The Anthropology of the State: A Reader (Blackwell Readers in Anthropology)

The Anthropology of the State: A Reader (Blackwell Readers in Anthropology)

by Akhil Gupta (Editor), Aradhana Sharma (Editor)

Synopsis

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'. It focuses on the institutions, spaces, ideas, practices, and representations that constitute the 'state'. It promotes cultural and transnational approaches to the subject. It helps readers to make anthropological sense of the state as a cultural artifact, in the context of a neoliberalizing, transnational world.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 424
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Published: 06 Dec 2005

ISBN 10: 1405114681
ISBN 13: 9781405114684

Media Reviews
[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
Author Bio
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).