Roger Bagnall
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562596
- eISBN:
- 9780191721458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562596.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter discusses the criteria of definition of urban communities in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, the non-agricultural character of the regional capitals, rates of urbanization in relation to ...
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This chapter discusses the criteria of definition of urban communities in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, the non-agricultural character of the regional capitals, rates of urbanization in relation to estimates of total population and growth over time. It suggests possible reasons for the fact that Roman Egypt had a greater number of larger urban centres and larger villages than Roman Italy.Less
This chapter discusses the criteria of definition of urban communities in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, the non-agricultural character of the regional capitals, rates of urbanization in relation to estimates of total population and growth over time. It suggests possible reasons for the fact that Roman Egypt had a greater number of larger urban centres and larger villages than Roman Italy.
You‐tien Hsing
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199568048
- eISBN:
- 9780191721632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199568048.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
Chapter 5 turns to the villages located at the urban fringe that have actually benefited from urban expansion, and looks at the nonconfrontational form of social mobilization in ...
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Chapter 5 turns to the villages located at the urban fringe that have actually benefited from urban expansion, and looks at the nonconfrontational form of social mobilization in those sites. Rapid urban expansion since the 1980s has turned many “villages by the city” into “villages in the city” and has transformed villagers from vegetable farmers to rentiers, taking advantage of immigrant‐fuelled rental housing markets. These “corporatist villages,” as the author terms them, are most successful in the southern metropolises of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Corporatist villages are able to enjoy relative territorial autonomy under the expansionist regime of the metropolitan government because of their skills in bargaining with the local state, their strategic location, recollectivization of the village economy, and reinforcement of village identity. These southern “villages in the city” thus represent a successful case of territorialization.Less
Chapter 5 turns to the villages located at the urban fringe that have actually benefited from urban expansion, and looks at the nonconfrontational form of social mobilization in those sites. Rapid urban expansion since the 1980s has turned many “villages by the city” into “villages in the city” and has transformed villagers from vegetable farmers to rentiers, taking advantage of immigrant‐fuelled rental housing markets. These “corporatist villages,” as the author terms them, are most successful in the southern metropolises of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Corporatist villages are able to enjoy relative territorial autonomy under the expansionist regime of the metropolitan government because of their skills in bargaining with the local state, their strategic location, recollectivization of the village economy, and reinforcement of village identity. These southern “villages in the city” thus represent a successful case of territorialization.
You‐tien Hsing
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199568048
- eISBN:
- 9780191721632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199568048.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
Chapter 6 moves to the third type of place examined in this book, the rural edge of the metropolitan region, where the influence of the metropolitan government gives way to ...
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Chapter 6 moves to the third type of place examined in this book, the rural edge of the metropolitan region, where the influence of the metropolitan government gives way to low‐ranking township governments exercising informal power over rural land. Acting as power and property brokers between the state bureaucracy and peasants, township leaders try to avoid scrutiny from above while intensifying downward control over village land to develop illegal industrial, commercial, and residential projects. Townships' power and property brokerage is exemplified by their issuing of homeownership certificates that attract buyers of affordable homes but are not recognized by the state. Townships' limited formal power is secured through construction projects and expanded through the operation of the black market for property.Less
Chapter 6 moves to the third type of place examined in this book, the rural edge of the metropolitan region, where the influence of the metropolitan government gives way to low‐ranking township governments exercising informal power over rural land. Acting as power and property brokers between the state bureaucracy and peasants, township leaders try to avoid scrutiny from above while intensifying downward control over village land to develop illegal industrial, commercial, and residential projects. Townships' power and property brokerage is exemplified by their issuing of homeownership certificates that attract buyers of affordable homes but are not recognized by the state. Townships' limited formal power is secured through construction projects and expanded through the operation of the black market for property.
You‐tien Hsing
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199568048
- eISBN:
- 9780191721632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199568048.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
Chapter 7 looks at peasants who lost their land to urban expansion in the last three decades. It seeks a territorial explanation for the gap between the magnitude of peasants' ...
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Chapter 7 looks at peasants who lost their land to urban expansion in the last three decades. It seeks a territorial explanation for the gap between the magnitude of peasants' grievances and the low frequency of protests on the one hand, and peasant's mobilizational capacity on the other. It argues that the mobilizational capacity of peasants is undermined by the snowballing effect of forced relocation. Forced relocation often leads to the deterioration of villagers' household financial status, disintegration of village organization, and rupture of collective identity, all of which contribute to village deterritorialization. More specifically, relocation produces deterritorialization through nebulous compensation negotiations that undermine mutual trust within villages, phased demolition and relocation that gradually destroy the physical environment and village solidarity, and switching peasants' status from members of village collectives to urban residents, thereby splitting villagers' interests. These moves weaken villagers' potential for successful collective action.Less
Chapter 7 looks at peasants who lost their land to urban expansion in the last three decades. It seeks a territorial explanation for the gap between the magnitude of peasants' grievances and the low frequency of protests on the one hand, and peasant's mobilizational capacity on the other. It argues that the mobilizational capacity of peasants is undermined by the snowballing effect of forced relocation. Forced relocation often leads to the deterioration of villagers' household financial status, disintegration of village organization, and rupture of collective identity, all of which contribute to village deterritorialization. More specifically, relocation produces deterritorialization through nebulous compensation negotiations that undermine mutual trust within villages, phased demolition and relocation that gradually destroy the physical environment and village solidarity, and switching peasants' status from members of village collectives to urban residents, thereby splitting villagers' interests. These moves weaken villagers' potential for successful collective action.
Andrew Moutu
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197264454
- eISBN:
- 9780191760501
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264454.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter provides a general sense of the geography and economic livelihood, as well as an example of the sorts of (clan) relationships that prevail, in Iatmul villages. Topics discussed include ...
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This chapter provides a general sense of the geography and economic livelihood, as well as an example of the sorts of (clan) relationships that prevail, in Iatmul villages. Topics discussed include canoes and the riverine economy; the physical geography of the Sepik River basin; and the Kanganamun village. The chapter concludes with some remarks about the nature of research methods and the kinds of problems the author encountered in the gathering of ethnographic information.Less
This chapter provides a general sense of the geography and economic livelihood, as well as an example of the sorts of (clan) relationships that prevail, in Iatmul villages. Topics discussed include canoes and the riverine economy; the physical geography of the Sepik River basin; and the Kanganamun village. The chapter concludes with some remarks about the nature of research methods and the kinds of problems the author encountered in the gathering of ethnographic information.
Khun Eng Kuah-Pearce
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888028818
- eISBN:
- 9789882207332
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028818.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This work illustrates the relationship between one group of Singaporean Chinese and their ancestral village in Fujian, China. It explores the reasons why the Singaporean Chinese continue to maintain ...
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This work illustrates the relationship between one group of Singaporean Chinese and their ancestral village in Fujian, China. It explores the reasons why the Singaporean Chinese continue to maintain ties with their ancestral village and how they reproduce Chinese culture through ancestor worship and religion in the ancestral village. In some cases, the Singaporeans feel morally obliged to assist in village reconstruction and infrastructure developments such as new roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals. Others help with small-scale industrial and retail activities. Meanwhile, officials and villagers in the ancestral home utilize various strategies to encourage the Singaporeans to revisit their ancestral village, sustain heritage ties, and help enhance the moral economy. This ethnographic study examines two geographically distinct groups of Chinese coming together to re-establish their lineage and identity through cultural and economic activities.Less
This work illustrates the relationship between one group of Singaporean Chinese and their ancestral village in Fujian, China. It explores the reasons why the Singaporean Chinese continue to maintain ties with their ancestral village and how they reproduce Chinese culture through ancestor worship and religion in the ancestral village. In some cases, the Singaporeans feel morally obliged to assist in village reconstruction and infrastructure developments such as new roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals. Others help with small-scale industrial and retail activities. Meanwhile, officials and villagers in the ancestral home utilize various strategies to encourage the Singaporeans to revisit their ancestral village, sustain heritage ties, and help enhance the moral economy. This ethnographic study examines two geographically distinct groups of Chinese coming together to re-establish their lineage and identity through cultural and economic activities.
Philip V. Bohlman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195178326
- eISBN:
- 9780199869992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195178326.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
This chapter is the first of several in the first section of the book (“Places of Jewish Music”) that locate Jewish music on the landscapes of European modernity. Rather than treating the village as ...
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This chapter is the first of several in the first section of the book (“Places of Jewish Music”) that locate Jewish music on the landscapes of European modernity. Rather than treating the village as an isolated place, in which folk music was limited only to Jews, the chapter reveals processes of change and transition. Jewish folk music facilitated and was the product of border crossing, particularly from a concern with the mythical past and to an historical engagement with the present. Jewish folk music practices and repertories were vastly different across Europe, weaving vernacular languages and myths together, while conveying distinctive cultural identities. The chapter includes numerous case studies of Jewish villages in the German Rhineland, on the borders of France, Germany, and Switzerland, and in rural Moravia and Romania. The “Seven Holy Cities” (sheva kehillot) of Burgenland, border region shared by Austria and Hungary, provide at rich set of specific case studies.Less
This chapter is the first of several in the first section of the book (“Places of Jewish Music”) that locate Jewish music on the landscapes of European modernity. Rather than treating the village as an isolated place, in which folk music was limited only to Jews, the chapter reveals processes of change and transition. Jewish folk music facilitated and was the product of border crossing, particularly from a concern with the mythical past and to an historical engagement with the present. Jewish folk music practices and repertories were vastly different across Europe, weaving vernacular languages and myths together, while conveying distinctive cultural identities. The chapter includes numerous case studies of Jewish villages in the German Rhineland, on the borders of France, Germany, and Switzerland, and in rural Moravia and Romania. The “Seven Holy Cities” (sheva kehillot) of Burgenland, border region shared by Austria and Hungary, provide at rich set of specific case studies.
Dilip Chakrabarti
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198064121
- eISBN:
- 9780199080519
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198064121.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
The increased pace of archaeological research in recent decades has provided a connected account of the history of prehistoric and early historic India primarily on the basis of archaeology. This ...
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The increased pace of archaeological research in recent decades has provided a connected account of the history of prehistoric and early historic India primarily on the basis of archaeology. This book charts the flow of India's grassroots archaeological history in all its continuities and diversities from its Palaeolithic beginnings to ad 300 when early historic India assumed its basic form. Beginning with the first stone tools in the subcontinent, the book weaves India's archaeological history in all the areas and multiple strands of development till the early historic foundations. It also discusses the basic significance of Indian prehistoric studies, the variegated pattern of the beginning of village life, various issues related to Indus civilization and how the transition to, and consolidation of, the early historical India took place. The historical development of human–natural resource interaction in the subcontinent is also reconstructed in a lucid style.Less
The increased pace of archaeological research in recent decades has provided a connected account of the history of prehistoric and early historic India primarily on the basis of archaeology. This book charts the flow of India's grassroots archaeological history in all its continuities and diversities from its Palaeolithic beginnings to ad 300 when early historic India assumed its basic form. Beginning with the first stone tools in the subcontinent, the book weaves India's archaeological history in all the areas and multiple strands of development till the early historic foundations. It also discusses the basic significance of Indian prehistoric studies, the variegated pattern of the beginning of village life, various issues related to Indus civilization and how the transition to, and consolidation of, the early historical India took place. The historical development of human–natural resource interaction in the subcontinent is also reconstructed in a lucid style.
Andrew Moutu
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197264454
- eISBN:
- 9780191760501
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264454.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on two types of house within an Iatmul village: ngeko (the ceremonial men's house) and ngeio (the dwelling or residential house). The kinds of relationships and activities that ...
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This chapter focuses on two types of house within an Iatmul village: ngeko (the ceremonial men's house) and ngeio (the dwelling or residential house). The kinds of relationships and activities that revolve around these two types of house provide not only a picture of social life but also illustrate different spheres of ownership which are concomitantly associated with each of these two types of house. There is also an interesting gender dimension to these two architectural forms, which is brought into clear relief. The chapter begins with the organisational form of Iatmul moiety systems.Less
This chapter focuses on two types of house within an Iatmul village: ngeko (the ceremonial men's house) and ngeio (the dwelling or residential house). The kinds of relationships and activities that revolve around these two types of house provide not only a picture of social life but also illustrate different spheres of ownership which are concomitantly associated with each of these two types of house. There is also an interesting gender dimension to these two architectural forms, which is brought into clear relief. The chapter begins with the organisational form of Iatmul moiety systems.
Adam T. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691163239
- eISBN:
- 9781400866502
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163239.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This book investigates the essential role that material culture plays in the practices and maintenance of political sovereignty. Through an archaeological exploration of the Bronze Age Caucasus, the ...
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This book investigates the essential role that material culture plays in the practices and maintenance of political sovereignty. Through an archaeological exploration of the Bronze Age Caucasus, the book demonstrates that beyond assemblies of people, polities are just as importantly assemblages of things—from ballots and bullets to crowns, regalia, and licenses. The book looks at the ways that these assemblages help to forge cohesive publics, separate sovereigns from a wider social mass, and formalize governance—and it considers how these developments continue to shape politics today. The book shows that the formation of polities is as much about the process of manufacturing assemblages as it is about disciplining subjects, and that these material objects or “machines” sustain communities, orders, and institutions. The sensibilities, senses, and sentiments connecting people to things enabled political authority during the Bronze Age and fortifies political power even in the contemporary world. The book provides a detailed account of the transformation of communities in the Caucasus, from small-scale early Bronze Age villages committed to egalitarianism, to Late Bronze Age polities predicated on radical inequality, organized violence, and a centralized apparatus of rule. From Bronze Age traditions of mortuary ritual and divination to current controversies over flag pins and Predator drones, this book sheds new light on how material goods authorize and defend political order.Less
This book investigates the essential role that material culture plays in the practices and maintenance of political sovereignty. Through an archaeological exploration of the Bronze Age Caucasus, the book demonstrates that beyond assemblies of people, polities are just as importantly assemblages of things—from ballots and bullets to crowns, regalia, and licenses. The book looks at the ways that these assemblages help to forge cohesive publics, separate sovereigns from a wider social mass, and formalize governance—and it considers how these developments continue to shape politics today. The book shows that the formation of polities is as much about the process of manufacturing assemblages as it is about disciplining subjects, and that these material objects or “machines” sustain communities, orders, and institutions. The sensibilities, senses, and sentiments connecting people to things enabled political authority during the Bronze Age and fortifies political power even in the contemporary world. The book provides a detailed account of the transformation of communities in the Caucasus, from small-scale early Bronze Age villages committed to egalitarianism, to Late Bronze Age polities predicated on radical inequality, organized violence, and a centralized apparatus of rule. From Bronze Age traditions of mortuary ritual and divination to current controversies over flag pins and Predator drones, this book sheds new light on how material goods authorize and defend political order.
Bas van Bavel
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199278664
- eISBN:
- 9780191707032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278664.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
Each region received its specific social organization during the process of occupation in the early and high Middle Ages. This chapter discusses the social distribution of power and property, and ...
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Each region received its specific social organization during the process of occupation in the early and high Middle Ages. This chapter discusses the social distribution of power and property, and shows the long‐term effects of these regional structures. In the infertile regions, small‐scale landowners remained well‐entrenched, but the fertile regions occupied in the Frankish period saw the build‐up of large‐scale properties of the king and religious institutions. These large properties were often organized by way of manors. The chapter analyses the causes of the rise of manorial organization and its decline in the 12th to 14th centuries. The coastal regions only opened up in the high Middle Ages, like coastal Flanders and Holland, did not see the spread of manorialism at all; they were characterized by the freedom of the population and the ample scope for self‐determination. Ordinary peasants and townsmen organized themselves in villages, towns, guilds, commons, and other associations. Their rise was probably helped by the dissolution of central power, and the rise of competing authorities like princes and banal lords.Less
Each region received its specific social organization during the process of occupation in the early and high Middle Ages. This chapter discusses the social distribution of power and property, and shows the long‐term effects of these regional structures. In the infertile regions, small‐scale landowners remained well‐entrenched, but the fertile regions occupied in the Frankish period saw the build‐up of large‐scale properties of the king and religious institutions. These large properties were often organized by way of manors. The chapter analyses the causes of the rise of manorial organization and its decline in the 12th to 14th centuries. The coastal regions only opened up in the high Middle Ages, like coastal Flanders and Holland, did not see the spread of manorialism at all; they were characterized by the freedom of the population and the ample scope for self‐determination. Ordinary peasants and townsmen organized themselves in villages, towns, guilds, commons, and other associations. Their rise was probably helped by the dissolution of central power, and the rise of competing authorities like princes and banal lords.
M.N. Srinivas
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077459
- eISBN:
- 9780199081165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077459.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
The first section of this chapter describes the Bullock House and its inhabitants. The headman set aside for the author and his companion three rooms in the Bullock House, one of the five houses he ...
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The first section of this chapter describes the Bullock House and its inhabitants. The headman set aside for the author and his companion three rooms in the Bullock House, one of the five houses he owned in Rampura. The second section describes the author's experience as a tenant, taking notes of its peculiarities, different from urban settings. Except the richest villagers, and the Brahmins and Lingayats, the others took their bath in the central courtyard. The third section describes how he tried to win friends in the village. The fourth section takes into account Putte Gowda's suggestion to move around the village and not settle with the opinions of a few people. The fifth section describes the villagers' curiosity. The next two sections describe the anthropologist as a Brahmin, as a respected outsider. The last section describes his failures as a fieldworker.Less
The first section of this chapter describes the Bullock House and its inhabitants. The headman set aside for the author and his companion three rooms in the Bullock House, one of the five houses he owned in Rampura. The second section describes the author's experience as a tenant, taking notes of its peculiarities, different from urban settings. Except the richest villagers, and the Brahmins and Lingayats, the others took their bath in the central courtyard. The third section describes how he tried to win friends in the village. The fourth section takes into account Putte Gowda's suggestion to move around the village and not settle with the opinions of a few people. The fifth section describes the villagers' curiosity. The next two sections describe the anthropologist as a Brahmin, as a respected outsider. The last section describes his failures as a fieldworker.
M.N. Srinivas
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077459
- eISBN:
- 9780199081165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077459.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
Looking back upon the author's field experience, he notes that three individuals, the headman of Rampura, Kulle Gowda and Nadu Gowda, contributed significantly to his understanding of village life ...
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Looking back upon the author's field experience, he notes that three individuals, the headman of Rampura, Kulle Gowda and Nadu Gowda, contributed significantly to his understanding of village life and culture. The three men, each in his own way, taught the author a great deal about village life, and he saw the village principally through them and their activities. Two of the three, the headman and Nadu Gowda, were rich and powerful while the third, Kulle Gowda, was neither. But all three left an indelible impression upon him, and even after twenty-six years since he first set foot in Rampura, he could not think of the village without simultaneously thinking of those three men, each so different from the other.Less
Looking back upon the author's field experience, he notes that three individuals, the headman of Rampura, Kulle Gowda and Nadu Gowda, contributed significantly to his understanding of village life and culture. The three men, each in his own way, taught the author a great deal about village life, and he saw the village principally through them and their activities. Two of the three, the headman and Nadu Gowda, were rich and powerful while the third, Kulle Gowda, was neither. But all three left an indelible impression upon him, and even after twenty-six years since he first set foot in Rampura, he could not think of the village without simultaneously thinking of those three men, each so different from the other.
Kenneth H. Craik
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195330922
- eISBN:
- 9780199868292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195330922.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter examines the structure and membership of a person’s reputational network, including its size, density, and patterning. It sketches the life-span dynamics of reputational networks, with ...
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This chapter examines the structure and membership of a person’s reputational network, including its size, density, and patterning. It sketches the life-span dynamics of reputational networks, with some members being recruited to it as others depart. On the one hand, compared to the global population, the membership of any person’s reputational network is relatively small and interrelated; from this network perspective, “it’s a small village.” On the other hand, reputational information courses through certain network bridges that link together and expand a person’s potential network through relatively isolated ties to others, generating the capacity for rapid, widespread, and often untraceable reputational information flow. In this sense, a possibly global scale of fame appears to be perhaps not too unattainable; thus, from this network perspective, “it’s a small world.”Less
This chapter examines the structure and membership of a person’s reputational network, including its size, density, and patterning. It sketches the life-span dynamics of reputational networks, with some members being recruited to it as others depart. On the one hand, compared to the global population, the membership of any person’s reputational network is relatively small and interrelated; from this network perspective, “it’s a small village.” On the other hand, reputational information courses through certain network bridges that link together and expand a person’s potential network through relatively isolated ties to others, generating the capacity for rapid, widespread, and often untraceable reputational information flow. In this sense, a possibly global scale of fame appears to be perhaps not too unattainable; thus, from this network perspective, “it’s a small world.”
Edward Ricketts
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247048
- eISBN:
- 9780520932661
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247048.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897–1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ...
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Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897–1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ahead of his time, Ricketts was a scientist who worked in passionate collaboration with many of his friends—artists, writers, and influential intellectual figures—including, perhaps most famously, John Steinbeck, who once said that Ricketts's mind “had no horizons.” This collection, featuring previously unpublished pieces as well as others available for the first time in their original form, reflects the wide scope of Ricketts's scientific, philosophical, and literary interests during the years he lived and worked on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. These writings, which together illuminate the evolution of Ricketts's unique, holistic approach to science, include “Verbatim transcription of notes on the Gulf of California trip,” the basic manuscript for Steinbeck's and Ricketts's “Log from the Sea of Cortez”; the essays “The Philosophy of Breaking Through” and “A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry”; several shorter pieces on topics including collecting invertebrates and the impact of modernization on Mexican village life; and more. This critical biography, with a number of rare photographs, offers a new, detailed view of Ricketts's life.Less
Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897–1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ahead of his time, Ricketts was a scientist who worked in passionate collaboration with many of his friends—artists, writers, and influential intellectual figures—including, perhaps most famously, John Steinbeck, who once said that Ricketts's mind “had no horizons.” This collection, featuring previously unpublished pieces as well as others available for the first time in their original form, reflects the wide scope of Ricketts's scientific, philosophical, and literary interests during the years he lived and worked on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. These writings, which together illuminate the evolution of Ricketts's unique, holistic approach to science, include “Verbatim transcription of notes on the Gulf of California trip,” the basic manuscript for Steinbeck's and Ricketts's “Log from the Sea of Cortez”; the essays “The Philosophy of Breaking Through” and “A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry”; several shorter pieces on topics including collecting invertebrates and the impact of modernization on Mexican village life; and more. This critical biography, with a number of rare photographs, offers a new, detailed view of Ricketts's life.
Ben Jones
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748635184
- eISBN:
- 9780748652990
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748635184.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This book argues that scholars too often assume that the state is the most important force behind change in local political communities in Africa. Studies look to the state, and to the impact of ...
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This book argues that scholars too often assume that the state is the most important force behind change in local political communities in Africa. Studies look to the state, and to the impact of government reforms, as ways of understanding processes of development and change. Using the example of Uganda, regarded as one of Africa's few ‘success stories’, the book chronicles the insignificance of the state and the marginal impact of Western development agencies. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork in a Ugandan village reveals that it is churches, the village court and organizations based on family and kinship obligations which represent the most significant sites of innovation and social transformation. The book offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world, and should appeal to anyone interested in African development.Less
This book argues that scholars too often assume that the state is the most important force behind change in local political communities in Africa. Studies look to the state, and to the impact of government reforms, as ways of understanding processes of development and change. Using the example of Uganda, regarded as one of Africa's few ‘success stories’, the book chronicles the insignificance of the state and the marginal impact of Western development agencies. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork in a Ugandan village reveals that it is churches, the village court and organizations based on family and kinship obligations which represent the most significant sites of innovation and social transformation. The book offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world, and should appeal to anyone interested in African development.
Geoffrey Hosking
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263136
- eISBN:
- 9780191734922
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263136.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Traditional interpretations of Russian society rest on a contrast between Russian authoritarianism and the liberties of Western societies. According to these interpretations, Russia right up to the ...
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Traditional interpretations of Russian society rest on a contrast between Russian authoritarianism and the liberties of Western societies. According to these interpretations, Russia right up to the twentieth century was a ‘patrimonial monarchy’ in which there was no distinction between sovereignty and ownership, so that the tsar's subjects were literally his slaves. There is no denying the highly authoritarian nature of the Russian state, and, in its twentieth-century hypostasis, its unique capacity to penetrate and affect the lives of ordinary people. But the image of slavery is overdone and partly misleading. At the base of the Russian power structure throughout the tsarist centuries was the village commune. The basic concept underlying the functioning of the village commune was krugovaya poruka, literally ‘circular surety’, but perhaps better translated as ‘joint responsibility’. This chapter discusses forms of social solidarity in Russia and the Soviet Union, focusing on the enterprise and the communal apartment as twin arenas of the daily lives of the majority of the country's townspeople.Less
Traditional interpretations of Russian society rest on a contrast between Russian authoritarianism and the liberties of Western societies. According to these interpretations, Russia right up to the twentieth century was a ‘patrimonial monarchy’ in which there was no distinction between sovereignty and ownership, so that the tsar's subjects were literally his slaves. There is no denying the highly authoritarian nature of the Russian state, and, in its twentieth-century hypostasis, its unique capacity to penetrate and affect the lives of ordinary people. But the image of slavery is overdone and partly misleading. At the base of the Russian power structure throughout the tsarist centuries was the village commune. The basic concept underlying the functioning of the village commune was krugovaya poruka, literally ‘circular surety’, but perhaps better translated as ‘joint responsibility’. This chapter discusses forms of social solidarity in Russia and the Soviet Union, focusing on the enterprise and the communal apartment as twin arenas of the daily lives of the majority of the country's townspeople.
Christopher Harding
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548224
- eISBN:
- 9780191720697
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548224.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History, History of Religion
This book investigates mass conversion movements towards Christianity in late colonial India, examining the internal dynamics of conversion and Christian community-building in the region of Punjab. ...
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This book investigates mass conversion movements towards Christianity in late colonial India, examining the internal dynamics of conversion and Christian community-building in the region of Punjab. It follows the tempestuous local relationships which lay at the heart of religious transformation, from tensions both within and between the missions of the (Catholic) Belgian Capuchins and (British Evangelical) Church Missionary Society to the incompatibilities of aspiration where oppressed rural low-caste — so-called ‘Chuhra’ — converts, as well as mission personnel and institutions, were concerned. The book explores the role of social class, theological training, culture, motivation, and personality in producing a wide range of presentations of ‘Christianity’ in Punjab. For European missionary personnel the meaning of conversion quickly took on a heavy social dimension, thanks to connections made in missionary minds between Punjabi converts and the rural and urban poor of Belgium and Britain. As a result, European ‘uplift’ campaigns which sought to clean up and manage closely the lives of the poor — insulating them from hostile political and alternative religious influences — fed into attempts in Punjab to build new Christian communities and to socialize the next generation. Nowhere was this more obvious than in the brand new ‘Christian villages’ established by the Capuchins and the CMS. Punjabi perspectives explored and discussed range from the thankless, but potentially pivotal work of catechists and other agents of the mission, to the social networks and aspects of everyday life through which low-caste Punjabis communicated and sought to live by their understanding of conversion. The socio-political dimension here was clear, amounting to a brand of subaltern consciousness rarely considered by mainstream South Asian historiography.Less
This book investigates mass conversion movements towards Christianity in late colonial India, examining the internal dynamics of conversion and Christian community-building in the region of Punjab. It follows the tempestuous local relationships which lay at the heart of religious transformation, from tensions both within and between the missions of the (Catholic) Belgian Capuchins and (British Evangelical) Church Missionary Society to the incompatibilities of aspiration where oppressed rural low-caste — so-called ‘Chuhra’ — converts, as well as mission personnel and institutions, were concerned. The book explores the role of social class, theological training, culture, motivation, and personality in producing a wide range of presentations of ‘Christianity’ in Punjab. For European missionary personnel the meaning of conversion quickly took on a heavy social dimension, thanks to connections made in missionary minds between Punjabi converts and the rural and urban poor of Belgium and Britain. As a result, European ‘uplift’ campaigns which sought to clean up and manage closely the lives of the poor — insulating them from hostile political and alternative religious influences — fed into attempts in Punjab to build new Christian communities and to socialize the next generation. Nowhere was this more obvious than in the brand new ‘Christian villages’ established by the Capuchins and the CMS. Punjabi perspectives explored and discussed range from the thankless, but potentially pivotal work of catechists and other agents of the mission, to the social networks and aspects of everyday life through which low-caste Punjabis communicated and sought to live by their understanding of conversion. The socio-political dimension here was clear, amounting to a brand of subaltern consciousness rarely considered by mainstream South Asian historiography.
Rachel Harris
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262979
- eISBN:
- 9780191734717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262979.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
This chapter examines the types and functions of Sibe music. It provides biographical sketches of village musicians including Ga'altu of the Anjia clan, Guo Rongxing, and a certain Shoulintai. The ...
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This chapter examines the types and functions of Sibe music. It provides biographical sketches of village musicians including Ga'altu of the Anjia clan, Guo Rongxing, and a certain Shoulintai. The chapter highlights the social functions of songs and their role as vehicles of formalised expression of human relations in the Sibe community. It describes the songs and musical activities at weddings, funerals, and calendric festivals.Less
This chapter examines the types and functions of Sibe music. It provides biographical sketches of village musicians including Ga'altu of the Anjia clan, Guo Rongxing, and a certain Shoulintai. The chapter highlights the social functions of songs and their role as vehicles of formalised expression of human relations in the Sibe community. It describes the songs and musical activities at weddings, funerals, and calendric festivals.
Rachel Harris
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262979
- eISBN:
- 9780191734717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262979.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
This chapter examines the ritual practice of the Sibe people in Çabçal before Liberation. It discusses the double layer of social remembering through contemporary story-telling about the performed ...
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This chapter examines the ritual practice of the Sibe people in Çabçal before Liberation. It discusses the double layer of social remembering through contemporary story-telling about the performed practices of the past and highlights the dominance of shamans and rituals in memories of village life. The chapter describes some observations about animated retellings of shaman stories, discussions of the details of ritual practice, and the re-singing of shamanic ritual songs. It suggests that shamanic rituals in the Sibe villages were and are powerful experiences in people's lives, re-lived and constantly embellished in retelling.Less
This chapter examines the ritual practice of the Sibe people in Çabçal before Liberation. It discusses the double layer of social remembering through contemporary story-telling about the performed practices of the past and highlights the dominance of shamans and rituals in memories of village life. The chapter describes some observations about animated retellings of shaman stories, discussions of the details of ritual practice, and the re-singing of shamanic ritual songs. It suggests that shamanic rituals in the Sibe villages were and are powerful experiences in people's lives, re-lived and constantly embellished in retelling.
