Priests and Programmers
Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali
1st Edition
Published on 6. May 2019
216 pages
978-1-4008-2763-3 (ISBN)
Description
For the Balinese, the whole of nature is a perpetual resource: through centuries of carefully directed labor, the engineered landscape of the island's rice terraces has taken shape. According to Stephen Lansing, the need for effective cooperation in water management links thousands of farmers together in hierarchies of productive relationships that span entire watersheds.
Lansing describes the network of water temples that once managed the flow of irrigation water in the name of the Goddess of the Crater Lake. Using the techniques of ecological simulation modeling as well as cultural and historical analysis, Lansing argues that the symbolic system of temple rituals is not merely a reflection of utilitarian constraints but also a basic ingredient in the organization of production.
Lansing describes the network of water temples that once managed the flow of irrigation water in the name of the Goddess of the Crater Lake. Using the techniques of ecological simulation modeling as well as cultural and historical analysis, Lansing argues that the symbolic system of temple rituals is not merely a reflection of utilitarian constraints but also a basic ingredient in the organization of production.
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Book
04/2007
Princeton University Press
€31.80
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Persons
J. Stephen Lansing is a Professor at the Santa Fe Institute and in the departments of Anthropology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. He is the author of Perfect Order: Recognizing Complexity in Bali (Princeton).
Content
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
Foreword xv
Preface to the 2007 Edition xix
Acknowledgments xxxi
Introduction: The Gods of the Countryside 1
Chapter One: "Income to Which No Tears Are Attached" 17
Chapter Two: The Powers of Water 37
Chapter Three: The Waters of Power 50
Chapter Four: The Temple of the Crater Lake 73
Chapter Six: Massive Guidance 111
Conclusion: Sociogensis 127
Afterword by Valerio Valeri 134
Appendix A: Plan of the Temple of the Crater lake 145
Appendic B: Technical Report on the Ecological Simulation Model by James N. Kremer 153
Notes 159
Index 181
List of Tables xiii
Foreword xv
Preface to the 2007 Edition xix
Acknowledgments xxxi
Introduction: The Gods of the Countryside 1
Chapter One: "Income to Which No Tears Are Attached" 17
Chapter Two: The Powers of Water 37
Chapter Three: The Waters of Power 50
Chapter Four: The Temple of the Crater Lake 73
Chapter Six: Massive Guidance 111
Conclusion: Sociogensis 127
Afterword by Valerio Valeri 134
Appendix A: Plan of the Temple of the Crater lake 145
Appendic B: Technical Report on the Ecological Simulation Model by James N. Kremer 153
Notes 159
Index 181
