The Anthropology of the State
A Reader
Blackwell Readers in Anthropology (Series Nr. 9)
1. Edition December 2005
424 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-1-4051-1468-4
John Wiley & Sons
This innovative reader brings together classic theoretical texts
and cutting-edge ethnographic analyses of specific state
institutions, practices, and processes and outlines an
anthropological framework for rethinking future study of "the
state".
* * Focuses on the institutions, spaces, ideas, practices, and
representations that constitute the "state".
* * Promotes cultural and transnational approaches to the
subject.
* * Helps readers to make anthropological sense of the state as a
cultural artifact, in the context of a neoliberalizing,
transnational world.
Acknowledgements.
Organization of the Book.
Introduction: Rethinking Theories of the State in an Age of
Globalization.
Part I: Theoretical Maps: The "Classics".
Section Introduction.
1. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes Towards an
Investigation): Louis Althusser.
2. Selections from the Prison Notebooks: Antonio Gramsci.
3. Bureaucracy: Max Weber.
4. Notes on the Difficulty of Studying the State: Philip
Abrams.
5. Governmentality: Michel Foucault.
6. Governing "Advanced" Liberal Democracies: Nikolas
Rose.
Part II: Ethnographic Mappings.
Section I: Bureaucracy/Governmentality.
7. Finding the Man in the State: Wendy Brown.
8. Society, Economy, and the State Effect: Timothy Mitchell.
9. Blurred Boundaries: The Discourse of Corruption, the Culture
of Politics, and the Imagined State: Akhil Gupta.
Section II: Development/Planning.
10. Cities, People, and Language: James Scott.
11. The Anti-Politics Machine: Jim Ferguson.
Section III: Welfare/Warfare/Law/Citizenship.
12. The Public/Private Mirage: Mapping Homes and Undomesticating
Violence Work in the South Asian Immigrant Community: Ananya
Bhattarcharjee.
13. Cultural Logics of Belonging and Movement: Transnationalism,
Naturalization, and U.S. Immigration Politics: Susan Bibler
Coutin.
14. Making War at Home in the United States: Militarization and
the Current Crisis: Catherine Lutz.
Section IV: Popular Culture.
15. Popular Culture and the State: Stuart Hall.
16. The Banality of Power and the Aesthetics of Vulgarity in the
Postcolony: Achille Mbembe.
Index
Organization of the Book.
Introduction: Rethinking Theories of the State in an Age of
Globalization.
Part I: Theoretical Maps: The "Classics".
Section Introduction.
1. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes Towards an
Investigation): Louis Althusser.
2. Selections from the Prison Notebooks: Antonio Gramsci.
3. Bureaucracy: Max Weber.
4. Notes on the Difficulty of Studying the State: Philip
Abrams.
5. Governmentality: Michel Foucault.
6. Governing "Advanced" Liberal Democracies: Nikolas
Rose.
Part II: Ethnographic Mappings.
Section I: Bureaucracy/Governmentality.
7. Finding the Man in the State: Wendy Brown.
8. Society, Economy, and the State Effect: Timothy Mitchell.
9. Blurred Boundaries: The Discourse of Corruption, the Culture
of Politics, and the Imagined State: Akhil Gupta.
Section II: Development/Planning.
10. Cities, People, and Language: James Scott.
11. The Anti-Politics Machine: Jim Ferguson.
Section III: Welfare/Warfare/Law/Citizenship.
12. The Public/Private Mirage: Mapping Homes and Undomesticating
Violence Work in the South Asian Immigrant Community: Ananya
Bhattarcharjee.
13. Cultural Logics of Belonging and Movement: Transnationalism,
Naturalization, and U.S. Immigration Politics: Susan Bibler
Coutin.
14. Making War at Home in the United States: Militarization and
the Current Crisis: Catherine Lutz.
Section IV: Popular Culture.
15. Popular Culture and the State: Stuart Hall.
16. The Banality of Power and the Aesthetics of Vulgarity in the
Postcolony: Achille Mbembe.
Index
"[This) volume's refreshing theoretical approach and range of
empirical examples should make it a valuable teaching and reference
book for all those concerned with the challenging questions posed
by the state." Political Studies Review
"This is a nuanced, original framework for thinking about
the state as a highly variable phenomenon of emergent world orders.
With its expert selection of readings and comprehensive analysis,
this volume is bound to become a standard reference and popular
teaching tool." George Marcus, University of
California, Irvine
"The Anthropology of the State will be an important
resource for teaching and for introducing students to new questions
in anthropology. This collection offers a nice balance of
historical and contemporary writings and a lucid introduction that
advances theoretical claims about the state with the help of
ethnographic examples. Contemporary globalization and transnational
systems that are redefining the functions of the state make this an
opportune moment for a serious reexamination of the processes of
governance." Veena Das, Johns Hopkins
University
"One key strength of the volume is its coherence and
intertextuality...Recommended." K. Brown, Brown
University
empirical examples should make it a valuable teaching and reference
book for all those concerned with the challenging questions posed
by the state." Political Studies Review
"This is a nuanced, original framework for thinking about
the state as a highly variable phenomenon of emergent world orders.
With its expert selection of readings and comprehensive analysis,
this volume is bound to become a standard reference and popular
teaching tool." George Marcus, University of
California, Irvine
"The Anthropology of the State will be an important
resource for teaching and for introducing students to new questions
in anthropology. This collection offers a nice balance of
historical and contemporary writings and a lucid introduction that
advances theoretical claims about the state with the help of
ethnographic examples. Contemporary globalization and transnational
systems that are redefining the functions of the state make this an
opportune moment for a serious reexamination of the processes of
governance." Veena Das, Johns Hopkins
University
"One key strength of the volume is its coherence and
intertextuality...Recommended." K. Brown, Brown
University
Aradhana Sharma is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and
Women's Studies at Wesleyan University.
Akhil Gupta is Associate Professor of Cultural and Social
Anthropology at Stanford University. His previous publications
include Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a
Field Science (ed. 1997), Culture, Power, Place:
Explorations in Critical Anthropology (ed. 1997),
Postcolonial Developments: Agriculture in the Making of Modern
India (1998), and Caste and Outcast (ed. 2002).
Women's Studies at Wesleyan University.
Akhil Gupta is Associate Professor of Cultural and Social
Anthropology at Stanford University. His previous publications
include Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a
Field Science (ed. 1997), Culture, Power, Place:
Explorations in Critical Anthropology (ed. 1997),
Postcolonial Developments: Agriculture in the Making of Modern
India (1998), and Caste and Outcast (ed. 2002).
