Showing papers on "Westernization published in 1977"
TL;DR: This article argued that the concepts of "sanskritization" and "social mobility" are irrelevant as employed in regard to the associations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and that their uncritical application forces upon historical material interpretations at variance with empirical evidence.
Abstract: Anthropologists have looked at caste associational activities at the turn of the century in terms of the concepts of "sanskritization" and "social mobility," while seeing post-Independence ascriptive-constituency associations devoted to "secular" or "western" interests and postulating a sequential, evolutionary development from "sanskritization" to "westernization" to account for the difference. This essay examines these three concepts and argues not only that they are irrelevant as employed in regard to the associations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but also that the concepts themselves are faulty and that their uncritical application forces upon historical material interpretations at variance with empirical evidence. The use of such culturally-specific terms as "sanskritization" further mitigates against possibly fruitful lines of comparative inquiry and analysis by implying that the phenomena to which reference is made are uniquely and solely Indian.
21 citations
TL;DR: In contemporary Western medicine there remain contradictions between therapeutics and the scientific study of disease, and in the West and elsewhere there remain a variety of medical sub-cultures.
16 citations
TL;DR: In some countries, such as the Maghreb, change started early and has been going on ever since; in others, like the Gulf States and Oman, it has only just begun.
Abstract: Change in the contemporary Middle East is ubiquitous and often rapid and pervasive (87, 171, 212). In some countries, such as Israel (73, 159), Lebanon (109, 172), Egypt and some regions of the Maghreb, change started early and has been going on ever since; in others such as the Gulf States and Oman (121, 181), it has only just begun. But as some studies of remote areas indicate, the winds of change have by now penetrated even the more outlying, isolated communities (e.g. 146, 147; see also 34, 79). The process blurs the traditional boundaries between the component pieces of the Middle Eastern "mosaic of people" (50, p. 2); but the mosaic does not disappear; new and larger pieces are formed and imposed upon the older ones as new boundaries are forged and older ones reassert themselves in new disguises (114, p. 308-309). Change is not a unidirectional homogenizing process of "modernization" or "Westernization." There is little doubt that the announcement of the "Passing of Traditional Society" (142) was vastly premature. How deep reaching is that change? Does it actually transform Middle Eastern societies and communities, or are their basic features resilient to the forces of change? Is the process of change essentially the same throughout the 'region, or can one distinguish different kinds of processes and different types of communal response to them? To what are the differences related? Anthropologists of an older generation were chiefly concerned with the description and analysis of the transmitted, traditional traits of Middle Eastern societies [e.g. 143; 210, Vol. 1; see also Hart's review of French anthropology in Appendix III of Antoun's work (9)]. Among the new generation,
12 citations
6 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1977
TL;DR: The authors examines the impact of oil and oil wealth on the Gulf states and describes the clash between traditional culture and Westernisation and explodes some of the Western myths about social and economic development in the area.
Abstract: The discovery of oil brought enormous change to the Gulf. It transformed the simple fishing and grazing economies of the Gulf states into some of the wealthiest countries in the world. This book, first published in 1977, examines the impact of oil and oil wealth on the Gulf states. It describes the clash between traditional culture and Westernisation and explodes some of the Western myths about social and economic development in the area. It covers both economic change and progress in education, social welfare, urbanisation and industrial diversification. A unique collection of photographs accompanies the authoritative text.
5 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that if western oriented elites moved info Africa's elite vacuums, modernization can develop in the direction of Western type value-norm orientations, and the question is whether social change implies a variation of existing realities or a substitution of existing reality by something radically different.
Abstract: Social change is discussed in the context of modernization and westernization. The question is asked whether social change implies a variation of existing realities or a substitution of existing realities by something radically different. Are modernization and westernization synonymous? These questions are analysed with specific reference to certain non-white groups in South Africa. It is argued that if western oriented elites moved info Africa's elite vacuums, modernization can develop in the direction of Western type value-norm orientations.
4 citations