Discussant

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexei Vranich
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Human Perception ◽  
Cultural Narrative ◽  
Archaic States ◽  
Inherent Part

The discussion chapter contextualizes the essays in this volume on the scholarship of ritual and archaic states. It highlights the importance of ritual as an inherent part of a cultural narrative in past and present societies alike, and how, by studying ritual and its relationship to cultural practices and social organization, we can better understand diverse social groups. The review of the chapters stresses how the authors provide a variety of methodological and interpretive tools. These include the cautious use of ethnographic and ethnohistorical analogy, phenomenological recreations–based universals of human perception and movement, and minute analysis of the discards of ritual and performances, from trash to valued items placed with the deceased.

Ashantis in Warsaw: Notions of “Blackness” in Polish Society at the Turn of the 20th Century – A Preparatory Contribution to Polish Colonial History

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Łuksza
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Polish Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century

The author recognizes Włodzimierz Perzyński’s comedy Aszantka as a meaningful remnant of „blackness” in the history of Polish theatre, and therefore she uses it as a point of entrance into a broader inquiry about the entanglement of Polish society into European colonial project, and the ideas, values, and cultural practices it entailed. That is why in the article the author attempts to reconstruct possible concepts and images of “blackness” which Warsaw dwellers might have shared at the end of the 19th century by analysing the reception of the performances of alleged representatives of Ashanti people in the Warsaw circus in 1888. From “Ashanti” performances on, the popularity of this type of entertainment – so called ethnographic shows or human zoos – grew in the colonized capital of the Kingdom of Poland. The author points to “savageness” and “nakedness” as constitutive traits of “blackness” which she understands as a specific human condition, experienced both by overseas colonized societies as well as subaltern social groups (to which “Aszantka” from Perzyński’s comedy belonged) in European societies.

Representation

2018 ◽  
pp. 253-298
Author(s):  
Tonio Hölscher
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Community Life ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Fundamental Categories

Regarding the role of images in social life, three fundamental categories are to be distinguished: representation, decor, and objects of discourses. Representation was a major aim, because ancient societies consisted not only of their living members but also of two other social groups, their dead ancestors and their gods and heroes. Community life developed in interactions, through rituals and other cultural practices, between these social partners, of which those that were, in fact, absent could be made present by images within the society’s living spaces. Specific groups of images, such as cult statues, votive images, athletes’ statues, and honorary portraits, had their specific places, in sanctuaries, public spaces, and necropolises, where they were dealt with according to specific rules of “living with images.”

Elliptical Analysis: An Heuristic Technique for the Analysis of Artifact Clusters

1976 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert A. Dekin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Archaeological Method And Theory ◽  
Heuristic Technique ◽  
Archaeological Method ◽  
Arctic Archaeology

Perhaps the most neglected aspect of archaeological research in the Arctic has been the within-site dimension of archaeological data. Few archaeologists have “attempted to see their material as remains left by social groups” (Anderson 1968:397) and fewer still have attempted to infer patterns of social organization and the within-site organization of activities. One measure of the degree to which Arctic archaeologists have failed to contribute to contemporary archaeological method and theory is the fact that the 37-page bibliography of Contemporary Archaeology: A Guide to Theory and Contributions recently edited by Mark Leone (1972) contains not one reference to Arctic archaeology. In part, this is because much of the contents of this collection of papers considers data from the southwestern United States and Mesoamerica, but it also demonstrates that Arctic archaeologists have contributed little to discussions of archaeological method and theory.In a recent chapter on the development of Arctic archaeology (Dekin 1973), I expressed optimism regarding the potential theoretical contributions of archaeology in the Arctic, but this will not occur without a renewed emphasis on precise excavation, analytic sophistication, and a revitalized sense of “problem.”

Evidence for Population Aggregation and Dispersal during the Basketmaker III Period in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. Wills ◽  
Thomas C. Windes
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Great Part ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Social Unit ◽  
Population Aggregation ◽  
Basketmaker Iii

The appearance of pithouse settlements in the American Southwest that have multihabitation structures has been considered evidence for the emergence of "village" social organization. The interpretation that village systems are reflected in pithouse architecture rests in great part on the assumption that large sites correspond to large, temporally stable social groups. In this article we examine one of the best known pithouse settlements in the Southwest—Shabik’eschee Village in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico—and argue that the site may represent episodic aggregation of local groups rather than a sedentary occupation by a single coherent social unit.

scholarly journals Az információtechnológia civilizációs pályája: mérés és osztályozás

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Ian Morris,
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The West ◽  
Energy Capture ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Ian Morris a társadalmi fejlődés (social development) fogalmával az emberi közösségek képességét fejezi ki „dolgok elintézésére” a világban. Az így értelmezett társadalmi fejlettség mérhető és összehasonlító állapotokat jelent, térben és időben. Morris 4 tényező (az energiafelhasználás, a társadalmi szerveződés, az információtechnológia és a hadviselő kapacitás) kvantifikálásával megszerkesztett indexét kifejtő könyvéből az információtechnológiára vonatkozó, a többihez hasonlóan a Kelet és a Nyugat összehasonlítására épülő fejezetet fordítottuk le. Úttörő okfejtései és becslései remek kiindulópontok, hogy újraértékeljük és alaposan végiggondoljuk az információtechnológia helyét és „küldetését” a beavatkozásképesség, a cselekvési hatékonyság szempontjából. A tanulmányt Z. Karvalics László bevezetésével közöljük. --- The civilization path of information technology: measurement and classification Ian Morris defines social development as “social groups’ abilities to master their physical and intellectual environments and get things done in the world”. From this approach, “social development is - in principle - something we can measure and compare through time and space”. The Social Development Index of Morris is based on the quantifiable attributes of four pillars: energy capture, social organization, information technology, war-making capacity, comparing the numbers of the West and the East. We have translated and published the information technology chapter of his book with Laszlo Z. Karvalics’ introduction to support the re-evaluation of the role and mission of information technology throughout the ages from a special point of view: to facilitate the ability to act effectively.

scholarly journals ARISTOCRACY AND POPULAR ENGAGEMENT IN REPUBLICAN ROMAN POLITICS

1969 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 364-383
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cruz Moreira
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Popular Engagement ◽  
Made In ◽  
Patronage System ◽  
Res Publica

One of the recurrent themes in contemporary historiography on political and social organization of roman state resides on the participation or not of the population in decisions made in the different assemblies of roman citizens. Some of the discrepancies arise from the Roman citizens’ sovereignty in these elections and the role of aristocracy in controlling these decisions, either through patronage system or by the assemblies’ modus operandi themselves.  The answer to these questions involves analyzing the place of aristocracy and plebs in this system, as well as the knowledge on the traditions system that ruled the res publica. This article aims at reflecting about the participation of the different social groups in Roman political process, by analyzing the political process and its traditions.

scholarly journals Mobilność artefaktów protestu. Maska Guya Fawkesa w cyklu kontestacji 2008–2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 83-97
Author(s):  
Bartosz Ślosarski
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
The World ◽  
The Given

The mobility of protest artifacts: The Guy Fawkes mask in the cycle of contestation in the years 2008–2017The aim of the article is to present the process of protest artifacts’ mobility using the example of the social biography of Guy Fawkes’ mask. The applied theoretical approach is based on a three-ele­ment concept of the social biography of the artifact which includes transformations in the field of cultural practices what is done with an object, industrialization of an object how and by whom it is made, and the change and acquisition of new meanings by the given artifact in which cultural contexts it is located. The example of the Guy Fawkes mask, as well as masking policy in general, is considered in the context of protests against ACTA in Poland and the other events in the world from the 2008–2017 contestation cycle. The mask leads its own social life, being active and mobile, both in the spaces in which it occurs, social groups that use it and what they do with it, and the forms that it takes.

scholarly journals Cambios y permanencias en la identidad de los Wayuu (Venezuela 1830-1850).

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 171-187
Author(s):  
Carmen Laura Paz
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Economic Diversity ◽  
Short Fragment ◽  
Language Laws

Short fragment (description): Since the early times Wayuu Indians incorporated into their way of life new cultural elements that allowed them to recreate the influences of other social groups. Meanwhile they preserved values and customs that reinforced their identity such as language, laws, Cosmo vision, customs, and territory.This study allows us to identify various factors that contributed to the survival and vitality of this social group such as social organization, economic diversity, legal legitimization and connection to land. Short fragment adapted and translated by Michal Gilewski

Violence and Personhood in Ancient Israel and Comparative Contexts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Lemos
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Western World ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Right

How should the human body be treated? Should bodies be slaughtered, starved, tortured, sold, and shot in the streets? Whose bodies should be treated in these ways and whose protected from harm? Who has the right to seek redress in cases of abuse and who is seen as fit for dehumanization? This book addresses these very questions, examining materials from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, ancient Near Eastern literature, and contemporary American society. In the first book-length work on personhood in ancient Israel, the author reveals widespread intersections between violence and personhood in both this society and the wider region. Relations of domination and subordination were so important to the culture and social organization of ancient Israel that these relations too often determined the boundaries of personhood itself. Rather than being fixed, personhood was malleable—it could be and was violently erased in many social contexts. The book exposes a violence–personhood–masculinity nexus in which domination allowed those in control to animalize and brutalize the bodies of subordinates. Perhaps even more noteworthy, the author argues that in particular social contexts in the contemporary “Western” world, this same nexus operates, holding devastating consequences for particular social groups. If the violence of Abu Ghraib calls to mind that of Ashurbanipal, this is no accident but is instead because both arise from of a certain construction of personhood that could not exist without violence.

Practical Cosmologies

Ethnologies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-92
Author(s):  
Götz Hoeppe
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
South India ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Western Science ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Time Space ◽  
The Social

For much of the 20thcentury, indigenous cosmologies, understood as the totalizing worldviews of delimited social groups, were one of ethnology’s central topics. In the last few decades, however, the concept of cosmology no longer sat well with many ethnologists’ wariness of identifying social wholes as analytic units and with accepting correspondences of social organization with orders of time, space, and color, among others. Recently, Allen Abramson and Martin Holbraad, in their 2014 bookFraming Cosmologies, called for a “second wind” of anthropologists’ attention to cosmologies, now including popular understandings of Western science. While endorsing this broadened attention to cosmology and the uses of analyst’s perspectives, I call for remaining attentive to the practical uses of cosmologies by the actors that ethnographers learn from. This entails attending to the social accountabilities and organizational contexts that constrain how people act. I seek to illustrate this by drawing on ethnographies of fishers in south India as well as of astrophysicists in Germany.

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