by Clifford Geertz ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2000
An occasional muddy patch, but worth wading through for the author's insights.
If the proper study of mankind is man, anthropology ought to be the most vital of all sciences. In this collection of essays, reviews, and speeches from the last 20 years, one of the modern giants of that discipline offers his wisdom.
Geertz (After the Fact, 1994) opens with a brief professional autobiography, which for him began with his arrival at Antioch as one of the GI generation. He then passed through Harvard's short-lived but seminal Soc Rel program, doing important fieldwork in Java and Morocco, and finally arrived at Princeton's Institute of Advanced Studies. Along the way, he watched the nominal subject of his discipline alter radically: the few `primitive` cultures still on Earth are busy acquiring transistor radios, and even the notion of `culture` is now open to question. At the same time, anthropology must face ethical questions on the nature of fieldwork. Is any honest relationship possible between a college-educated American and a Javanese subsistence farmer, each seeking in some way to exploit the other? How does an anthropologist come to terms with the legacy of colonialism that lies at the roots of his discipline, and to what extent are his studies in conflict with the aspirations of oppressed people to better their lives? In and around these questions Geertz weaves considerations of issues specific to his discipline, notably the roles of behaviorism, structuralism, and other modern philosophical tools in the interpretation of culture. Geertz stoutly resists the impulse to simplify, and the reader who isn't up-to-date on debates within anthropological circles may occasionally find the line of argument hard to follow. But overall, this is a provocative look at the human race (and the study thereof) by a man who has seen more of it than most.
An occasional muddy patch, but worth wading through for the author's insights.Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-691-04974-2
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
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BOOK REVIEW
by Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2018
The value of this book is the context it provides, in a style aimed at a concerned citizenry rather than fellow academics,...
A provocative analysis of the parallels between Donald Trump’s ascent and the fall of other democracies.
Following the last presidential election, Levitsky (Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America, 2003, etc.) and Ziblatt (Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, 2017, etc.), both professors of government at Harvard, wrote an op-ed column titled, “Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?” The answer here is a resounding yes, though, as in that column, the authors underscore their belief that the crisis extends well beyond the power won by an outsider whom they consider a demagogue and a liar. “Donald Trump may have accelerated the process, but he didn’t cause it,” they write of the politics-as-warfare mentality. “The weakening of our democratic norms is rooted in extreme partisan polarization—one that extends beyond policy differences into an existential conflict over race and culture.” The authors fault the Republican establishment for failing to stand up to Trump, even if that meant electing his opponent, and they seem almost wistfully nostalgic for the days when power brokers in smoke-filled rooms kept candidacies restricted to a club whose members knew how to play by the rules. Those supporting the candidacy of Bernie Sanders might take as much issue with their prescriptions as Trump followers will. However, the comparisons they draw to how democratic populism paved the way toward tyranny in Peru, Venezuela, Chile, and elsewhere are chilling. Among the warning signs they highlight are the Republican Senate’s refusal to consider Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee as well as Trump’s demonization of political opponents, minorities, and the media. As disturbing as they find the dismantling of Democratic safeguards, Levitsky and Ziblatt suggest that “a broad opposition coalition would have important benefits,” though such a coalition would strike some as a move to the center, a return to politics as usual, and even a pragmatic betrayal of principles.
The value of this book is the context it provides, in a style aimed at a concerned citizenry rather than fellow academics, rather than in the consensus it is not likely to build.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6293-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
by Bari Weiss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2019
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
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