Fracturing Resemblances
Identity and Mimetic Conflict in Melanesia and the West
1st Edition
Published on 1. December 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-1-84545-097-7 (ISBN)
Description
Western societies draw crucially on concepts of the 'individual' in constructing their images of the ethnic group and nation and define these in terms of difference. This study explores the implications of these constructs for Western understanding of social order and ethnic conflicts. Comparing them with the forms of cultural identity characteristic of Melanesia as they have developed since pre-colonial times, the author arrives at a surprising conclusion: he argues that these kinds of identities are more properly and adequately viewed as forms of disguised or denied resemblance, and that it is these covert commonalities that give rise to, and prolong, social divisions and conflicts between groups.
Reviews / Votes
"This book offers a counterintuitive and innovative approach to the politics of cultural difference and social order. The appeal of Harrison's argument is enhanced because he shows that currently dominant approaches to the politics of identity and difference are likely to be misguided, but does not resort to a wrongheaded appeal to universalism that simply collapses difference." ? Anthropological Forum"Simon Harrison has written a thoughtful short book. It is clearly written and well argued. It uses diverse ethnography to explore proprietary forms of identity, where culture is a form of property to be possessed or selectively given out to others. The book is comparative anthropology at its best...a powerful thoughtful book, [whose] controversial ideas deserve serious debate." ? Dialect Anthropol
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is clearly and convincingly written, covers a large number of fascinating and diverse ethnographic cases, and its central theoretical propositions are well worthy of consideration and debate." ? American Anthropologist
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Bibliography; Index
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
287 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84545-097-7 (9781845450977)
DOI
10.3167/9781571816801
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2006
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€22.49
Available for download
Person
Simon Harrison is Reader in Social Anthropology at the University of Ulster, and has carried out ethnographic fieldwork among the people of Avatip in Papua New Guinea. He has published extensively on Melanesian warfare, ethnopsychology, cultural identity, and indigenous forms of intellectual property.
Content
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Order, Conflict and 'Difference'
Chapter 1. Proprietary Identities
Chapter 2. A Phenomenology of Trademark Ownership
Chapter 3. Mimesis and Identity
Chapter 4. Difference as Denied Resemblance
Chapter 5. Property, Personhood and the Objectification of Culture
Chapter 6. Cultural Piracy and Cultural Pollution
Chapter 7. Cultural Boundaries, Cultural Ownership
Chapter 8. Power and the Negotiation of Identity
Chapter 9. Identity as a Scarce Resource
Chapter 10. The Politics of Alikeness
Conclusion: Cultural Constructions of 'Cultural Identity'
Bibliography
Index
Introduction: Order, Conflict and 'Difference'
Chapter 1. Proprietary Identities
Chapter 2. A Phenomenology of Trademark Ownership
Chapter 3. Mimesis and Identity
Chapter 4. Difference as Denied Resemblance
Chapter 5. Property, Personhood and the Objectification of Culture
Chapter 6. Cultural Piracy and Cultural Pollution
Chapter 7. Cultural Boundaries, Cultural Ownership
Chapter 8. Power and the Negotiation of Identity
Chapter 9. Identity as a Scarce Resource
Chapter 10. The Politics of Alikeness
Conclusion: Cultural Constructions of 'Cultural Identity'
Bibliography
Index