The logic of writing and the organization of society / Jack Goody.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goody, Jack, author.

Contributor:

American Council of Learned Societies.

Series:

Studies in literacy, family, culture, and the state.

Studies in literacy, family, culture, and the state

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Writing--History.

Writing.

Writing--Social aspects.

Social evolution.

Civilization, Ancient.

Africa, West--Civilization.

Africa, West.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 213 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

The Logic of Writing & the Organization of Society

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book assesses the impact of writing on human societies, both in the Ancient Near East and in twentieth-century Africa, and highlights some general features of social systems that have been influenced by this major change in the mode of communication. Such features are central to any attempt at the theoretical definition of human society and such constituent phenomena as religious and legal systems, and in this study Professor Goody explores the role of a specific mechanism, the introduction of writing and the development of a written tradition, in the explanation of some important social differences and similarities. Goody argues that a shift of emphasis from productive to certain communicative processes is essential to account adequately for major changes in human societies. Whilst there have been previous descussions of the effect of literacy upon social organisation, no study has hitherto presented the general synthesis developed here.

Contents:

Cover

Title

Copyright

Contents

Studies in Literacy, Family, Culture and the State: an introduction

Preface

The word of God

The concept of 'a'/'the' religion

Boundaries

Change

Obsolescence

Incorporation or conversion

Universalism and particularism

Cognitive contradictions in the general and the specific

Specialization: priests and intellectuals

Endowment and alienation

The twin bureaucracies

Organizational and structural autonomony

The Great and Little Traditions: spirit cults and world religions

Writing and religion in Ancient Egypt

Writing and religion in other early civilizations

Ritual and writing

The word of mammon

The origin of writing and the ancient economy

Writing and the temple economy

Writing and the palace economy

Writing and the mercantile economy

Writing and individual transactions

Writing and the economy in Africa

The state, the bureau and the file

Bureaucracies

The administration of early states with writing

The administration of states without writing

Writing in the colonial and national administrations

Writing and the political process

The letter of the law

The definition of law

The expansion of writing and law in medieval England

The letter and the spirit of the law

Ruptures and continuities

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliography (p. 194-205) and index.

ISBN:

1-139-08539-5

0-511-62159-0

OCLC:

935276499

Publisher Number:

2027/heb05702 hdl