The global financial crisis has renewed concern about whether capitalist markets are the best way of organizing economic life. Based on decades of engaged research, this title brings a fresh economic vision to general readers. It is suitable for students of the contemporary world.
This book is a new introduction to the history and practice of economic anthropology by two leading authors in the field. They show that anthropologists have contributed to understanding the three great questions of modern economic history: development, socialism and one-world capitalism.
Ethnicity, language, and religion are significant aspects of contemporary social identities in Turkey’s little-known eastern Black Sea coast. Based on fieldwork carried out between 1983 and 1999, the authors analyze recent economic and political developments in the region in the context of more general changes in Turkish civil society and widespread doubt about the continued viability of the secular institutions of Atatürk’s republic.
Karl Polanyi's critique of market society is examined through the lens of contemporary economic anthropology, particularly in Central Europe, where he was raised. The book explores the implications of his ideas on the communist period, focusing on the "market socialist" economy of János Kádár's Hungary, and the subsequent changes in property relations, civil society, and ethno-national identities after communism. This analysis highlights the relevance of Polanyi's work in understanding the complexities of neoliberal globalization and its impact on the region.
Never again confuse leverage with loyalty, propagandism with publicity, and corporate social responsibility with a lucrative account representing a murderous but hugely wealthy Central Asian dictator. Bask in the admiration of your fellow communications professionals as you pronounce confidently on what to do when horse meat is discovered in the client’s ‘basics’ range of lasagne, or a fire breaks out in their fireproof goods factory, or a wildly politically incorrect utterance is made by a senior member of the board. Discover why there is a curious prevalence of attractive young women in PR consultancies in stark contrast to the curious prevalence of rheumy-eyed elderly men in in-house roles. And if you learn one thing from this book, make sure it is the importance of always retaining an external consultancy to do most of the actual work and take 100% of the blame. DO SAY: "This has been a watershed year for your company. Since you engaged us, ACME plc is now universally recognised as a phenomenally successful, sustainable, socially responsible yet curiously undervalued investment opportunity." DON’T SAY: "PR is perhaps the only occupation in which bluffing skills are absolutely paramount."
Written by experts and offering readers the opportunity to pass off appropriated knowledge as their own, the Bluffer's Guides provide hard fact masquerading as frivolous observation in one witty, easy read.
Assumptions of increasing secularization have been called into question across the globe but under the socialist variants of modernity traditional forms of religious belief and practice were subject to quite specific forms of repression in favour of 'scientific atheism'. What is the legacy of this socialist experience for the postsocialist era? How is religion mobilized in the public sphere to support assertions of ethnic identity and the building of nations and states? In the private sphere, how does religion help persons to cope with uncertainty and dislocation? What has been the impact of external influences, including pressures to implement religious human rights as well as the missionising efforts of modernist, 'universalizing' faiths, both Christian and Muslim? The authors explore new configurations of local, national and global religious communities through ethnographic studies from two regions, Central Asia and East- Central Europe. The main focus is on the consequences of changes in the sphere of religion for generalized civility, which is understood minimally as the acceptance of diverse beliefs and practices in everyday social life.
The title of this volume was supplied by a Hungarian villager, who made use of a popular idiom to express his disillusionment with the results of rural privatisation. Hann draws on his own ethnographic materials from Hungary and elsewhere to explore a wide range of topics, from political economy to questions of ethnic and religious identity and minority rights. Applying a broad definition of `property relations', he argues that private ownership, multi-party politics and the proliferation of NGOs are poor compensation for a decline in the substantive material and moral conditions of citizenship. The spread of neoliberal economic principles, identity politics and new `rights' agendas is not restricted to the post-socialist countries and the volume therefore employs a wider comparative framework. Underlying all the chapters (none of them previously published in this form in English) is an inclusive, eclectic approach to contemporary anthropology. Hann concludes by arguing that anthropologists of all traditions and theoretical persuasions need to renew their engagement with world history. To recognise the enduring unity of Eurasia is an important step towards overcoming the distortions of Eurocentrism. Chris Hann is a Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/S.
Under socialism the anthropological sciences developed under conflicting pressures: on the one hand Soviet influences, Marxist ideology and institutional changes, on the other the continued influence of national traditions and of the distinction between Volkskunde and Volkerkunde. The chapters bring out striking differences between the countries considered: the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. They also draw attention to variation within countries, and between sub-branches of the discipline. Coverage extends from the Stalinist years to the end of the socialist era, and the topics range from folklore studies at home to fieldwork expeditions abroad.