Culture and Dignity
Dialogues Between the Middle East and the West
1. Auflage Oktober 2012
264 Seiten, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-1-118-31900-0
John Wiley & Sons
In Culture and Dignity - Dialogues between the Middle East and
the West, renowned cultural anthropologist Laura Nader examines
the historical and ethnographic roots of the complex relationship
between the East and the West, revealing how cultural differences
can lead to violence or a more peaceful co-existence.
* Outlines an anthropology for the 21st century that focuses on
the myriad connections between peoples--especially the
critical intercultural dialogues between the cultures of the East
and the West
* Takes an historical and ethnographic approach to studying the
intermingling of Arab peoples and the West.
* Demonstrates how cultural exchange between the East and West is
a two-way process
* Presents an anthropological perspective on issues such as
religious fundamentalism, the lives of women and children, notions
of violence and order
Acknowledgments x
Preface xii
1 Introduction 1
Indignities 5
Naturalizing Difference and the Great Transformation 14
Comparison, Ethnography, and History 17
2 From Rifa' ah al-Tahtawi to Edward Said: Lessons in
Culture and Dignity 24
Introduction 24
Rifa' ah al-Tahtawi and France 26
A Hundred Years Later: Edward Said 34
Concluding Comments 45
3 Ethnography as Theory: On the Roots of Controversy in
Anthropology 51
Introduction 51
Unstated Consensus 54
Defining Ethnographic Worth: 1896-2000 55
Ethnographic Audiences 64
An Outsider Looking In on Anthropology's Ethnography
69
Concluding Comments 74
4 Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Control of Women 80
Cultural Hierarchy and Processes of Control 83
The Specifi city of Eastern and Western Grids 85
Positional Superiority, Thought Systems, and Other Cultures
87
Ways of Seeing and Comparing - East and West 88
The Controlling Role of Ideas 96
The Use of Revolution in Gender Control 98
Multiple Systems of Female Subordination 102
Colonialism, Development, Religion, and Gender Control 107
Conclusion: The Need to Separate Identities 110
5 Corporate Fundamentalism: Constructing Childhood in the United
States and Elsewhere 120
Introduction 120
Manufacturing Culture Bit by Bit 122
Fundamentalisms: Corporate and Religious 126
Marketing and Children: The United States 131
Drugs, Commercialism, and the Biomedical Paradigm: An American
Example 137
When Corporate Profits and Education Meet: The Educational
Testing Industry 140
Fundamentalisms: Economic, Religious, Political 141
Back to Corporate Fundamentalism: Future Directions 144
6 Culture and the Seeds of Nonviolence in the Middle East
151
Introduction 151
Disharmonic Westernization and Pilgrimage 154
Between the Stereotype and Reality 157
Little Worlds in the International Grip 161
Culture and Nonviolence: Who Stands to Gain From Peace? 165
Dignity Becomes Reality 168
7 Normative Blindness and Unresolved Human Rights Issues: The
Hypocrisy of Our Age 175
Introduction 175
Early Constraints 176
Unresolved Issues 178
A Nonstate Human Rights Effort 183
Health and Human Rights 186
Human Rights and Commercialism 191
Concluding Remarks 193
8 Breaking the Silence: Politics and Professional Autonomy
197
Introduction 197
Silence and Dominant Hegemonies 198
Desensitization 204
Mistakes Repeated in the Iraq Invasion 206
9 Lessons 212
Lessons Learned 212
Strategies of Subordination - In Reverse 216
Macro-histories 221
Appendix 226
Index 230
Preface xii
1 Introduction 1
Indignities 5
Naturalizing Difference and the Great Transformation 14
Comparison, Ethnography, and History 17
2 From Rifa' ah al-Tahtawi to Edward Said: Lessons in
Culture and Dignity 24
Introduction 24
Rifa' ah al-Tahtawi and France 26
A Hundred Years Later: Edward Said 34
Concluding Comments 45
3 Ethnography as Theory: On the Roots of Controversy in
Anthropology 51
Introduction 51
Unstated Consensus 54
Defining Ethnographic Worth: 1896-2000 55
Ethnographic Audiences 64
An Outsider Looking In on Anthropology's Ethnography
69
Concluding Comments 74
4 Orientalism, Occidentalism, and the Control of Women 80
Cultural Hierarchy and Processes of Control 83
The Specifi city of Eastern and Western Grids 85
Positional Superiority, Thought Systems, and Other Cultures
87
Ways of Seeing and Comparing - East and West 88
The Controlling Role of Ideas 96
The Use of Revolution in Gender Control 98
Multiple Systems of Female Subordination 102
Colonialism, Development, Religion, and Gender Control 107
Conclusion: The Need to Separate Identities 110
5 Corporate Fundamentalism: Constructing Childhood in the United
States and Elsewhere 120
Introduction 120
Manufacturing Culture Bit by Bit 122
Fundamentalisms: Corporate and Religious 126
Marketing and Children: The United States 131
Drugs, Commercialism, and the Biomedical Paradigm: An American
Example 137
When Corporate Profits and Education Meet: The Educational
Testing Industry 140
Fundamentalisms: Economic, Religious, Political 141
Back to Corporate Fundamentalism: Future Directions 144
6 Culture and the Seeds of Nonviolence in the Middle East
151
Introduction 151
Disharmonic Westernization and Pilgrimage 154
Between the Stereotype and Reality 157
Little Worlds in the International Grip 161
Culture and Nonviolence: Who Stands to Gain From Peace? 165
Dignity Becomes Reality 168
7 Normative Blindness and Unresolved Human Rights Issues: The
Hypocrisy of Our Age 175
Introduction 175
Early Constraints 176
Unresolved Issues 178
A Nonstate Human Rights Effort 183
Health and Human Rights 186
Human Rights and Commercialism 191
Concluding Remarks 193
8 Breaking the Silence: Politics and Professional Autonomy
197
Introduction 197
Silence and Dominant Hegemonies 198
Desensitization 204
Mistakes Repeated in the Iraq Invasion 206
9 Lessons 212
Lessons Learned 212
Strategies of Subordination - In Reverse 216
Macro-histories 221
Appendix 226
Index 230
"Drawing from an eclectic sample of literature dealing with the global connections between the Middle East and the West, the author achieves a much needed - and very timely - intellectual 'check-up' and warns us against cultural framings that serve to side-line serious explorations of the roots and nature of human suffering. It is crucial for all those of us who are genuinely concerned with peace to liberate our imaginations from the myths and stereotypes that work to divide us." (Studies in Ethnicity And Nationalism, 15 October 2013)
"The collection reflects the many lasting contributions Nader has made to understanding and improving the human condition. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries." (Choice, 1 July 2013)
"Laura Nader is an intellectual national treasure. Culture and Dignity is an important synthesis of anthropological theory and practice. Laura Nader shows how ethnography transforms would be observers and subjects into active participants in larger processes and power relations. From critiques of corporate fundamentalism to inverting Western notions of the control of women in the Middle East, Nader's brilliant analysis shows the promise of anthropology to break through dominant Western narratives. Culture and Dignity is a vital and timely work that should be read by all interested in cutting through the cultural fog enshrouding policy discussions of corporatism, building peace in the Middle East, and human rights issues."
- David H. Price, author of the books Weaponizing Anthropology and Anthropological Intelligence
"It is the best book I have read that deconstructs the myths of the East/West binary and brings much needed clarity into the blurred and complex borders that 'separate' the two."
- George Saliba, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Science, Columbia University
"In Culture and Dignity, Laura Nader poses a challenge to her colleagues in the field of cultural anthropology, and the rest of us, to shed our hubris and bias and see the world and ourselves with new eyes. Nader's work is ambitious. And it succeeds. Not since Edward Said's Orientalism have I read a work with the same potential to transform an entire discipline. In one reading, I came to a new understanding of the role of family, of the 'women's rights' movement, of religious fundamentalism, and of my own political work."
- James J. Zogby, The Arab American Institute
"These essays by Laura Nader--on law, nonviolence, terrorism, women's status, the Middle Eastern culture--are passionate arguments against 'the hypocrisy of our age.' An anthropologist with decades of fieldwork experience, Nader challenges with great intellectual rigor and political courage the pieties of current Western hegemonic thought with consequences that are breathtaking."
- Joseba Zulaika, University of Nevada
"This book of challenging, intelligent, and provocative essays on a variety of topics can be read with great profit by students, colleagues, and a general public. It made me think in new ways about the role of anthropology and many social and cultural questions, including the position of women, on a comparative world scale, as I expected from such a deservedly distinguished writer."
- Nikki Keddie, University of California, Los Angeles
"The collection reflects the many lasting contributions Nader has made to understanding and improving the human condition. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries." (Choice, 1 July 2013)
"Laura Nader is an intellectual national treasure. Culture and Dignity is an important synthesis of anthropological theory and practice. Laura Nader shows how ethnography transforms would be observers and subjects into active participants in larger processes and power relations. From critiques of corporate fundamentalism to inverting Western notions of the control of women in the Middle East, Nader's brilliant analysis shows the promise of anthropology to break through dominant Western narratives. Culture and Dignity is a vital and timely work that should be read by all interested in cutting through the cultural fog enshrouding policy discussions of corporatism, building peace in the Middle East, and human rights issues."
- David H. Price, author of the books Weaponizing Anthropology and Anthropological Intelligence
"It is the best book I have read that deconstructs the myths of the East/West binary and brings much needed clarity into the blurred and complex borders that 'separate' the two."
- George Saliba, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Science, Columbia University
"In Culture and Dignity, Laura Nader poses a challenge to her colleagues in the field of cultural anthropology, and the rest of us, to shed our hubris and bias and see the world and ourselves with new eyes. Nader's work is ambitious. And it succeeds. Not since Edward Said's Orientalism have I read a work with the same potential to transform an entire discipline. In one reading, I came to a new understanding of the role of family, of the 'women's rights' movement, of religious fundamentalism, and of my own political work."
- James J. Zogby, The Arab American Institute
"These essays by Laura Nader--on law, nonviolence, terrorism, women's status, the Middle Eastern culture--are passionate arguments against 'the hypocrisy of our age.' An anthropologist with decades of fieldwork experience, Nader challenges with great intellectual rigor and political courage the pieties of current Western hegemonic thought with consequences that are breathtaking."
- Joseba Zulaika, University of Nevada
"This book of challenging, intelligent, and provocative essays on a variety of topics can be read with great profit by students, colleagues, and a general public. It made me think in new ways about the role of anthropology and many social and cultural questions, including the position of women, on a comparative world scale, as I expected from such a deservedly distinguished writer."
- Nikki Keddie, University of California, Los Angeles
Laura Nader is Professor of Anthropology at the University
of California at Berkeley. An influential voice in contemporary
anthropology, Laura Nader's books include Naked Science:
Anthropological Inquiry into Boundaries, Power and Knowledge
(1996), The Life of the Law (2002), and, with Ugo Mattei,
Plunder-When the Rule of Law is Illegal (2008).
of California at Berkeley. An influential voice in contemporary
anthropology, Laura Nader's books include Naked Science:
Anthropological Inquiry into Boundaries, Power and Knowledge
(1996), The Life of the Law (2002), and, with Ugo Mattei,
Plunder-When the Rule of Law is Illegal (2008).
