Transparency and Conspiracy

Ethnographies of Suspicion in the New World Order

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Transparency and Conspiracy by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian ISBN: 9780822384854
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: April 17, 2003
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
ISBN: 9780822384854
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: April 17, 2003
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

Transparency has, in recent years, become a watchword for good governance. Policymakers and analysts alike evaluate political and economic institutions—courts, corporations, nation-states—according to the transparency of their operating procedures. With the dawn of the New World Order and the “mutual veil dropping” of the post–Cold War era, many have asserted that power in our contemporary world is more transparent than ever. Yet from the perspective of the relatively less privileged, the operation of power often appears opaque and unpredictable. Through vivid ethnographic analyses, Transparency and Conspiracy examines a vast range of expressions of the popular suspicion of power—including forms of shamanism, sorcery, conspiracy theory, and urban legends—illuminating them as ways of making sense of the world in the midst of tumultuous and uneven processes of modernization.

In this collection leading anthropologists reveal the variations and commonalities in conspiratorial thinking or occult cosmologies around the globe—in Korea, Tanzania, Mozambique, New York City, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Orange County, California. The contributors chronicle how people express profound suspicions of the United Nations, the state, political parties, police, courts, international financial institutions, banks, traders and shopkeepers, media, churches, intellectuals, and the wealthy. Rather than focusing on the veracity of these convictions, Transparency and Conspiracy investigates who believes what and why. It makes a compelling argument against the dismissal of conspiracy theories and occult cosmologies as antimodern, irrational oversimplifications, showing how these beliefs render the world more complex by calling attention to its contradictions and proposing alternative ways of understanding it.

Contributors. Misty Bastian, Karen McCarthy Brown, Jean Comaroff, John Comaroff, Susan Harding, Daniel Hellinger, Caroline Humphrey, Laurel Kendall, Todd Sanders, Albert Schrauwers, Kathleen Stewart, Harry G. West

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Transparency has, in recent years, become a watchword for good governance. Policymakers and analysts alike evaluate political and economic institutions—courts, corporations, nation-states—according to the transparency of their operating procedures. With the dawn of the New World Order and the “mutual veil dropping” of the post–Cold War era, many have asserted that power in our contemporary world is more transparent than ever. Yet from the perspective of the relatively less privileged, the operation of power often appears opaque and unpredictable. Through vivid ethnographic analyses, Transparency and Conspiracy examines a vast range of expressions of the popular suspicion of power—including forms of shamanism, sorcery, conspiracy theory, and urban legends—illuminating them as ways of making sense of the world in the midst of tumultuous and uneven processes of modernization.

In this collection leading anthropologists reveal the variations and commonalities in conspiratorial thinking or occult cosmologies around the globe—in Korea, Tanzania, Mozambique, New York City, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Orange County, California. The contributors chronicle how people express profound suspicions of the United Nations, the state, political parties, police, courts, international financial institutions, banks, traders and shopkeepers, media, churches, intellectuals, and the wealthy. Rather than focusing on the veracity of these convictions, Transparency and Conspiracy investigates who believes what and why. It makes a compelling argument against the dismissal of conspiracy theories and occult cosmologies as antimodern, irrational oversimplifications, showing how these beliefs render the world more complex by calling attention to its contradictions and proposing alternative ways of understanding it.

Contributors. Misty Bastian, Karen McCarthy Brown, Jean Comaroff, John Comaroff, Susan Harding, Daniel Hellinger, Caroline Humphrey, Laurel Kendall, Todd Sanders, Albert Schrauwers, Kathleen Stewart, Harry G. West

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book The Long War by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Creating the Creole Island by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book The Transformation of Chinese Socialism by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book People of Faith by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Eye Contact by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Women's Cinema, World Cinema by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Reproduction, Globalization, and the State by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Mohawk Interruptus by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Plan Colombia by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Bodies of Inscription by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Mutual Impressions by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book The Technical Delusion by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book An Absent Presence by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Virtual Voyages by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
Cover of the book Financial Missionaries to the World by Laurel Kendall, Misty L. Bastian
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy