Anthropology and Political Science: A Convergent Approach

368 Pages·2012·1.55 MB·English

by  Myron J. Aronoff

Anthropology & Political Science
Anthropology &
Anthropology & Law
James M. Donovan and H. Edwin Anderson, III
Anthropology & Mass Communication: Media and Myth in the
New Millennium
Mark Allen Peterson
Anthropology & Political Science: A Convergent Approach
Myron J. Aronoff and Jan Kubik
A &
NTHROPOLOGY
P S
OLITICAL CIENCE
A Convergent Approach
Myron J. Aronoff & Jan Kubik
Berghahn Books
New York • Oxford
Published in 2013 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2013 Myron J. Aronoff and Jan Kubik
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aronoff, Myron Joel.
Anthropology and political science : a convergent approach / Myron J. Aronoff
and Jan Kubik.
p. cm. — (Anthropology &)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-85745-725-7 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-85745-726-4
(e-book)
1. Anthropology—Methodology. 2. Political science—Methodology. I. Aronoff,
Myron J. II. Kubik, Jan. III. Title.
GN33.A76 2012
301—dc23
2012001691
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed in the United States on acid-free paper
ISBN 978-0-85745-725-7 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-85745-726-4 (ebook)
In loving memory of Rita and to Martha with love

C
ONTENTS
List of Tables ix
List of Figures xi
Acknowledgements xii
Preface xv
Chapter 1
Introduction 1
Chapter 2
Methods: Ethnography and Case Study 23
Chapter 3
Beyond Political Culture 60
Chapter 4
Symbolic Dimensions of Politics: Political Ritual
and Ceremonial 86
Chapter 5
The Politics of Collective Identity: Contested Israeli
Nationalisms 110
Chapter 6
Democratization in Deeply Divided Societies:
The Netherlands, India, and Israel 132
Chapter 7
Camp David Rashomon: Contested Interpretations of
the Israel/Palestine Peace Process 171
viii Contents
Chapter 8
What Can Political Scientists Learn about Civil Society
from Anthropologists? 198
Chapter 9
Homo sovieticus and Vernacular Knowledge 240
Chapter 10
Conclusions 279
Bibliography 286
Name Index 326
Subject Index 334
T
ABLES
Table 2.1. Location of ethnographic studies in the studies of
power and politics 27
Table 2.2. Five types of ethnography 29
Table 2.3. Three dimensions of the ethnographic subject 42
Table 3.1. Types of symbols 70
Table 3.2. Logos versus Mythos 72
Table 3.3. Characteristics of traditional rituals, secular rituals,
and ceremonies 75
Table 3.4. Dimensions of rhetoric 76
Table 3.5. Custom and invented tradition 79
Table 4.1. Ideal type classical distinctions between traditional
and modern societies 89
Table 5.1. Types of nationalism 126
Table 6.1. Cultural and political forms of accommodation and
control in fi ssured societies 136
Table 8.1. Legal transparent civil society (ideal type of civil
society) and “incomplete” civil societies (secondary groups) 205
Table 8.2. Extreme fl aws undermining linkages among civil
society and other polity domains 208
Table 8.3. Civil society attributes, their “non-civil” counterparts,
and hybrid solutions 218