Transparency has, in recent years, become a watchword for good governance. Policymakers and analysts alike evaluate political and economic institutions - courts, corporations, nation-states - according to the transparency of their operating procedures. With the dawn of the New World Order and the 'mutual veil dropping' of the post-cold war era, many have asserted that power in our contemporary world is more transparent than ever. Yet from the perspective of the relatively less privileged, the operation of power often appears opaque and unpredictable. Through vivid ethnographic analyses, "Transparency and Conspiracy" examines the vast range of expressions of the popular suspicion of power - including forms of shamanism, sorcery, conspiracy theory, and urban legends - illuminating them as ways of making sense of the world in the midst of tumultuous and uneven processes of modernization. In this collection leading anthropologists reveal the variations and commonalities in conspiratorial thinking, or occult cosmologies, around the globe - in Korea; Tanzania; Mozambique; New York City; Indonesia; Mongolia; Nigeria; and Orange County, California. The contributors chronicle how - whether through voudou, sorcerers, shamans, or meetings to decipher the battle of God's will and the forces of evil in contemporary political debates - people express profound suspicions of the United Nations, the state, political parties, police, courts, international financial institutions, banks, traders and shop keepers, media, churches, intellectuals, and the wealthy. Rather than focusing on the veracity of these convictions, "Transparency and Conspiracy" investigates who believes what and why. It makes a compelling argument against the dismissal of conspiracy theories and occult cosmologies as anti-modern, irrational oversimplifications, showing how these beliefs render the world more, not less, complex by calling attention to its contradictions and proposing alternative ways of understanding it. The contributors to this book include: Misty Bastian; Karen McCarthy Brown; Jean Comaroff; John Comaroff; Susan Harding; Daniel Hellinger; Caroline Humphrey; Laurel Kendall; Todd Sanders; Albert Schrauwers; Kathleen Stewart; and, Harry G. West.
1 有用 Dynamo 2022-04-16 22:02:04
世纪初时人类学家对于阴谋论、都市传说之类的‘怀疑政治’的研究,总体而言是很有意思的一本集子。作者们不去判断这些说法的真实性,而是聚焦于谁相信什么,在什么样的情境下,以何种视角相信,这思路是正确的。阴谋论并非过往理论家们认为的反理性、前现代、简化的思考模式。相反,社会中的中层社会机构,譬如国家、宗教、社群的消弭,使得作为个体的人愈发需要直面‘世界’,直面庞大的、非个人的交换秩序。这种晚期现代的典型状... 世纪初时人类学家对于阴谋论、都市传说之类的‘怀疑政治’的研究,总体而言是很有意思的一本集子。作者们不去判断这些说法的真实性,而是聚焦于谁相信什么,在什么样的情境下,以何种视角相信,这思路是正确的。阴谋论并非过往理论家们认为的反理性、前现代、简化的思考模式。相反,社会中的中层社会机构,譬如国家、宗教、社群的消弭,使得作为个体的人愈发需要直面‘世界’,直面庞大的、非个人的交换秩序。这种晚期现代的典型状况,是我们时代偏执狂症候与焦虑的根源。序言是个总纲,679章都是值得一读的文章。第六章比较敏感,不细说。作者提出,转生故事并非对现实的简化或逃避,而是把罪恶的责任归属的问题上升到了更深的层面。第九章更直接些,将阴谋论归结于对结构-能动性、社会-自我、控制-自由诸议题的困惑和不确定。 (展开)
1 有用 Dynamo 2022-04-16 22:02:04
世纪初时人类学家对于阴谋论、都市传说之类的‘怀疑政治’的研究,总体而言是很有意思的一本集子。作者们不去判断这些说法的真实性,而是聚焦于谁相信什么,在什么样的情境下,以何种视角相信,这思路是正确的。阴谋论并非过往理论家们认为的反理性、前现代、简化的思考模式。相反,社会中的中层社会机构,譬如国家、宗教、社群的消弭,使得作为个体的人愈发需要直面‘世界’,直面庞大的、非个人的交换秩序。这种晚期现代的典型状... 世纪初时人类学家对于阴谋论、都市传说之类的‘怀疑政治’的研究,总体而言是很有意思的一本集子。作者们不去判断这些说法的真实性,而是聚焦于谁相信什么,在什么样的情境下,以何种视角相信,这思路是正确的。阴谋论并非过往理论家们认为的反理性、前现代、简化的思考模式。相反,社会中的中层社会机构,譬如国家、宗教、社群的消弭,使得作为个体的人愈发需要直面‘世界’,直面庞大的、非个人的交换秩序。这种晚期现代的典型状况,是我们时代偏执狂症候与焦虑的根源。序言是个总纲,679章都是值得一读的文章。第六章比较敏感,不细说。作者提出,转生故事并非对现实的简化或逃避,而是把罪恶的责任归属的问题上升到了更深的层面。第九章更直接些,将阴谋论归结于对结构-能动性、社会-自我、控制-自由诸议题的困惑和不确定。 (展开)