Envisioning power : ideologies of dominance and crisis / Eric R. Wolf.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wolf, Eric R., 1923-1999.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Power (Social sciences).

Ideology.

Kwakiutl Indians.

National socialism.

Aztecs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (357 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c1999.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

With the originality and energy that have marked his earlier works, Eric Wolf now explores the historical relationship of ideas, power, and culture. Responding to anthropology's long reliance on a concept of culture that takes little account of power, Wolf argues that power is crucial in shaping the circumstances of cultural production. Responding to social-science notions of ideology that incorporate power but disregard the ways ideas respond to cultural promptings, he demonstrates how power and ideas connect through the medium of culture. Wolf advances his argument by examining three very different societies, each remarkable for its flamboyant ideological expressions: the Kwakiutl Indians of the Northwest Pacific Coast, the Aztecs of pre-Hispanic Mexico, and National Socialist Germany. Tracing the history of each case, he shows how these societies faced tensions posed by ecological, social, political, or psychological crises, prompting ideological responses that drew on distinctive, historically rooted cultural understandings. In each case study, Wolf analyzes how the regnant ideology intertwines with power around the pivotal relationships that govern social labor. Anyone interested in the history of anthropology or in how the social sciences make comparisons will want to join Wolf in Envisioning Power.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

1. 1nt:roduction

2 .Contested Concepts

3. The Kwaluutl

4. The Aztecs

5. National Socialist Germany

6. Coda

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613382153

9781283382151

1283382156

9780520921726

0520921720

9780520215368

0520215362

9780585289373

0585289379

OCLC:

45732111