Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology by Clastres, Pierre
Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology by Clastres, Pierre

Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology

In this seminal, founding work of political anthropology, Pierre Clastres takes on some of the most abiding...
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
SKU: 9780942299014
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 24 left in stock
Author: Pierre Clastres
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: $276.80
10 customers are viewing this product
Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology by Clastres, Pierre

Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology

$276.80
Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology by Clastres, Pierre

Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology

$276.80
Author: Pierre Clastres
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Description

In this seminal, founding work of political anthropology, Pierre Clastres takes on some of the most abiding and essential questions of human civilization: What is power? What is society? How, among all the possible modes of political organization, did we come to choose the monolithic State model and its accompanying regimes of coercion? As Clastres shows, other and different regimes do indeed exist, and they existed long before ours -- regimes in which power, though it manifests itself everywhere, is nonetheless noncoercive.

In such societies, political culture, and cultural practices generally, are not only not submissive to the State model, but they actively avert it, rendering impossible the very conditions in which coercive power and the State could arise. How then could our own "societies of the State" ever have arisen from these rich and complex stateless societies, and why?

Clastres brilliantly and imaginatively addresses these questions, meditating on the peculiar shape and dynamics of so-called "primitive societies," and especially on the discourses with which "civilized" (i.e., political, economic, literate) peoples have not ceased to reduce and contain them. He refutes outright the idea that the State is the ultimate and logical density of all societies. On the contrary, Clastres develops a whole alternate and always affirmative political technology based on values such as leisure, prestige, and generosity.

Through individual essays he explores and deftly situates the anarchistic political and social roles of storytelling, homosexuality, jokes, ruinous gift-giving, and the torturous ritual marking of the body, placing them within an economy of power and desire very different from our own, one whose most fundamental goal is to celebrate life while rendering the rise of despotic power impossible. Though power itself is shown to be inseparable from the richest and most complex forms of social life, the State is seen as a specific but grotesque aberration peculiar only to certain societies, not least of which is our own.

Not for sale in the U.K. and British Commonwealth, South Africa, Burma, Jordan, and Iraq.

Author: Pierre Clastres
Publisher: Zone Books
Published: 10/01/1990
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780942299014
Audience: Young Adult

About the Author

Thomas S. Stroik is Professor of English and Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is the author of Syntactic Controversies; Minimalism, Scope, and VP Structure; Path Theory and Argument Structure; and The Pragmatics of Metaphor.


Shipping & Return

Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Review

Related Products

Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80
Example product title
HK$276.80
HK$276.80

Recently Viewed Products