Chapter 5. Social Organization

1974 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 50-70
Author(s):  
B. J. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
Government Power ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
Caste Structure ◽  
Commensal Relationship

The Birhor constitute a society which is easily distinguished and studied apart from the dominant Indian social groups surrounding them. But they by no means constitute a politically autonomous society. The ultimate characteristics of political autonomy such as capital punishment, the waging of war, and so forth, do not arise as a possibility for the Birhor. Actual contact with the larger society in the form of government power is infrequent, inconsistent, and understood very little by the Birhor. A more important relation with the larger, agricultural Hindu and Muslim society is the traditional caste structure in which the Birhor, regardless of their own opinions, are defined as a very low caste group and are so treated by villagers.The major effect of this caste-like treatment, from the point of view of this study, has been to retard change in the Birhor way of life by denying them land and preserving their traditional relationship to the agricultural villages. This relationship might best be described as a parabiotic or commensal relationship. The most important aspects of this commensal relationship are lack of political autonomy of the Birhor and the importance, to them, of trade with villagers. On the other hand, the life of the villager would be little affected by the presence or absence of the Birhor. The economic aspects of trade between Birhor and villager are described in Chapter 7.

Otherness in More’s Utopia

Moreana ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (Number 205- (3-4) ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Guillaume Navaud
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Old World ◽  
Self Sufficiency

Utopia as a concept points towards a world essentially alien to us. Utopia as a work describes this otherness and confronts us with a world whose strangeness might seem disturbing. Utopia and Europe differ in their relationship to what is other (Latin alienus) – that is, that which belongs to someone else, that which is foreign, that which is strange. These two worlds are at odds in regards to their foreign policy and way of life: Utopia aspires to self-sufficiency but remains open to whatever good may arrive from beyond its borders, while the Old World appears alienated by exteriority yet refuses to welcome any kind of otherness. This issue also plays a major part in the reception of More’s work. Book I invites the reader to distance himself from a European point of view in order to consider what is culturally strange not as logically absurd but merely as geographically remote. Utopia still makes room for some exoticism, but mostly in its paratexts, and this exoticism needs to be deciphered. All in all, Utopia may invite us to transcend the horizontal dialectics of worldly alterity in order to open our eyes to a more radical, metaphysical otherness.

scholarly journals Vuoret ja kaupunki vastakohtaisina tiloina Alisa Ganijevan teoksissa

2016 ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
Anni Lappela
Keyword(s):  
Central Element ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The Real ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
The City ◽  
Geographical Space

Mountains and City as Contrary Spaces in the Prose of Alisa Ganieva I analyze Alisa Ganieva’s novel Prazdnichnaia gora (2012) and her novella Salam tebe, Dalgat! (2010) from a geocritical (Westphal, Tally) point of view. Ganieva was born in 1985 in Moscow, but she grew up in Dagestan, in North Caucasia. Since 2002, she has lived in Moscow. All Ganieva’s novels are set in present-day Dagestan, not only in the capital Makhachkala but also in the countryside.  I study the ways the two main spaces and main milieus, the mountains and the city, oppose each other in Prazdnichnaia gora. I also analyze how this opposition constructs the utopian and dystopian discourses of the novel. In this high/low opposition, the mountains appear as the utopian place of a better future, and the city in the lowlands is depicted as a dystopian place of the present-day life. The texts’ multilayered time is also part of my analysis, which follows Westphal’s idea of the stratigraphy of time. Furthermore, the mountains are associated with the traditional way of life and the Soviet past. In this way, the mountains have two kinds of roles in the texts. Nevertheless, the city is a central element of the postcolonial dystopian discourse of Prazdnichnaia gora. In my opinion, Ganieva’s texts problematize referentiality, one of the key concepts of geocriticism. Whilst the city tends to be very referential, the mountains escape the referential relationship to the “real” geographical space.

scholarly journals CITY ENVIRONMENT AS A NECESSARY CONDITION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACTIVE LIFESTYLE AND ACTIVE TOURISM

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Светлана ХУСНУТДИНОВА ◽  
Svetlana KHUSNUTDINOVA ◽  
Юлия ЗАКИРОВА ◽  
Yuliya ZAKIROVA
Keyword(s):  
Creative Industries ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
Safe School ◽  
City Environment ◽  
City Culture ◽  
Local Residents

The article is devoted to the study of the possibilities and peculiarities of the city environment from the point of view of providing the necessary conditions for the active city lifestyle and active tourism. Cities are interested in the develop- ment of tourism, as an industry that actively attracts investments in the economy, creating a huge variety of workplaces and selfemployment, contributing to the growth of the tax base, preserving local uniqueness and historical and cultural heritage that stimulates creative industries. Obviously, it is impossible, and it is not necessary to create two different cities – “for tourists” and “for citizens”. It means that infrastructure, including transport, street network, cafes and restaurants, entertainment and shopping centers, parks and embankments are actively used by both citizens and tourists. Moreover tourists are attracted by the same objects and events that are in demand among local residents. Accordingly, the creation of a comfortable, safe, friendly city environment is a prerequisite for development, both in terms of improving the quality of life of citizens and attracting tourists. Cities are interested in diversifying the offer for tourist and should contribute to the formation of material and unmaterial factors for the active tourism development. Material factors include the corresponding infrastructure, high-quality ecological situation and a number of others. Unmaterial factors are formed on the basis of city culture, one of the values of which is the active way of life. Priority should be given to the development of the infrastructure of safe school routes, stimulating active modes of movement in the daily regime, creating accessible and safe areas for various sports and outdoor activities.

Structural changes in the modern urban lifestyle

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-42
Author(s):  
Madina Arif kyzy Mekhdieva
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Geographical Environment ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Historical Nature

The article deals with the issues of urban settlements and urban lifestyle from the point of view of structural changes under the influence of transformational processes in the development of productive forces, tools and means of production. The author notes the historical nature of this process associated with the geographical environment, resources and migration flows under the influence of the development of capitalist relations. Some peculiarities of lifestyle in Baku as a city with an ancient history, with a number of characteristic features of a distinctive way of life, combining the traditions of several generations and different civilizations, are analyzed.

The Ultimate Value of Technology

2006 ◽  
pp. 158-179
Author(s):  
Robert A. Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Value Of Information ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Human Group ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Human Attributes

In the previous chapter, we saw how difficult it was to determine the value of information technology, even with a clearly defined point of view from which to assess that value, namely, the interests of the organization utilizing the technology. Over and above the point of view of the organization or even the economy as an aggregate of organizations, there are other perspectives to consider. Is it correct to view technology as another enabling value like health and wealth, an all-purpose means that enables us to achieve any number of our ends?1 Or should technology rather be viewed as an entirely different way of structuring reality? These questions raise broader issues that need to be considered from much wider points of view: What is the value of information technology for humanity as a whole? And finally, what is the value of information technology for being as a whole? In considering these questions, we need also to consider whether the value of information technology is best assessed as a part of technology generally, or whether information technology has its own characteristics relevant for assessing its value. I will examine issues concerning technology as a whole in this chapter, and return to the IT-specific issues in the next chapter. Beyond considering technology and information technology from the point of view of humanity as a whole, it may be necessary to consider technology and information technology from the point of view of being as a whole. One could think of the point of view of being as a whole as God’s point of view, except that many religious conceptions of God assign many different human attributes to God. And so to determine what is valuable from God’s point of view would embroil us in major religious disputes about God’s nature. Trying to take the point of view of being avoids such disputes. Rather, we are asking, what is the value of technology from the point of view of the unfolding or revealing of whatever is, has been, or will come to be?2 Even the point of view of humanity is itself very difficult for many people to embrace. Instead, their highest point of view is that of some limited human group, most typically national or social groups, ethnic groups, or economic groups or organizations. Yet even with these difficulties, it is easier to discuss the value of technology and information technology from the point of view of humanity as a whole than it is to discuss these questions from the point of view of being. So we will start with the point of view of humanity.

Peasant Resistance in Ethiopia: the Case of Weyane

1984 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gebru Tareke
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Other ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Autonomy ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pastoral Communities ◽  
The Government ◽  
Peasant Resistance

Weyane was a spontaneous, localized peasant uprising with limited objectives. It occurred in 1943 because several disaffected social groups in the eastern part of Tigrai believed that they could defeat or at least extract substantial concessions from a weak transitional government. The multiplicity of objectives roughly correspond to the divergent interests of the participants: the sectarian nobility wanted a greater share in the regional reallocation of power, the semi-pastoral communities of the lowlands were interested in pre-empting feudal incorporation, and the highland cultivators wanted to terminate the excessive demands of officialdom and militia. The convergence of these forces made Weyane possible; the disorganization of the ruling strata and the subsequent defection of a segment of the territorial nobility enormously enhanced the peasants' capacity for collective action. But this very heterogeneity comprised the peasants' objectives. The revolt lacked a coherent set of goals, nor did it have a specific program for social action. The rebels attacked neither the legitimacy of the monarchy nor the ideological basis of the Ethiopian aristocracy. In the end, Weyane buttressed the feudal order, and was probably instrumental in strengthening Ethiopia's neo-colonial link with the West. In the aftermath of rebellion, the Tigrai nobility did get its rights and prerogatives recognized, to the same extent that the nobility in the other northern provinces did. The government undercut the nobility's political autonomy, but paid the price of reinforcing their social position. On the other hand, in reaction to Weyane, the state destroyed the social basis of clan authority and autonomy, and reduced the Raya and Azebo to landless peasants. Weyane marked the end of conflict between centrifugal and centralizing forces, but did not eliminate the social roots of popular protest.

Marginalisation of the Waata Oromo Hunter–Gatherers of Kenya: Insider and Outsider Perspectives

Africa ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneesa Kassam ◽  
Ali Balla Bashuna
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Social Activist ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Northern Kenya ◽  
British Colonial

AbstractThis paper examines how the way of life of a little known group of hunter–gatherers, the Waata Oromo, was brought to an end through British colonial wildlife conservation laws and the creation of national parks in Kenya. Through this policy and that of the containment of ethnic groups to ‘tribal reserves’, the Waata lost their place in the regional economic system and suffered loss of cultural identity. It also meant that when Kenya gained independence, the Waata were not recognised as a distinct entity with rights to their own political representation. Instead, they became appendages of the dominant pastoral groups with which they had been associated. They were thus doubly marginalised, in both economic and political terms. The paper describes how this situation has led some Waata in northern Kenya to claim separate ethnic status. It discusses the problem from the point of view of a Waata social activist and of an anthropologist. These two perspectives raise further issues for the etic/emic debate in anthropology.

scholarly journals African Nightclubs of Lisbon and Madrid as Spaces of Cultural Resistance

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 264-275
Author(s):  
Livia Jiménez Sedano
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Symbolic Violence ◽  
Symbolic Power ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Late Modernity ◽  
Dance Floor ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Structural Inequalities

Abstract The main objective of this article involves describing how African nightclubs of Lisbon have become spaces for cultural resistance against certain representations of African-ness, taking Madrid as a contrasting case. Since the 1970s, the so-called African nightclubs of Lisbon have constituted spaces for gathering and nurturing a sense of community for immigrants from Portuguese-speaking Africa. Commonly regarded suspiciously by most Portuguese citizens, commodification of the couple dance labelled kizomba during the 1990s helped changed their status. However, most African research participants do not recognise their beloved dance in the commodified version of kizomba. In this context, I analyse the commodification process as a form of symbolic violence that disguises postcolonial structural inequalities and unsolved conflicts through a discourse of neutral “approaching of cultures” on the dance floor. Moreover, from the point of view of a meritocratic symbolism, this discourse portrays the performances displayed at African discos as “basic” and unworthy. After exploring several ways of resistance to commodified kizomba displayed by African discos clientele, I conclude reflecting on the increasing symbolic power of global industries for naming social groups, structuring practices and exercising symbolic violence in late modernity.

scholarly journals Art. IX. —On the Form of Government under the Native Sovereigns of Ceylon

1876 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-304
Author(s):  
A. de Silva Ekanâyaka
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
Ancient Times

There being unquestionable historical facts and monumental ruins to testify to a considerable amount of civilization amongst the Sinhalese at an early period of their history, it may not unreasonably be supposed that they had a code of written laws, and a regular Government with a suitable executive. This cannot well be doubted, since it appears that law itself formed, in ancient times, a subject of study in the island. No regular records of these things, however, have come down to us, owing, in all probability, to the wanton destruction of literary records and libraries during the several invasions from the continent of India. Sinhalese historians with one voice deplore the devastations committed by the Cholas about the commencement of the thirteenth century, when the island suffered irreparable losses, both in a literary and political point of view, from the Saracenic fury of the invaders.

Niemcy w Warszawie po raz pierwszy. Nowsze opracowania na temat niemieckiej okupacji 1915–1918

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (1 (464)) ◽  
pp. 129-140
Author(s):  
Maciej Górny
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World War ◽  
Proper Place ◽  
The Many ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Great War

The article describes the newer works devoted to the occupation of Polish lands, especially of Warsaw during World War I. Recently, this subject, so far neglected, has drown the attention of numerous scientists, both from Poland and from abroad. Their point of view is different not only from the older perspectives, but also from the perspectives of slightly newer works on the other occupied areas and emphasizing the connection between the experience of the Great War and genocide during World War II. In the most precious fragments, the new historiography gives a very wide image of social life, in which the proper place is taken by previously marginalised social groups. Differently from the older works, the policy of the occupants on the Polish lands is not treated only as a unilateral dictate, but rather as a dynamic process of negotiation, in which the strength and position of each of the (many) sides has been changed. And, this change is accompanied by the new arrangements concerning almost all aspects of the German policy and the conditions of living during World War I.

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