Socialism : Ideals, Ideologies, and Local Practice

ISBN-13: 9780415083225 / Angielski / Miękka / 1992 / 286 str.

C. M. Hann;C. M. Hann

Opis

At a time when socialism appears to be on the wane, anthropological analyses of its origins and worldwide diffusion are long overdue. The aspirations of socialists have led to many dead-ends, and revolutionary claims must be carefully scrutinized against a background of cultural communities. Yet there are few, if any, peoples in today's world who remain unaffected by socialism, both as a political force and as a set of ideas, and no-one can doubt that its cultural legacies will make themselves felt in years to come, in the so-called First and Third worlds, as well as in its Eurasian heartlands. While anthropological work illuminates some of the mechanisms of the recent changes which have removed socialists from power in many countries it also reveals the factors which have given socialism such a profound worldwide impact, and which helped socialist societies to reproduce themselves effectively for so long. Socialism presents diverse examples of ideals and realities and offers detailed ethnographic accounts of specific groups such as rural cultivators in China and Tanzania, gypsies in Hungary, actors in Czechoslovakia, and village women in Poland and Industrial North-East England.

Socialism as a political system may be on the wane, yet no one can doubt that its cultural legacies will make themselves felt for years to come, and on a worldwide scale. The contributors to this volume adopt a variety of anthropological approaches to illuminate changes which have removed socialists from power in many countries. Presenting detailed ethnographic accounts across a wide range of countries, they bring out the factors which have given socialism such a profound worldwide impact, including a substantial impact upon the discipline of anthropology itself. The first sustained and wide-ranging investigation of socialism by social anthropologists, this volume will enable readers to understand better how socialism has been experienced by millions of people and thereby to now better understand how they may cope with post-socialist dilemmas.

Spis treści

Ernest Gellner, Cambridge University; Ladislav Holy, St Andrews University; Ralph Grillo, School of Oriental and African Studies, London; Joanna Overing, London School of Economics; Pat Caplan, Goldsmiths' College, University of London; Angela Cheater, University of Cape Town; Peter Skalnik, Prague University; Katherine Verdery, John Hopkins University, Baltimore; Jack Potter, University of Berkeley, California

O autorze

C. M. Hann