
DDC:
305.52
Keywords:
Elite (Social sciences) Cross-cultural studies
;
Power (Social sciences) Cross-cultural studies
;
Elite (Social sciences) Cross-cultural studies
;
Power (Social sciences) Cross-cultural studies
;
Elite (Social sciences) Cross-cultural studies
;
Power (Social sciences) Cross-cultural studies
;
SOCIAL SCIENCE ; Social Classes
;
Elite (Social sciences)
;
Power (Social sciences)
;
Social & Cultural Anthropology
;
Anthropology
;
Social Sciences
;
Eliter
;
Makt
;
Cross-cultural studies
;
Electronic books
;
Electronic books Cross-cultural studies
;
Aufsatzsammlung
Abstract:
The anthropological study of elites has gained increasing prominence with the shift of the anthropological gaze toward issues of power, prestige and status in the societies of anthropologists themselves. However, our understanding of elites is often partial, obscured as it is by the theoretical weaknesses of Western models on the one hand and, on the other, by the difficulties in studying elites from the 'inside'. Drawing on a diverse, comparative ethnographic literature, this new volume examines the intimate spaces and cultural practices of those elites who occupy positions of power and authority across a variety of different settings. Using ethnographic case studies from a wide range of geographical areas, including Mexico, Peru, Amazonia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Europe, North America and Africa, the contributors explore the inner worlds of meaning and practice that define and sustain elite identities. They also provide insights into the cultural mechanisms that maintain elite status, and into the complex ways that elite groups relate to, and are embedded within, wider social and historical processes.; The book addresses a number of fundamental questions about the nature of elites and society such as; *How do elites in different societies maintain their position of domination? *How do elites reproduce themselves over time? *How do elites represent themselves? *How can we study elites anthropologically? *What implications does this study have for the discipline of anthropology? In exemplifying anthropology's contribution to the study of power, this book provides a welcome and timely addition to the literature as well as to current debates about the scope and direction of the discipline itself. Professor John Eade, University of Surrey, UK; Dr Sandra Evers Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands; Dr
Description / Table of Contents:
Introduction: towards an anthropology of elitesWorld society as an old regime -- The powers behind the masks: Mexico's political class and social elites at the end of the millennium -- Gente boa: elites in and of Amazonia -- Elites on the margins: mestizo traders in the southern Peruvian Andes -- The vanishing elite: the political and cultural work of nationalist revolution in Sri Lanka -- The changing nature of elites in Indonesia today -- Settlers and their elites in Kenya and Liberia -- Cultural heritage and the role of traditional intellectuals in Mali and Cameroon -- The construction of elite status in the extreme Southern Highlands of Madagascar -- Revising the past: the heritage elite and Native peoples in North America -- Revolution and royal style: problems of post-socialist legitimacy in Laos -- How far can you go? English Catholic elites and the erosion of ethnic boundaries -- Pre-symptomatic networks: tracking experts across medical science and the new genetics -- Anthropologists: lions and/or foxes.
Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index. - Print version record
