In this introduction we approach egalitarianism as an upsetting force that in various ways has sh... more In this introduction we approach egalitarianism as an upsetting force that in various ways has shaped much of modern, especially Western, human history. We outline philosophical trajectories from the Enlightenment onward; consider the historical realization of an agency of ‘the people’ for the articulation of state, society, and politics; and highlight some issues that arise when the claims to freedom and equality clash against established institutions and values. Stressing the dynamic intertwining of the egalitarian with the hierarchical, we portray egalitarian life forms as modes of relationality that negate, subvert, or take advantage of open potentials in existing systems. Egalitarian life strives toward reconfiguring social orders through rupturing moments of effervescence and liminality while attempting to redefine central categories of life.
This is Chapter 19 of Eds. E.Hirsch and W. Rollason 'The Melanesian World', CRC P... more This is Chapter 19 of Eds. E.Hirsch and W. Rollason 'The Melanesian World', CRC Press 2019 In this chapter I situate what we call 'witchcraft' and 'sorcery' in Melanesian situations. We tend to think that it is like a crime that one person commits against another. But the ideas of a murder weapon, a crime scene, personal motive and cause, or the very idea of a murder, tend to take surprising directions or disappear altogether when we are dealing with these in Melanesia. Likewise, we cannot pretend that what we call sorcery or witchcraft across an entire region are singular or homogeneous phenomena, and we have to deal with historical change of both concepts and practices.
This is chapter 2 in eds R. Willerslev and D. Refslund 2013. 'Taming Time, Timing Death: Soci... more This is chapter 2 in eds R. Willerslev and D. Refslund 2013. 'Taming Time, Timing Death: Social Technologies and Ritual'. First volume of book-series 'Studies in Death, Materiality and the Origin of Time'. Ashgate
In this short article i ask 'in what way was the Charlie Hebdo shootings an event?&#3... more In this short article i ask 'in what way was the Charlie Hebdo shootings an event?'. This was published in 2015 as chapter 2 of "The Event of Charlie Hebdo" edited by Alessandro Zagato. Berghahn Books: Critical Interventions Series.
Using Dumont’s analysis of value, this paper discusses the interplay between equality and hierarc... more Using Dumont’s analysis of value, this paper discusses the interplay between equality and hierarchy in Ambrym Island, Vanuatu. From this vantage point Melanesian egalitarianism appears to be a dynamic and hybrid form that reproduces itself through tensions between different forms of potential inequality. The discussion is situated within a thoroughly globalized society, where money and Christianity have played a fundamental role for over a century, and where ceremonial displays and exchanges of food are still absolutely central to village life. Those food ceremonies create important material spectacles of sociality, where the exhibition, destruction and distribution of food are part of an ongoing process of submitting potentially hierarchical structures to an ethos of egalitarianism.
Melanesian people have recently become highly occupied with history as an arena for moral scrutin... more Melanesian people have recently become highly occupied with history as an arena for moral scrutiny and causal explanations for contemporary failures. On the island of Ambrym in Vanuatu, this form of ontological worry goes back to the first missionaries on the island, the Murray brothers. This article takes us back to events in the 1880s when the missionaries were active on Ambrym, and searches into their social position. Drawing on the diary of Charles Murray, the main argument unfolds around his involvement in the realm of men's ritual powers, how he himself played his part as a highly knowledgeable magician and how his downfall came about by challenging a manly realm of knowledge and power and his wider inclusion of women and lesser men in his church.
This article marks an effort to extend Louis Dumont's concept pair of hierarchy and individua... more This article marks an effort to extend Louis Dumont's concept pair of hierarchy and individualism towards a more realistic understanding of social formations. Dumont's work is reviewed along with his critics, and through a survey of contemporary ethnography a move towards a concept of totalization is suggested. It is argued that a view of totalization and detotalization provides a vocabulary for a re-establishment of the social for the discipline of anthropology.
In this introduction we approach egalitarianism as an upsetting force that in various ways has sh... more In this introduction we approach egalitarianism as an upsetting force that in various ways has shaped much of modern, especially Western, human history. We outline philosophical trajectories from the Enlightenment onward; consider the historical realization of an agency of ‘the people’ for the articulation of state, society, and politics; and highlight some issues that arise when the claims to freedom and equality clash against established institutions and values. Stressing the dynamic intertwining of the egalitarian with the hierarchical, we portray egalitarian life forms as modes of relationality that negate, subvert, or take advantage of open potentials in existing systems. Egalitarian life strives toward reconfiguring social orders through rupturing moments of effervescence and liminality while attempting to redefine central categories of life.
This is Chapter 19 of Eds. E.Hirsch and W. Rollason 'The Melanesian World', CRC P... more This is Chapter 19 of Eds. E.Hirsch and W. Rollason 'The Melanesian World', CRC Press 2019 In this chapter I situate what we call 'witchcraft' and 'sorcery' in Melanesian situations. We tend to think that it is like a crime that one person commits against another. But the ideas of a murder weapon, a crime scene, personal motive and cause, or the very idea of a murder, tend to take surprising directions or disappear altogether when we are dealing with these in Melanesia. Likewise, we cannot pretend that what we call sorcery or witchcraft across an entire region are singular or homogeneous phenomena, and we have to deal with historical change of both concepts and practices.
This is chapter 2 in eds R. Willerslev and D. Refslund 2013. 'Taming Time, Timing Death: Soci... more This is chapter 2 in eds R. Willerslev and D. Refslund 2013. 'Taming Time, Timing Death: Social Technologies and Ritual'. First volume of book-series 'Studies in Death, Materiality and the Origin of Time'. Ashgate
In this short article i ask 'in what way was the Charlie Hebdo shootings an event?&#3... more In this short article i ask 'in what way was the Charlie Hebdo shootings an event?'. This was published in 2015 as chapter 2 of "The Event of Charlie Hebdo" edited by Alessandro Zagato. Berghahn Books: Critical Interventions Series.
Using Dumont’s analysis of value, this paper discusses the interplay between equality and hierarc... more Using Dumont’s analysis of value, this paper discusses the interplay between equality and hierarchy in Ambrym Island, Vanuatu. From this vantage point Melanesian egalitarianism appears to be a dynamic and hybrid form that reproduces itself through tensions between different forms of potential inequality. The discussion is situated within a thoroughly globalized society, where money and Christianity have played a fundamental role for over a century, and where ceremonial displays and exchanges of food are still absolutely central to village life. Those food ceremonies create important material spectacles of sociality, where the exhibition, destruction and distribution of food are part of an ongoing process of submitting potentially hierarchical structures to an ethos of egalitarianism.
Melanesian people have recently become highly occupied with history as an arena for moral scrutin... more Melanesian people have recently become highly occupied with history as an arena for moral scrutiny and causal explanations for contemporary failures. On the island of Ambrym in Vanuatu, this form of ontological worry goes back to the first missionaries on the island, the Murray brothers. This article takes us back to events in the 1880s when the missionaries were active on Ambrym, and searches into their social position. Drawing on the diary of Charles Murray, the main argument unfolds around his involvement in the realm of men's ritual powers, how he himself played his part as a highly knowledgeable magician and how his downfall came about by challenging a manly realm of knowledge and power and his wider inclusion of women and lesser men in his church.
This article marks an effort to extend Louis Dumont's concept pair of hierarchy and individua... more This article marks an effort to extend Louis Dumont's concept pair of hierarchy and individualism towards a more realistic understanding of social formations. Dumont's work is reviewed along with his critics, and through a survey of contemporary ethnography a move towards a concept of totalization is suggested. It is argued that a view of totalization and detotalization provides a vocabulary for a re-establishment of the social for the discipline of anthropology.
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