Product Description

In recent years anthropology has rediscovered its interest in politics. Building on the findings of this research, this book offers a new way of analysing the relationship between culture and politics, with special attention to democracy, nationalism, the state and political violence. Beginning with scenes from an unruly early 1980s election campaign in Sri Lanka, it covers issues from rural policing in north India to slum housing in Delhi, presenting arguments about secularism and pluralism, and the ambiguous energies released by electoral democracy across the subcontinent. It ends by discussing feminist peace activists in Sri Lanka, struggling to sustain a window of shared humanity after two decades of war. Bringing together and linking the themes of democracy, identity and conflict, this important new study shows how anthropology can take a central role in understanding other people’s politics, especially the issues that seem to have divided the world since 9/11.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #684945 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 218 pages

Review
'Spencer variously builds upon and critiques the contributions of sub-alternism and classic political anthropology to the topic. … The author does a good job of deconstructing the sometimes limiting frameworks of a number of key thinkers on the subject; arguing that the eagerness to invest politics into 'stateless' societies has led the discipline, to its detriment, to draw focus away from the study of the state in favour of instrumentality. … this book is an accessible and well written contribution to South Asian studies and political anthropology more generally. Spencer's writing style and the clarity and persuasiveness of his analysis make this broadly conceived work a valuable contribution to the field.' Nations and Nationalism

'The book champions the structuring of theory around ethnography, and opposes epistemological strait-jacketing through wide-eyed empiricism. … This is an exciting book for anthropologists, but students and scholars from other disciplines would also be impressed by the conviction in Spencer's arguments and the diversity of case studies.' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

About the Author
Jonathan Spencer is Professor of the Anthropology of South Asia at the University of Edinburgh.