Showing papers in "Ethnos in 1988"
TL;DR: The description of a Hindu funeral ritual in Trinidad by the West Indian writer VS Naipaul is used to draw attention to features of ritual in the modern world'fragmentation of meaning and diversity of individual experience.
Abstract: The description of a Hindu funeral ritual in Trinidad by the West Indian writer VS Naipaul is used to draw attention to features of ritual in the modern world‐fragmentation of meaning and diversity of individual experience — that are not covered in classic accounts of ritual suck as those of Turner It is further argued that these features may not be confined to ritual only in modern contexts Finally, and drawing on recent advances in ritual theory, an attempt is made to outline a comprehensive approach to the understanding of ritual that would do justice to both Turner and Naipaul
45 citations
TL;DR: In contrast, the inhabitants are highly sensitive to "objectivity" weaker body odors and a marked "olfactory dualism" thus prevails, which is interpicted in terms of the personalistic character of Thai socioculture as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In contrast, the inhabitants are highly sensitive to ‘objectivity’ weaker body odors A marked ‘olfactory dualism’ thus prevails, which is interpicted in terms of the personalistic character of Thai socioculture
19 citations
TL;DR: The collapse of the Icelandic Commonwealth was not due to the introduction of Christianity, cultural changes, or Norwegian manipulation, but to the internal contradictions of a stratified society without a state as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: From the ninth century, when the first settlers came, until 1262 when it ceased to exist, the Icelandic Commonwealth was a stratified society without a state. There developed a class of independent householders who appropriated the production of a class of landless people. The householders gained access to land by supporting a class of chieftains who guaranteed their access by force. Each chieftain had to attempt to muster overwhelming force by expansion. This led to a period of conflict that ended when one chieftain was successful in gaining control of the island in the context of Norwegian royal hegemony. The collapse of the Commonwealth was not due to the introduction of Christianity, cultural changes, or Norwegian manipulation, but to the internal contradictions of a stratified society without a state.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an analysis of agricultural relations of production in a Himalayan community is presented, where it is suggested that although people present an idealised picture in which caste and economic position coincide, in reality ownership of means of production depends on control of the labour of others.
Abstract: Anthropological work in South Asia has been dominated by cultural approaches which emphasise pan‐Indian cultural categories. Such cultural categories, particularly those pertaining to caste and kinship, it has been claimed, explain adequately the working and reproduction of caste society. Few anthropologists have considered agrarian and tenurial relationships and their representation or the economic processes which ensue from such relationships. An analysis of agricultural relations of production in a Himalayan community is presented here. It is suggested that although people present an idealised picture in which caste and economic position coincide, in reality ownership of means of production depends on control of the labour of others. Labour relations and processes of economic differentiation are shown to be crucial for the maintenance of caste hierarchy.
7 citations
TL;DR: Geomancy is common in Southeast Asia The imaginative association of disparate spatial and temporal coordinates allows discourses to emerge in which problems that cannot be resolved in the real world may be 'thought' through geomantic images and symbols.
Abstract: Geomancy is common in Southeast Asia The imaginative association of disparate spatial and temporal coordinates allows discourses to emerge in which problems that cannot be resolved in the real world may be ‘thought’ through geomantic images and symbols The Hindu‐Buddhist cosmographies of Southeast Asia form a framework within which the ‘geomancies’ of minority peoples take place By modifying the relations of the real world, or depicting them in a timeless way, geomancy like poetry may allow changes to be experienced at a conceptual level before they are introduced into pragmatic affairs, or act against suck changes being brought about
4 citations
TL;DR: The authors describes the conversational costs of acquiring renown on Tanna, Vanuatu and traces how Nampas, who emerged as a leader of the John Frum movement, made his name by investing in the island's conversational marketplace.
Abstract: “Big men” in different parts of Melanesia achieve political status by various means. However, all big men possess a reputation—a “big name.” Reputations grow or decline as people talk. Big men acquire renown by meeting the costs of the “conversational marketplace,” to use Randall Collins’ term. Some of these costs are systemic, given by the local mode of communication; others are discursive, related to cultural rules for producing authentic talk. This paper describes the conversational costs of acquiring renown on Tanna, Vanuatu. It traces how Nampas, who emerged as a leader of the John Frum movement, made his name by investing in the island's conversational marketplace.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an analytic perspective for class relations based on an encompassing-encompassed model, derived from the work of Dumont, was developed for hill sheep farming in the context of the encompassing British state and the E.C.
Abstract: This paper situates hill sheep farming within the context of the encompassing British state and the E.E.C. and thus within a cultural world dominated by a technological ontology. Through an analysis of co‐operative work activities, it is shown how the use of modern equipment for increased production inflects the class experience of farmers and shepherds as a hermeneutic relation between whole and part. This provides an understanding of the cultural processes—complementing the historical and economic factors— of class domination by locating it in the experiential linkage of farmers with the encompassing E.E.C. Accordingly, this paper develops an analytic perspective for class relations based on an encompassing‐encompassed model, derived from the work of Dumont.
2 citations
TL;DR: Grenhaug as discussed by the authors analyzed Laetadianism as a form of symbolic opposition from the Sami and the Kvens against the Norwegian policy of cultural and economic integration.
Abstract: Laetadianism—the religious revival as it appeared in Northern Norway in the second half of the last century—is analyzed as a form of symbolic opposition (Schwimmer 1972) from the Sami and the Kvens against the Norwegian policy of cultural and economic integration. The expansion of Norwegian administration and economy from the middle of the 19th century, established new status‐sets and fields of interaction within agriculture, school‐system and health service. Events and interaction within each of these fields created circumstances for what took place in the actor's other relationship and this dynamic is thus analysed as implication systems (Grenhaug 1978). All interaction with Norwegian society was built upon Norwegian statuses and values and the Sami and Kvens established a new definition of the situation by reversing the Norwegian standards through the medium of Christianity. Their material poverty was converted into spiritual wealth and thus a different inter‐ethnic context of interaction surfaced. This...
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of approaches to political processes and structures concludes that they are mutually influential and reveal economic, generational, ideological and gender role change in kibbutz politics.
Abstract: A review of approaches to political processes and structures concludes that they are mutually influential. The formal and informal arenas of kibbutz politics are outlined historically, and patterns of participation in politics according to gender, age and social networks identified. Three cases are analysed, showing the interaction of formal and informal political arenas, adept formal political action, and power exercised through gossip. The conclusion reviews process/structure interactions in kibbutz politics and argues that these reveal economic, generational, ideological and gender role change.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Mitchell's concepts of the social setting and the social situation of migration are employed to demonstrate how the economic conditions of peripherality have created the factors, or social setting, promoting extensive out-migration.
Abstract: This paper examines migration from the Isle of Lewis (Scotland). Mitchell's concepts of the social setting and the social situation of migration are employed: first, to demonstrate how the economic conditions of peripherality have created the factors, or social setting, promoting extensive out‐migration. Second, to demonstrate how the particular circumstances, or social situations, of individuals result in a wide range of types and patterns of migration. The historical development of the social setting and the effect of changes in it on migration are briefly examined. A number of career histories are used to illustrate the diversity of migrant responses to the setting. It is argued that this diversity is better understood if the concepts of type and pattern of migration are introduced into the analysis.
1 citations
TL;DR: This article argued that London Armenians are able to recognize each other as sharing an ethnic identity and community membership because they hold in common a set of symbolic constructs through which they can think and talk about being an Armenian.
Abstract: London Armenians commonly complain about each other This paper will argue that this seemingly negative feature is actually the most significant expression of Armenians’ sense of ethnic belonging It affirms their right to make moral claims upon each other in virtue of their shared ethnic identity The communality of London Armenians is not a product of a homogeneity of views or backgrounds Rather, London Armenians are able to recognize each other as sharing an ethnic identity and community membership because they hold in common a set of symbolic constructs through which they can think and talk about being an Armenian These symbols are effective as expressions of a shared ethnic identity because they are sufficiently ambiguous to encompass a variety of interpretations by different Armenians
TL;DR: In this article, Tambiah, in some of the most important essays of this collection, denies any efficiency to the dualistic approaches which contrast thought and action, word and deed, facts and representation.
Abstract: Ritual is the main topic of ‘Culture, Thought and Social Action’. Tambiah, in some of the most important essays of this collection, denies any efficiency to the dualistic approaches which contrast thought and action, word and deed, facts and representation. Marc Auge agrees with such a conception but wonders whether the definition of the sense as cultural and total which Tambiah tries to develop is congruent with the necessity of comparison he claims for in the same time.