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This book examines the uses made of anthropology by Marx and
Engels, and the uses made of Marxism by anthropologists. Looking at
the writings of Marx and Engels on primitive societies, the book
evaluates their views in the light of present knowledge and draws
attention to inconsistencies in their analysis of pre-capitalist
societies. These inconsistencies can be traced to the influence of
contemporary anthropologists who regarded primitive societies as
classless. As Marxist theory was built around the idea of class,
without this concept the conventional Marxist analysis foundered.
First published in 1983.
Reflecting the first evaluation among British and American
anthropologists of the relevance of Marxist theory for their
discipline, the studies in this volume cover a wide geographical
and social spectrum ranging from rural Indonesia, Imperial China,
Highland Burma and the Abron kingdom of Gyaman. A critical survey
assesses the value of some key ideas of Marx and Engels to social
anthropology and places in historical perspective the changing
attitudes of social anthropologists to the Marxist tradition.
Originally published in 1975.
This volume deals with the way in which money is symbolically
represented in a range of different cultures, from South and
South-east Asia, Africa and South America. It is also concerned
with the moral evaluation of monetary and commercial exchanges as
against exchanges of other kinds. The essays cast radical doubt on
many Western assumptions about money: that it is the acid which
corrodes community, depersonalises human relationships, and reduces
differences of quality to those of mere quantity; that it is the
instrument of man's freedom, and so on. Rather than supporting the
proposition that money produces easily specifiable changes in world
view, the emphasis here is on the way in which existing world views
and economic systems give rise to particular ways of representing
money. But this highly relativistic conclusion is qualified once we
shift the focus from money to the system of exchange as a whole.
One rather general pattern that then begins to emerge is of two
separate but related transactional orders, the majority of systems
making some ideological space for relatively impersonal,
competitive and individual acquisitive activity. This implies that
even in a non-monetary economy these features are likely to exist
within a certain sphere of activity, and that it is therefore
misleading to attribute them to money. By so doing, a contrast
within cultures is turned into a contrast between cultures, thereby
reinforcing the notion that money itself has the power to transform
the nature of social relationships.
What is human sociality? How are universals such as truth and doubt
variously demonstrated and negotiated in different cultures? This
book offers an accessible introduction to these and other
fundamental human questions. Bloch shows that the social consists
of two very different things. One is a matter of continual
adjustments between individuals who read each others' minds and
thus, as in sex and birth, "go in and out of each other's minds and
bodies." The other is a time defying system of roles and groups.
Interaction at this level is created by ritual and is unique to
humans. What is referred to by the word "religion" is a part of
this, but it is not separate. The study of "religion" as such is
therefore theoretically misleading. A second major theme is the way
truth is established in different cultures. Bloch's arguments go
against recent approaches in anthropology which have sought to
relativize ideas of the social and religion.
What is human sociality? How are universals such as truth and doubt
variously demonstrated and negotiated in different cultures? This
book offers an accessible introduction to these and other
fundamental human questions. Bloch shows that the social consists
of two very different things. One is a matter of continual
adjustments between individuals who read each others' minds and
thus, as in sex and birth, "go in and out of each other's minds and
bodies." The other is a time defying system of roles and groups.
Interaction at this level is created by ritual and is unique to
humans. What is referred to by the word "religion" is a part of
this, but it is not separate. The study of "religion" as such is
therefore theoretically misleading. A second major theme is the way
truth is established in different cultures. Bloch's arguments go
against recent approaches in anthropology which have sought to
relativize ideas of the social and religion.
Ethnographers of religion have created a vast record of religious
behavior from small-scale non-literate societies to globally
distributed religions in urban settings. So a theory that claims to
explain prominent features of ritual, myth, and belief in all
contexts everywhere causes ethnographers a skeptical pause. In
Ritual and Memory, however, a wide range of ethnographers grapple
critically with Harvey Whitehouse's theory of two divergent modes
of religiosity. Although these contributors differ in their
methods, their areas of fieldwork, and their predisposition towards
Whitehouse's cognitively-based approach, they all help evaluate and
refine Whitehouse's theory and so contribute to a new comparative
approach in the anthropology of religion.
Ethnographers of religion have created a vast record of religious
behavior from small-scale non-literate societies to globally
distributed religions in urban settings. So a theory that claims to
explain prominent features of ritual, myth, and belief in all
contexts everywhere causes ethnographers a skeptical pause. In
Ritual and Memory, however, a wide range of ethnographers grapple
critically with Harvey Whitehouse's theory of two divergent modes
of religiosity. Although these contributors differ in their
methods, their areas of fieldwork, and their predisposition towards
Whitehouse's cognitively-based approach, they all help evaluate and
refine Whitehouse's theory and so contribute to a new comparative
approach in the anthropology of religion.
Maurice Bloch has for many years been developing an original and
influential theory of ritual. In this book he synthesises a radical
theory of religion. Rituals in a great many societies deny the
transience of life and of human institutions. Bloch argues that
they enact this denial by symbolically sacrificing the participants
themselves, so allowing them to participate in the immortality of a
transcendent entity. Such sacrifices are achieved through acts of
symbolic violence, ranging from bodily mutilations to the killing
of animals. The theme is developed with reference to rituals of
many types, from a variety of ethnographic sources, and Bloch shows
that even exogamous marriage rituals can be reinterpreted in the
light of this thesis. He concludes by considering the indirect
relation of symbolic and ritual violence to political violence.
This book examines the uses made of anthropology by Marx and
Engels, and the uses made of Marxism by anthropologists. Looking at
the writings of Marx and Engels on primitive societies, the book
evaluates their views in the light of present knowledge and draws
attention to inconsistencies in their analysis of pre-capitalist
societies. These inconsistencies can be traced to the influence of
contemporary anthropologists who regarded primitive societies as
classless. As Marxist theory was built around the idea of class,
without this concept the conventional Marxist analysis foundered.
First published in 1983.
Reflecting the first evaluation among British and American
anthropologists of the relevance of Marxist theory for their
discipline, the studies in this volume cover a wide geographical
and social spectrum ranging from rural Indonesia, Imperial China,
Highland Burma and the Abron kingdom of Gyaman. A critical survey
assesses the value of some key ideas of Marx and Engels to social
anthropology and places in historical perspective the changing
attitudes of social anthropologists to the Marxist tradition.
Originally published in 1975.
This provocative new study one of the world's most distinguished
anthropologists proposes that an understanding of cognitive science
enriches, rather than threatens, the work of social scientists.
Maurice Bloch argues for a naturalist approach to social and
cultural anthropology, introducing developments in cognitive
sciences such as psychology and neurology and exploring the
relevance of these developments for central anthropological
concerns: the person or the self, cosmology, kinship, memory and
globalisation. Opening with an exploration of the history of
anthropology, Bloch shows why and how naturalist approaches were
abandoned and argues that these once valid reasons are no longer
relevant. Bloch then shows how such subjects as the self, memory
and the conceptualisation of time benefit from being simultaneously
approached with the tools of social and cognitive science.
Anthropology and the Cognitive Challenge will stimulate fresh
debate among scholars and students across a wide range of
disciplines.
This book brings together recent work by Maurice Bloch which
explores the highly controversial territory between the cognitive
and social sciences. The essays are of broad, theoretical interest
and aim to combine naturalistic approaches to cognition with a
recognition and respect for the cultural and historical specificity
of ethnography. All the essays illustrate Bloch's characteristic
approach to the relation between anthropology and cognitive
science, where cognitive science is used to criticize
anthropological assumptions concerning such key topics as religion,
kinship, belief, ritual, symbolism and art.
This book brings together recent work by Maurice Bloch which
explores the highly controversial territory between the cognitive
and social sciences. The essays are of broad, theoretical interest
and aim to combine naturalistic approaches to cognition with a
recognition and respect for the cultural and historical specificity
of ethnography. All the essays illustrate Bloch's characteristic
approach to the relation between anthropology and cognitive
science, where cognitive science is used to criticize
anthropological assumptions concerning such key topics as religion,
kinship, belief, ritual, symbolism and art.
This volume provides a collection of some of Maurice Bloch's most
important work, including influential essays on power, hierarchy,
death and fertility.
This volume provides a collection of some of Maurice Bloch's most
important work, including influential essays on power, hierarchy,
death and fertility.
Maurice Bloch has for many years been developing an original and
influential theory of ritual. In this book he synthesises a radical
theory of religion. Rituals in a great many societies deny the
transience of life and of human institutions. Bloch argues that
they enact this denial by symbolically sacrificing the participants
themselves, so allowing them to participate in the immortality of a
transcendent entity. Such sacrifices are achieved through acts of
symbolic violence, ranging from bodily mutilations to the killing
of animals. The theme is developed with reference to rituals of
many types, from a variety of ethnographic sources, and Bloch shows
that even exogamous marriage rituals can be reinterpreted in the
light of this thesis. He concludes by considering the indirect
relation of symbolic and ritual violence to political violence.
This collection is concerned with the symbolic representation of money in a range of different societies, and more specifically with the moral evaluation of monetary and commercial exchanges. It focuses on the different cultural meanings surrounding monetary transactions, emphasizing the enormous cultural variation in the way money is symbolized and how this symbolism relates to culturally constructed notions of production, consumption, circulation, and exchange.
The circumcision ritual of the Merina of Madagascar is seen by them
primarily as a blessing, involving the transfer of the love and
concern of the ancestors of their descendants. Yet the ritual ends
in an act of ciolent wounding of the child. Similarily, while the
ritual involves a symbolic assault on women, it is nonetheless
welcomed by them as a mark of receiving the blessing of the
ancestors. In this book, Maurice Bloch provides a detailed
description and analysis of the Merina circumcision ritual today,
offers an account of its history, and discusses the significance of
his analysis for anthropological theories of ritual in general.
Pursuing the theme of the combination of religious joy and
illumination with violence, Professor Bloch explains how, at
various times, the circumcision ceremony can be a familial ritual
as well as glorification of a militarist and expansionist state, or
associated with anti-colonial nationalism. Describing changes that
have occurred in the form of the ritual over two centuries,
Professor Bloch argues that in order to understand the properties
of ritual in general, it is necessary to view it over a longer time
scale than anthropologists have tended to do previously. Adopting
such an historical perspective enables him to identify the
stability of the Merina ritual's symbolic content, despite changes
in its organisation, and dramatically changing politico-economic
contexts. As well as presenting an original historical approach to
the anthropological study of ritua;, Professor Bloch discusses a
range of general theoretical issues, including the nature of
ideology, and the relationship between images created in ritual and
other types of knowledge. The book will appeal widely to scholars
and students of anthropology, history, African studies, and
comparative religion.
This provocative new study one of the world's most distinguished
anthropologists proposes that an understanding of cognitive science
enriches, rather than threatens, the work of social scientists.
Maurice Bloch argues for a naturalist approach to social and
cultural anthropology, introducing developments in cognitive
sciences such as psychology and neurology and exploring the
relevance of these developments for central anthropological
concerns: the person or the self, cosmology, kinship, memory and
globalisation. Opening with an exploration of the history of
anthropology, Bloch shows why and how naturalist approaches were
abandoned and argues that these once valid reasons are no longer
relevant. Bloch then shows how such subjects as the self, memory
and the conceptualisation of time benefit from being simultaneously
approached with the tools of social and cognitive science.
Anthropology and the Cognitive Challenge will stimulate fresh
debate among scholars and students across a wide range of
disciplines.
Why do funerary rituals in India, China, Latin America, and Africa so often involve symbols of rebirth and regeneration and prominent roles for women? Specialists in these lands have collaborated to offer an innovative response that anthropologists, theologians, psychologists, sociologists, and historians will find challenging.
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