History, power, ideology : central issues in Marxism and anthropology / Donald L. Donham.

ISBN:

9780520920798

9780585129976

Title:

History, power, ideology : central issues in Marxism and anthropology / Donald L. Donham.

Author:

Donham, Donald L. (Donald Lewis)

Personal Author:

Donham, Donald L. (Donald Lewis)

Publication Information:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 1999.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xix, 240 pages) : illustrations, maps

Contents:

Homo economicus: A Maale mystery -- Epochal structures I: Reconstructing historical materialism -- Epochal structures II: An anatomy of Maale production -- History at one point in time: "Working together" in Bola, 1975 -- Appendix: Predicting the past from the future.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Male (African people) -- Politics and government.

Male (African people) -- Economic conditions.

Male (African people) -- Social conditions.

Marxist anthropology -- Ethiopia.

Marxian economics -- Ethiopia.

Communism -- Ethiopia.

Geographic Term:

Ethiopia -- Politics and government.

Ethiopia -- Economic conditions.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

1999

Publication Information:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 1999.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
306.3 21	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Is Marxism a reflection of the conceptual system it fights against, rather than a truly comprehensive approach to human history? Drawing on recent work in anthropology, history, and philosophy, Donald Donham confronts this problem in analyzing a radically different social order: the former Maale kingdom of southern Ethiopia. Unlike capitalist societies, wherein inequality is organized by contracts between "free" individuals, in Maale powerful men were thought to "beget" others through control of biological fertility and material fortune. Donham scrutinizes this unusual system of domination in order to sharpen issues in social and cultural theory. He concludes that the interpretation of symbols and analysis of historical contingency should be crucial steps in any Marxists investigation. The result is a provocative and original re-reading of the Marxist tradition, and a spirited defense of its continued vitality and relevance. "Every once in a while there appears a book that . . . opens up new ways of inquiring into the ways of the world. Donald Donham has written such a book. The style is quiet and judicious, but the effect is stunning. . . . In putting inherited partisan approaches to the test of explaining the realities of Maale society and culture, Donham enriches anthropology and imparts new vigor to the analytical Marxian traditions. History, Power, Ideology embodies a major accomplishment."--From the Foreword

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1999.

Is Marxism a reflection of the conceptual system it fights against, rather than a truly comprehensive approach to human history? Drawing on recent work in anthropology, history, and philosophy, Donald Donham confronts this problem in analyzing a radically

Author Notes

Donham Donald L. :

Donald L. Donham is Professor of Anthropology at Emory University and author of Work and Power in Maale, Ethiopia (1994). Eric R. Wolf is author of Europe and the People without History (California, 1982).