The Social Production of Indifference

Exploring the Symbolic Roots of Western Bureaucracy

Michael Herzfeld (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

220 Seiten

2021
Routledge (Verlag)
978-0-367-71717-9 (ISBN)

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In this fascinating book, Michael Herzfeld argues that 'modern' bureaucratically regulated societies are no more 'rational' or less 'symbolic' than the societies traditionally studied by anthropologists. Drawing primarily on the example of modern Greece and utilizing other European materials, he suggests that we cannot understand national bureaucracies divorced from local-level ideas about chance, personal character, social relationships and responsibility. He points out that both formal regulations and day-to-day bureaucratic practices rely heavily on the symbols and language of the moral boundaries between insiders and outsiders; a ready means of expressing prejudice and of justifying neglect. It therefore happens that societies with proud traditions of generous hospitality may paradoxically produce at the official level some of the most calculated indifference one can find anywhere.

Michael Herzfeld is Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University

The social production of indifference; one world or two?; the roots of indifference; the creativity of stereotypes; the language fetish; retrospective fatalities; declassifications.

Erscheinungsdatum	06.04.2021
Reihe/Serie	Global Issues
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	138 x 216 mm
Gewicht	258 g
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
ISBN-10	0-367-71717-4 / 0367717174
ISBN-13	978-0-367-71717-9 / 9780367717179
Zustand	Neuware