Partnering with Pots: The Work of Objects in the Imperial Inca Project

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara L. Bray
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ceramic Assemblage ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Ontological Commitments ◽  
Empire Building ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
Ontological Turn

New developments in the natural sciences are contributing to new thinking on the nature of matter, materiality and being. Such re-visioning of the natural world is, in part, responsible for ‘the ontological turn’, a trend clearly visible in recent archaeological discourse. In combination with evolving relational and symmetrical approaches to investigating the constitution of ‘the social’, the door is open for exploring logics, taxonomies and understandings of reality different from our own in studies of the past. Applying these ideas to the investigation of early imperialism, this paper offers an analysis of a key element in the repertoire of Inca material culture that forwards the importance of human–thing relations in the context of early state politics. Working from the basis of the imperial Inca ceramic assemblage, the study examines how these objects were deployed in the task of empire-building and what insights they provide into Andean ontological commitments during the late pre-Columbian period. An argument is developed that imperial pots were construed as animate beings and agents of the State. The study brings to the fore the mutually constituted nature of the imperial Inca project and suggests new avenues for future research that highlight the matter of early empires.

Agency, Structure and Causality in Political Science: A Comment on Sibeon

Politics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Recent Contribution ◽  
Ontological Commitments ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ontological Turn

Researchers in political science are devoting increasing attention to the ontological commitments of their theories – that is, to what those theories presuppose about the nature of the political world. This article focuses on a recent contribution to this ‘ontological turn’ in political science ( Sibeon, 1999 ). Tensions are identified in Sibeon's account of the causal interplay between agency and social structure. It is argued that these tensions can be resolved by reflecting explicitly on ontological issues, in particular the causal efficacy of social structure, using a particular approach to the philosophy of the social sciences known as critical realism. The value of such reflection for the explanatory power of political analysis is highlighted.

Moche Corporeal Ontologies

2019 ◽  
pp. 116-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Armando Muro ◽  
Luis Jaime Castillo ◽  
Elsa Tomasto-Cagigao
Keyword(s):  
Natural World ◽  
The Body ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Andean Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Northern Peru ◽  
Ontological Turn ◽  
Analytical Category ◽  
Alternative Understanding

The body is an analytical category that has been very little problematized, and even less theorized, in archaeology. This limitation is particularly notorious in Andean archaeology. This chapter resonates with the current discussion of the ontological turn in the discipline and discusses how this paradigm offers new theoretical tools for an alternative understanding of the human body, its boundaries, and the various ways in which it manifests in the natural and social world. By using Viveiros de Castro´s Amerindian Perspectivism, this chapter re-evaluates the archaeological data from the Late Moche (AD 650–850) cemetery of San José de Moro, in northern Peru, and, thus, characterizes a Moche corporeal ontology, under which the body is conceptualized as an ever-changing entity with relational characteristics and transubstantiation properties. This conceptualization echoes the Andean notion of sami or vital essence, which transfigures, transmutes, and exerts significant influences on the social and natural world of Andean people.

scholarly journals Big brains, small worlds: material culture and the evolution of the mind

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1499) ◽  
pp. 1969-1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Coward ◽  
Clive Gamble
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Hominin Evolution ◽  
Extant Primate ◽  
The Mind

New developments in neuroimaging have demonstrated that the basic capacities underpinning human social skills are shared by our closest extant primate relatives. The challenge for archaeologists is to explain how complex human societies evolved from this shared pattern of face-to-face social interaction. We argue that a key process was the gradual incorporation of material culture into social networks over the course of hominin evolution. Here we use three long-term processes in hominin evolution—encephalization, the global human diaspora and sedentism/agriculture—to illustrate how the cultural transmission of material culture allowed the ‘scaling up’ of face-to-face social interactions to the global societies known today. We conclude that future research by neuroimagers and archaeologists will need to investigate the cognitive mechanisms behind human engagement with material culture as well as other persons.

scholarly journals Heritage proximity, attitudes to tourism impacts and residents’ support for heritage tourism in Kaole Site, Tanzania

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (42) ◽  
pp. 163-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Biseko Lwoga
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tourism Impacts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Residents Attitudes

Abstract This study examines determinants of residents’ support for tourism by testing a model based on the social exchange and material culture theories. The model proposes that perceptual heritage proximity influences residents’ attitudes to positive and negative impacts of tourism, which in turn influence residents’ support for tourism. The model was tested using data gathered from a sample of 256 local residents in Kaole Village, Tanzania. Results from structural equation modelling indicate that heritage proximity has an influence on attitudes to the impacts of tourism, which in turn influence support. The findings imply that heritage proximity serves as a point of reference for residents’ evaluation of tourism, which is critical in fostering support. Findings confirm the relevance of the heritage proximity concept in explaining support for tourism. The study provides recommendations to better engage the residents in tourism development. Suggestions for future research are provided.

Current Postvention Research and Priorities for the Future

Crisis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Andriessen ◽  
Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart ◽  
Julie Cerel ◽  
Myfanwy Maple
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Intercultural Collaboration ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Suicide Bereavement ◽  
Ethical Approval

Abstract. Background: Suicide can have a lasting impact on the social life as well as the physical and mental health of the bereaved. Targeted research is needed to better understand the nature of suicide bereavement and the effectiveness of support. Aims: To take stock of ongoing studies, and to inquire about future research priorities regarding suicide bereavement and postvention. Method: In March 2015, an online survey was widely disseminated in the suicidology community. Results: The questionnaire was accessed 77 times, and 22 records were included in the analysis. The respondents provided valuable information regarding current research projects and recommendations for the future. Limitations: Bearing in mind the modest number of replies, all from respondents in Westernized countries, it is not known how representative the findings are. Conclusion: The survey generated three strategies for future postvention research: increase intercultural collaboration, increase theory-driven research, and build bonds between research and practice. Future surveys should include experiences with obtaining research grants and ethical approval for postvention studies.

Entrepreneurial Education - a New Challenge for Universities in Romania

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-68
Author(s):  
Gabriel Croitoru ◽  
Mircea Constantin Duica ◽  
Dorin Claudiu Manolache ◽  
Mihaela Ancuta Banu
Keyword(s):  
Social Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Business Decision ◽  
Entrepreneurial Spirit ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
High Degree

Abstract Entrepreneurial spirit plays an increasingly important role in the economic sphere, and universities are meant to play a central role in this process, where the main objective is the continuous development and mediation of the knowledge increasingly geared to the applications through innovation and patenting a secure platform for employment and well-being growth. The Universities have to take a position in if/and how they want to grow into a so-called “University of Entrepreneurship” which is characterized by a high degree of openness to the surrounding society and here we are talking, especially, about, the business sector in Romania. This evolution of expectations for the social role of universities has resulted from increased and recent interest in entrepreneurship and innovation of areas as research and theory of the business environment. The experience gained as teachers indicates that education and entrepreneurship education should include different theories and methodology than those applied in the usual way. The theory of traditional management and microeconomic models could even be a barrier to new thinking and change and, therefore, to the implementation of modern entrepreneurial actions. We want this article to be a source of inspiration for educational institutions and to have a positive contribution to research in business education and to be applicable in business decision-making.

The Social Neuroscience of Cooperation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Social Neuroscience ◽  
Future Research ◽  
A Value ◽  
Group Cooperation ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cooperative Decision Making

We review literature from several fields to describe common experimental tasks used to measure human cooperation as well as the theoretical models that have been used to characterize cooperative decision-making, as well as brain regions implicated in cooperation. Building on work in neuroeconomics, we suggest a value-based account may provide the most powerful understanding the psychology and neuroscience of group cooperation. We also review the role of individual differences and social context in shaping the mental processes that underlie cooperation and consider gaps in the literature and potential directions for future research on the social neuroscience of cooperation. We suggest that this multi-level approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of the mental and neural processes that underlie the decision to cooperate with others.

Political psychology in the digital (mis)information age: A model of news belief and sharing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Harris ◽  
Philip Pärnamets ◽  
Steve Rathje ◽  
Kimberly Doell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Information Age ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Social

The spread of misinformation, including “fake news,” propaganda, and conspiracy theories, represents a serious threat to society, as it has the potential to alter beliefs, behavior, and policy. Research is beginning to disentangle how and why misinformation is spread and identify processes that contribute to this social problem. We propose an integrative model to understand the social, political, and cognitive psychology risk factors that underlie the spread of misinformation and highlight strategies that might be effective in mitigating this problem. However, the spread of misinformation is a rapidly growing and evolving problem; thus scholars need to identify and test novel solutions, and work with policy makers to evaluate and deploy these solutions. Hence, we provide a roadmap for future research to identify where scholars should invest their energy in order to have the greatest overall impact.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document