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Political Anthropology


NEU

About This Course

The aim of this course is to introduce you to the field of political anthropology and its main concepts and ideas. We will also focus on the symbolic dimensions of political power, the relationship between State and society and the concepts of tradition and modernity. Lastly, we will analyse the ethnographies in the context of the World System.

Course Content

Origins of Political Anthropology

Main concepts and ideas

Culture

Power, Institutions of Power and Hegemony

Symbolism

Societas to civitas

Transnationalism

Transactionalism

Kinship

Main theoretical paradigms

The symbolic dimensions of political power

State and society

Tradition and modernity

Ethnographies of the World System

Bibliography

(Anthropology, Culture and Society) John Gledhill - Power And Its Disguises_ Anthropological Perspectives on Politics (Anthropology, Culture and Society) - Pluto Press (2000)

Georges Balandier - Political Anthropology (Pelican) - Penguin Books Ltd (1972)

Pierre Clastres, Robert Hurley, Abe Stein - Society Against the State_ Essays in Political Anthropology - Zone Books (1989)

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