Why do people obey others in the absence of explicit coercion? Why do people accept some leaders but not others? What does it mean to say something or someone has authority? Is authority personal or institutional? Why do people believe some objects have power and others not? Can institutions wield charismatic power? These are questions that from Max Weber onwards classical and contemporary anthropologists and sociologists continue to ask. In returning to (Weberian) questions of authority and legitimacy this course will apply the question of authority broadly, not just in the explicitly political realm but also to understand for example how (culturally specific) charismatic and sacral authority can be fashioned through persons and through objects. The course will thus move between interrelated religious, moral, and political notions to try to generate some critical questions for how a contemporary anthropology that explicitly (rather than implicitly) re-addresses authority might look. The course is designed to be a somewhat canonical and fun take on some classic (as well as some classical) anthropological discussions. For anthropology students - it will introduce you to some of the complexity, expansiveness and importance of debates surrounding forms of authority, especially that derived from understanding mystical/religious as well as highly personalized authority. For those who are unfamiliar with anthropology - it will introduce you to issues that are significant across the social sciences that anthropology has a distinctive take on. The course is also designed to get students familiar with reading multiple ethnographic examples/texts together and learning how to read across and compare ethnographic and theoretical material and become comfortable with argue with and fruitfully use other people's ethnographies as a training for future dissertation writing. Significant work outside of class time is expected of the student for this course.
5 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
Why do people obey others in the absence of explicit coercion? Why do people accept some leaders but not others? What does it mean to say something or someone has authority? Is authority personal or institutional? Why do people believe some objects have power and others not? Can institutions wield charismatic power? These are questions that from Max Weber onwards classical and contemporary anthropologists and sociologists continue to ask. In returning to (Weberian) questions of authority and legitimacy this course will apply the question of authority broadly, not just in the explicitly political realm but also to understand for example how (culturally specific) charismatic and sacral authority can be fashioned through persons and through objects. The course will thus move between interrelated religious, moral, and political notions to try to generate some critical questions for how a contemporary anthropology that explicitly (rather than implicitly) re-addresses authority might look. The course is designed to be a somewhat canonical and fun take on some classic (as well as some classical) anthropological discussions. For anthropology students - it will introduce you to some of the complexity, expansiveness and importance of debates surrounding forms of authority, especially that derived from understanding mystical/religious as well as highly personalized authority. For those who are unfamiliar with anthropology - it will introduce you to issues that are significant across the social sciences that anthropology has a distinctive take on. The course is also designed to get students familiar with reading multiple ethnographic examples/texts together and learning how to read across and compare ethnographic and theoretical material and become comfortable with argue with and fruitfully use other people's ethnographies as a training for future dissertation writing. Significant work outside of class time is expected of the student for this course.