Description
Louis Dumont's concept of hierarchy continues to inspire social scientists. Using it as their starting point, the contributors to this volume introduce both fresh empirical material and new theoretical considerations. On the basis of diverse ethnographic contexts in Oceania, Asia, and the Middle East they challenge some current conceptions of hierarchical formations and reassess former debates - of post-colonial and neo-colonial agendas, ideas of "democratization" and "globalization," and expanding market economies - both with regard to new theoretical issues and the new world situation.
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This collection of 11 exciting new essays develops the concept of hierarchy Louis Dumont created in his study of Indian and European societies. They interrogate unique hierarchical formations and societies at the periphery of the Indo-European region where Dumont focused his studies, looking to the Ottoman Empire, Mongolia, SE Asia, Indonesia and Oceania. They challenge the criticism that Dumont's work merely propagated Orientalism and a totalizing essentialist conception of hierarchy, while upholding the merits of his comparative anthropology, and his treatment of individualism and alternatives to its Western form. The contributors are academics and social anthropologists from Europe and the United States, with a third hailing from University of Bergen in Sweden. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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