In so doing he refutes the usual negative definition of tribal society and poses its order as a radical critique of our own western state of power. Pierre clastres and the society against the state derrickbrozelivefree. There is no reason, therefore, to believe that, in a durkheimian mood, he has reified society. Translated by robert hurley in collaboration with abe stein.
He is the rare breed of political anthropologista nietzscheanand his work presents us with a genealogy of power in a native state. Pierre clastres, fodd 17 maj 1934 i paris, dod 29 juli 1977 i gabriac, var en fransk antropolog och etnograf. Chronicle of the guayaki indians by pierre clastres. Sparkling writing, and not naive ethnology at all, but a smart critique of the. The leader as servant and the humane uses of power among the indians of the americas. To sum up, pierre clastres was a proudhon, a galbraith and a fourier bundled into one. The aim of this text is to develop an epistemologicaltechnique approach which permit analyze the work of juan downey, and his use of technical medias and also include the struggle against the state in the political and cultural model of the primitive societies of the yano mani, particularly by the work of pierre clastres and jacques lizot, and also their point of view of the methods of. Pierre clastres pierre clastres 19341977 was a french anthropologist and ethnologist who in the wake of the events of may 68, helped overturn anthropological orthodoxy in the 1970s. Pierre clastres, chronique des indicns guayaki, paris, pion, 1972. In so doing he refutes the usual negative definition of tribal society and poses its order as a. Generally though the book did teach me a lot about primitive societies and made me. The topic of each essay is different, but the line connecting them would be power what is power in south american autochtonous societies, what is it source, its place, its limites, who wields, etc. For its perspective on war, cotnra of violence was said to be an antihobbes book left.
Wallace, david rains 29 march in moyns opinion clastress romanticized vision of society against the state not only failed to fulfill the primary need of his but not only his timea theory of w in which society and state. This factual judgment, accurate in itself, actually hides an opinion, a value judgment that immediately throws doubt on the possibility of constituting political anthropology as a strict science. The law they come to know in pain is the law of primitive society, which says to everyone. The question of power an interview with pierre clastres translated by helen arnold with a preface by miguel abensour clastres isnt refuting, he is asserting. How, then, can one conceive of the very existence of primitive societies if not as the rejects of universal. His books include society against the state 1974 and chronicle of the guayaki indians 1972. Essays in political anthropology sparkling writing, and not naive ethnology at all, but a smart critique of the ethnocentrism and evolutionism of the ethnology of his day. Clastress thesis is that economic expropriation and political coercion are inconsistent with the character of tribal society which is to say, with the greater part of human history. In this beautifully written book, pierre clastres offers examples of south american indian groups that, although without hierarchical leadership, were both affluent and complex.
This article examines the political anthropological work of pierre clastres in light of the emergence of the subfield of comparative political theory. Knowledge of power is innate in any society, thus the natural state for humans wanting to preserve autonomy is a society structured by a complex set of customs which actively avert the rise of despotic power. Circumscription theory legal anthropology leftright paradigm state formation political economy heoene anthropology network analysis and ethnographic problems. Pierre clastres and the society against the state youtube. I had to write a summary of the book society against the state for school that focused on the main argument that clastres was attempting to make in the book, so i thought id just post it here as it may be helpful. Society against the state is a 1972 ethnography of power relations in south american rainforest native cultures written by anthropologist pierre clastres and. Pierre clastres 19341977 was a french anthropologist and ethnologist who in the wake of the events of may 68, helped overturn anthropological orthodoxy in the 1970s. Society against the state pierre clastres pierre clastres broke up with his mentor claude levistrauss to collaborate with gilles deleuze and felix guattari on their antioedipus. In this beautifully written book, pierre clastres offers examples of south. Sep 06, 20 pierre clastres and the society against the state derrickbrozelivefree. The anthropology of pierre clastres gustavo barbosa1 abstract. An anarchist seeking an alternative to the hierarchized western societies, he mostly researched indigenous people in which the.
The law, inscribed on bodies, expresses primitive societys refusal to run the risk of division, the risk of a power separate from society itself, a power that would escape its control. Like marshall sahlins demonstrated in his book stone age economics, they were the first affluent societies, the first leisure organizations. An excerpt from clastres society against the state. The leader as servant and the human uses of power among the indians of the. Pierre clastres the thesis is radical, writes marshall sahlins of this landmark text in anthropology and political science. The state is seen as but a specific constellation of hierarchical power peculiar only to societies who have failed to. He is best known for his contributions to the field of political anthropology, with his fieldwork among the guayaki in paraguay and his theory of stateless societies.
It has some page numbers and quotes if someone is doing a similar assignment that would be useful. It is argued that the clastres took the intellectual practices of guarani. He is best known for his fieldwork among the guayaki, now better known as ache, in paraguay and his theory on stateless societies. Primitive society is society against the state in that it is societyforwar.
For moyn another consequence was that it provided a base for neoliberal thinkers like marcel gauchet, who openly do homages to clastress pierrd. Pierre clastres author of society against the state. That a society against the state does not contain bits of power as such, or power sequences, susceptible of becoming an embryonic state power. If%there%were%a%prior%difference%in%force%allowing%exploitative%class%. Probably deeply flawed on the question of gender, on his understanding of how power can be. Society against the state consigned to speculative thought alone, but which for roughly two decades has been entrusted to truly scientiflc research. We conventionally define the state as the regulation of violence.
Be the first to ask a question about the landwithoutevil. Mar 21, 2020 hammond, ruth 4 september society against the state. In the three sections of this study, i show the role played by. Anthropologists have tried to answer the question of power in non state societies ever since structural functionalism, but it seems to me that it never got us beyond the negative perspective. John%protevi%%protevicomdg%% outline%of% pierre%clastres,%society%against% the%state % i. Hammond, ruth 4 september society against the state. The thesis is radical, writes marshall sahlins of this landmark text in anthropology and political science. Anthropologists have tried to answer the question of power in nonstate societies ever since structural functionalism, but it seems to me that it never got us beyond the negative perspective. Han var mest kand for sitt faltarbete bland guayakifolket i paraguay och for sin teori om statslosa samhallen.
Like it is not a scientific proposition to determine that some cultures lack political power because they show nothing similar to what is found in our culture. Society against the state is the name of the last essay, which i head read before, and the reason why i decided to read the whole book. Jun 25, 2019 clastres chronicle and the optic of primitivism. Pierre clastres 17 may 1934 29 july 1977 was a french anthropologist and ethnographer. Clastres desubstantializes the state, which is not the elysium, the white house, the kremlin, but an actualization of a relation of power. Pierre clastres society against the state wormwood press. Reading society against the state was a salutary and jubilatory experience that no other anthropological work could. It is instead the sign of a certain conceptual poverty. When it was first translated by urizen books in 1977 as society against the state. Essays in political anthropology pierre clastres, robert hurley, abe stein on. Join facebook to connect with helene clastres and others you may know. At issue is the space of the political, at whose center power poses its questions. Society against the state how does power work in societies that have no state. In particular, it argues that clastres reconstruction of the political philosophy of various amazonian societies offers an alternative.
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