It is about time: Birthdays as modern rites of temporality

2020 ◽  
pp. 0961463X2095509
Author(s):  
Hizky Shoham
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Industrial Culture ◽  
Individual Institution ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Bureaucracy ◽  
Central Meaning ◽  
Rites Of Initiation ◽  
Anthropological History

What do birthdays mean? Why are they so obligatory for modern people? Based on neo-Durkheimian perspectives on ritual, this article suggests the anthropological history of the western birthday as a key to understand its meaning. The article points at the unique ritual system developed by modern industrial culture, such as birthdays, jubilees, and other anniversaries—designated here as Rites of Temporality—which latch on to the numerical milestones marking the passage of time to which the celebrant (individual, institution, settlement, state, and so forth) is subject. Comparing the birthday with classical rites of initiation then reveals how over and above individualism, consumer culture, state bureaucracy, and historical consciousness, the birthday honors time’s most noticeable markers since the industrial era—numbers—thus objectifying conventionalized time as a central meaning maker for modern people.

The Bar and Bat Mitzvah in the Yishuv and Early Israel: From Initiation Rite to Birthday Party

AJS Review ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hizky Shoham
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Birthday Party ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bat Mitzvah ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Rites Of Initiation ◽  
Anthropological History

This article is an anthropological history of the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony in the Yishuv and Israel of the 1940s and the 1950s, when this ceremony radically grew in terms of the space, time, and economic resources devoted to it, as well as expanded to include girls. To explain that shift, I suggest distinguishing classic rites of initiation from the system of life-cycle ceremonies typical of modern consumer culture, which emphasizes the transition between temporal markers rather than social statuses and imposes no task on the birthday celebrant. The article reconstructs the process by which, during the 1940s and the 1950s, the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony came to function more as an elaborate birthday party than as a rite of initiation. The historical reconstruction demonstrates how, during the late Mandate period and early years of statehood, a new grassroots Israeli culture emerged, shaped by the accommodation of Western consumer culture to Jewish traditions rather than by Zionist ideology or established religion.

Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III as a place of memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (11-1) ◽  
pp. 132-147
Author(s):  
Dmitry Rakovsky
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Museum Collection ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Historical Representations

The main purpose of this article is to study the role of the Russian Museum in the formation of the historical consciousness of Russian society. In this context, the author examines the history of the creation of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III and its pre-revolutionary collections that became the basis of this famous museum collection (in particular, the composition of the museum’s expositions for 1898 and 1915). Within the framework of the methodology proposed by the author, the works of art presented in the museum’s halls were selected and distributed according to the historical eras that they reflect, and a comparative analysis of changes in the composition of the expositions was also carried out. This approach made it possible to identify the most frequently encountered historical heroes, to consider the representation of their images in the museum’s expositions, and also to provide a systemic reconstruction of historical representations broadcast in its halls.

Unexpected Subversions: Modern Colonialism, Globalization, and Commodity Culture

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Burke
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Large Class ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Global Culture ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
Commodity Culture ◽  
Consumer Agency ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
History Of

Scholars studying the history of modern colonialism have been more reluctant to make strongly contrarian claims about consumerism and commodification similar to those made by early modern Europeanists because they are more unsettled by some of the implications of their own studies. Modern consumer culture is strongly mapped to ‘Westernization’ and globalization. There is a very large class of scholarly studies that in some respect or another discuss the association between colonialism and consumption in nineteenth- and twentieth-century global culture. Even constrained to the Western European states that created or extended formal empires in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific after 1860, studies such as Anne McClintock's intricate reading of British commodity culture indicate the extent to which colonial meanings and images were circulating within metropolitan societies. This article discusses modern colonialism, globalization, and commodity culture. It first examines the middle classes, nations, and modernity, and then considers consumer agency in the context of globalization.

scholarly journals Implicações da noção de consciência histórica nas ciências humanas e sociais: um modo de projeção para o futuro e de posição em relação ao passado

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (68) ◽  
pp. 817-843
Author(s):  
Fábio César Junges ◽  
Tiago Anderson Brutti ◽  
Adair Adams
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human And Social Sciences ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Humanities And Social Sciences ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
Siglo Xx

Implicações da noção de consciência histórica nas ciências humanas e sociais: um modo de projeção para o futuro e de posição em relação ao passado Resumo: O presente texto, de caráter bibliográfico, discute o problema da consciência histórica com o objetivo de pensar o sentido dessa expressão na atualidade e as variações que esse conceito adquiriu ao longo da história das Ciências Humanas e Sociais, com ênfase no século XX. A hipótese é que a discussão a respeito da consciência histórica passou a se ocupar, na modernidade, com uma múltipla relatividade de pontos de vista, o que é destacado por Gadamer em sua análise sobre os preceitos implicados na definição do que significa “ter senso histórico”. É defendida a tese, portanto, de que a noção de consciência histórica não se limita ao conhecimento das experiências vivenciadas no passado, mas se apresenta como condição de possibilidade de projetar o futuro e se posicionar em relação ao passado, especialmente no que diz respeito às ciências humanas e sociais. A defesa desta ideia central é realizada por meio de dois gestos reflexivos, com apresentação, primeiramente, do marco teórico da consciência histórica e, posteriormente, de suas implicações na constituição das Ciências Humanas e Sociais. Palavras-chave: Ciências humanas e sociais. Senso histórico. Passado. Futuro. Implications of the notion of historical consciousness in human and social sciences: a mode of projection for the future and position in relation to the past Abstract: This bibliographic text discusses the problem of historical consciousness with the purpose of thinking about the meaning of this expression in the present time and the variations that this concept has acquired throughout the history of the Humanities and Social Sciences, with emphasis on the twentieth century. The hypothesis is that the discussion about historical consciousness has come to concern itself, in modernity, with a multiple relativity of points of view, which is highlighted by Gadamer in his analysis of the precepts involved in defining what “having a historical sense” means. Therefore, the thesis that the notion of historical consciousness is not limited to the knowledge of past experiences is defended, but is presented as a condition of possibility of projecting the future and positioning itself in relation to the past, especially with regard to humanities and social sciences. The defense of this central idea is made through two reflexive gestures, presenting, first, the theoretical framework of historical consciousness and, later, its implications in the constitution of the Human and Social Sciences. Keywords: Human and social sciences. Historical sense. Past. Future. Implicaciones de la noticia de conciencia histórica en las ciencias humanas y sociales: un modo de proyección para el futuro y de posición en relación al pasado Resumen: El presente texto, de carácter bibliográfico, discute el problema de la conciencia histórica con el propósito de pensar sobre el significado de esta expresión en la actualidad y las variaciones que este concepto ha adquirido a lo largo de la historia de las Humanidades y las Ciencias Sociales, con énfasis en el siglo XX. La hipótesis es que la discusión sobre la conciencia histórica ha llegado a ocuparse, en la modernidad, de una relatividad múltiple de puntos de vista, que Gadamer destaca en su análisis de los preceptos involucrados en la definición de lo que significa “tener un sentido histórico”. " Por lo tanto, se defiende la tesis de que la noción de conciencia histórica no se limita al conocimiento de experiencias pasadas, sino que se presenta como una condición de posibilidad de proyectar el futuro y posicionarse en relación con el pasado, especialmente con respecto a humanidades y ciencias sociales. La defensa de esta idea central se realiza a través de dos gestos reflexivos, presentando, primero, el marco teórico de la conciencia histórica y, luego, sus implicaciones en la constitución de las Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. Palabras clave: Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. Sentido histórico. Pasado. Futuro. Data de registro: 28/05/2019 Data de aceite: 24/10/2019

Saving and Spending

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lendol Calder
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Money Management ◽  
Not Given ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Rich

Monetization, which describes the process whereby money became the dominant means of exchange in developing commercial societies, is an economic development whose profound social, political, and cultural consequences are not yet well understood. The monetization of household economic life elevated practices that once affected only the wealthy – Fan Li's ‘golden rules for business success’ – to core competencies of living, mandatory for everyone. Reflecting on the scholarship that has examined saving and spending, this article examines consumption and why historians of consumer culture have not given the financial affairs of consumers the attention the subject deserves. The historical work that has been done, though sparse, amply demonstrates the rich potential of the financial arts for generating significant problem areas for research. Few other subjects in the glittering universe of consumption lead more directly to the largest questions we can ask about desire, virtue, and the construction of the modern self. The article also considers the history of thrift, money management, and financialization.

Early Democracy Was Widespread

2020 ◽  
pp. 29-61
Author(s):  
David Stasavage
Keyword(s):  
Small Scale ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
The Third ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Bureaucracy ◽  
Ancient Mesopotamia

This chapter begins with the democratic history of Athens. It explains how early democracy was more likely to flourish in small-scale settings, in instances where rulers lacked the coercive potential provided by a state bureaucracy, and when rulers found it difficult to monitor economic production and population movements. The chapter draws attention to ancient Mesopotamia during the third and second millennia BCE as one of the oldest examples of early democracy. It mentions the Danish Assyriologist named Thorkild Jacobsen who asserted that governance by assemblies was common in Mesopotamia before centralizing rulers destroyed this pattern. It also discusses debates about the ancient Indian republics that became colored by the colonial context.

Waving the historian’s magic wand: Temporal comparisons and analogies in the writing of history

2020 ◽  
pp. 0961463X2094403
Author(s):  
Javier Fernández-Sebastián
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
Conceptual History ◽  
Magic Wand ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Europe

The main purpose of this article is to raise some questions about temporal comparisons and analogies in the writing of history. The article has four parts. The first one shows that historical discipline, conceptual history and language itself can scarcely be conceived of in the absence of comparisons, implicit or explicit, between events, processes and individuals. The second section provides a few samples of the sources of inspiration of some recurrent temporal parallelisms in the Western tradition. The third identifies two key moments in the history of modern Europe when temporal analogies assumed particular importance. These two periods – two turns of the century (16th century and 18th century) – correspond to transitional phases between successive stages in the development of Western historical consciousness. The article ends with a brief reflection on the usefulness and limits of temporal analogies in the writing of history.

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