symbol and power - asad Flashcards
1
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background
A
- Advocates an anthropology of secularism
- Genealogical method taken from Nietzsche, developed by Foucault
- At boarding school, Asad was one of very few Muslims amongst a Christian majority. Interesting for learning about East-West relations
- Theme in his work of colonialism and anthropology e.g. The Kababish Arabs: Power, Authority and Consent in a Nomadic Tribe
o He argues that there is a view of the West as imposing true morality on the inhabitants of their colonial territories. Asad argues that colonial powers wanted a uniform view of justice, which ultimately made the people their subjects.
2
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Intro – assumption re. Western history
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- All essays are united in their ‘assumption that Western history has had an overriding importance – for good or ill – in the making of the modern world’ (1)
- Asad believes that Christian and post-Christian history has had an important influence on non-Christian traditions
- Need knowledge of Western religious practice to understand any other religion e.g. Islam
- Focus for Asad is the ‘genealogy of religion’ (1)
3
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Intro – history as active
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- When we talk about history, we often refer to history as an ‘active voice…. People are “making their own history”.… “borrowing” meanings from Western dominators, and “reconstructing” their own cultural existence’ (2)
o This presents history unstable and fluid
o Many hence reject ‘claims about “authenticity”… “a unitary culture” etc.’
4
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Intro - Marshall Sahlins
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- Disagrees with the interpretation that Western capitalist expansion has made the colonised the ‘passive objects of their own history and not its authors’ (3)
- Non-Western territories should not be defined in terms of their colonisation (this is what Eric Wolf does, according to Sahlins, which Sahlins explains through Wolf’s ‘attachment to economistic Marxism’)
- Sahlins uses the examples of the ‘British opening up of imperial China’ to ‘show how each encounter was guided by the cultural logic of the local people concerned’ (3)
- Asad argues that whilst Sahlins writes well etc. and is convincing in showing how colonised people do not necessarily have to be ‘passive’, he cannot also assume that they are hence ‘authors’ of their own history.
- No one is author of their own life, since other people inevitably form part of other individuals’ personal histories.
Definition of author is not clear: does it refer to someone who ‘produces a narrative’ or ‘authorises particular powers, including the right to produce certain kinds of narrative’ (4)
5
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Intro – capitalism and passivity
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- If we view capitalism as an active force of ‘production, coercion and destruction’, it appears that the colonised people are in fact placed into a position of passivity, as they are forced to ‘adjust consciously to those forces’
o However, this is not necessarily unique to colonised people in non-Western countries. Individuals in Western territories are also rendered passive by some aspects of capitalism/hierarchy – Sahlins calls it the ‘larger system’
6
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Intro - Sherry Ortner
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- Western capitalism is an ‘abstraction’ and therefore does not impact people’s lives
- She argues that anthropologists especially should not look at everything through the lens of capitalism. We cannot assume that capitalist influence always determines the way things are.
It is essential to have a theoretical understanding/definition of capitalism if we are to empirically ascertain its impact
7
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Intro – how to approach ethnography
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- ‘The ethnographer may come from another system (say, a major capitalist country), but her task is to observe and describe the practices of people “on the ground”, not to intervene in what she sees’ (6)
o Asad argues that only looking at world capitalism from one level may be restrictive. Do not know the other things one may discover from another level
o Ortner combines two images: one of “real people”: the idea that capitalism may not in fact be a force of change. Two, that one must look at anthropology from the ‘ground level’
o ‘The two images are then used to define autonomy as well as the distinctive contribution of fieldwork-based anthropology’ (6)
o We cannot deny the existence of “real people”. However, it is wrong to assume a Logical Positivist view that only concepts that can be verified have meaning, since this would suggest that structures/systems are not real. He gives the example of life expectancies: we cannot say these are real until they are represented in another form e.g. graph.
8
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Intro – how do we define local people?
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- Locatable? This is what anthropologists deal with: a specific, locatable group of people
o However, people’s ability to locate others varies. Easier for people in the UK to locate people in France than in a remote Brazilian tribe. - If you are not local, you do not belong to a specific place. Or alternatively, you are ‘unlimited, cosmopolitan’ (8)
- ‘Saudi theologians who invoke the authority of medieval Islam texts are taken to be local; Western writers who invoke the authority of modern secular literature claim they are universal’ (8)
- Whilst both understand notions of belonging, the power of the West means that e.g. ‘immigrants who arrive from South Asia to settle in Britain are described as uprooted; English officials who lived in British India were not’ (8)
- Is space something that is owned? It is both phenomenal and conceptual and yet with both, boundaries are constantly shifting.
- ‘Knowledge about local peoples is not itself local knowledge, as some anthropologists have thought (Geertz 1983)’ (9)
9
Q
intro – Western altruism
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- Asad argues that the attempt of the West to impose its ideals on other territories is not necessarily ‘ungenerous’. They believe that their way is the best and so they wish others to adhere to it.
o ‘In a tradition that connects pain with achievement, the inflicting of suffering on others is not in itself reprehensible’ (12)
o However… is this justified? Cannot self-impose ideals
o Asad asks, ‘to the extent that such power seeks to normalise other people’s motivations, whose history is being made?’ (12)
o The question is, who is the author/subject of change?
o Cultural change does not need to lead to anonymity. Even after Western influence, the countries maintain an element of uniqueness. Western influence creates possibility, albeit unpredictable.
10
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Intro – how are meanings generated
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- ‘Meanings are never simply generated by a cultural logic; they belong variously to conventional projects, occasional intentions, natural events etc.’ (13)
o This similarly applies to the religious sphere. E.g. ‘a monk who learns to make the abbot’s will into his own learns thereby to desire God’s purposes’
o I.e. the monk becomes willingly heteronomous, as he seeks to follow what God wants of him
11
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Intro – post-enlightenment autonomy
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- Post-Enlightenment emphasised the importance of autonomy. However, this ultimately becomes difficult with the division of labour in modern capitalist society. There is an inherent interdependence between individuals.
o Autonomy criticised by Rosalind O’Hanlon (Indianist)
♣ She questions the ‘liberal humanist notions of subjectivity and agency’ (14)
♣ India was denied autonomy
♣ She wants to rediscover India’s history, but states that this risks ‘slipping into “essentialist humanism”’ (14)
♣ History does not need to lose its meaning; on the contrary, we should uncover lost meaning within history.
♣ ‘The idea of self-constitution is not merely a historiographical option but a liberal humanist principle that has far-reaching moral, legal and political implications in modern/modernising states’ (15)
♣ Heteronomy does not allow individuals to fully dictate their own history. O’Hanlon’s progressivist attitude therefore argues for autonomy.
♣ Consciousness is key to autonomy
• Asad argues that consciousness in everyday life is not powerful enough to achieve autonomy
• Consciousness is not the sole factor in understanding power/domination. We must also look at the ‘structures of possible actions’ (15) whether they be included/excluded.
12
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Intro – gyan Prakash
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- Against the idea that history cannot be reduced as well as the concept of ‘teleological history’.
- Advocates a ‘poststructuralist position intended to supersede conventional ethnography and historiography’ (16)
- His work ‘exposes metaphysical traces in historical narration that, he argues, reproduce the capitalist-centered view of the world’ (16)
13
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Intro – history
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- History does inevitably have a focus e.g. a country. When we look at the parts of this focus separately, we gain a more comprehensive view of the focus’ history.
o The history is kept alive through people living according to it e.g. speaking the language/are simply affected by it
o Power cannot be seen as a purely unifying force. Ambiguity can be a source of power via improvisation (17)
o E.g. India, ‘power is constructive, not repressive’ (17)
o Asad argues that sometimes, history is inevitably teleological e.g. we can trace the impact of colonisation on a country’s economy etc. this is looking at consequences and hence, is teleological
o European Enlightenment placed importance on the language of liberty etc. especially in the context of struggle against colonialism
14
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Intro – essentialism and modernisation
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- We cannot deny the presence/importance of essentialism. Change is an inevitable part of history. Some things determine historical identity e.g. rules determine games. However, we cannot say this and deny the possibility of change.
- An example is ‘modernisation…including its aim of material moral progress’. This is ‘certainly a matter of history making’ (18)
o It does not have to be an actively sought process. Often, changes occur without being directly intended. - The West is defined by ‘its modern historicity’ (18)
o It influences all areas of the world, directly/indirectly
15
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Intro – modern definition of process
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- Christian attitudes towards historical time (salvational expectation) were combined with the newer, secular practices (rational prediction) (19)
- People learnt the importance of action in achieving change. Greater sense of autonomy in determining one’s own history.
Maintaining order is not a form of a history making. You are simply resisting change
16
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Intro – classification
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- Anthropologists often depends on the modernity of the West as a point of contrast in their work. E.g. led to categorisation of ‘the savage’
o The Renaissance allowed for a ‘reconstruction of European individuality’ (20)
o How do we classify people?
♣ Response was to suggest that everyone has a basic level of humanity, but that some’s intellects etc. are more developed than others’
♣ The view that there is a ‘single human nature’ (21) regardless of culture/upbringing is maintained today
17
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Intro – post WW2
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- Post WW2, less emphasis on progress and the positivity of change.
o H, Asad argues this is not necessarily true
♣ Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown did not reject progress in less developed countries
o ‘It could be argued that there was less concern with demonstrating the principle of a common human nature, and more with describing ‘normal’ historical developments in various parts of the non-European world’ (22)
18
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chapter 1 – 19th/20th century
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- 19th century, people began to view religion as a primitive idea separate from all other aspects of life
- 20th century: anthropologists view religion as a ‘distinctive space of human practice and belief which cannot be reduced to any other’ (27)
- Religion can overlap with other aspects of society, but its essence is separate
19
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Chapter 1 – difficulty in defining religion
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- ‘Medieval religion… is nevertheless analytically identifiable’. (28)
o ‘Religion has the same essence today as it had in the Middle Ages, although its social extension and function were different in the two epochs’ (28) - Religion’s autonomous nature results in us defining religion as a ‘transhistorical and transcultural phenomenon’
o Asad is setting up a clear distinction between religious autonomy and social ideology - Difficulty in defining religion is a form of defence of religion as it demands a distinction between religion and other aspects of social life (which are usually hubs of power)
- Religion cannot be defined as the ‘definition is itself the historical product of discursive processes’ (29)
20
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CH 1 – Geertz and symbol
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- Geertz links symbol to conception i.e. its meaning. H, Asad argues that a symbol is in itself the conception.
- Geertz is contradictory, sometimes he portrays symbols as aspects of reality, sometimes as representation.
- Asad argues that G is confusing ‘cognitive questions’ with ‘communicative ones’ (31) which makes it hard to inquire how ‘discourse and understanding are connected in social practice’
- G argues that symbols are ‘extrinsic sources of information’
o Extrinsic = outside subjective understanding
Sources of information = provide basis on which to define external processes
21
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CH1 – analysis of G
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- Positive of G: it allows for a discussion of discourse
- However… G goes against this progress by reaffirming his view of the relationship between symbols and meaning
o ‘This alleged dialectical tendency towards isomorphism, incidentally, makes it difficult to understand how social change can ever occur’ (32) - G is wrong to separate meaning from the socio-psychological.
o Symbols are not ‘meaning-carrying objects external to social conditions’ but rather intrinsic to these concepts
G tries to universalise religion
22
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CH1 – G and participation
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- G does acknowledge that symbols participate in the reality they describe in order to enhance the experience of those participating in the symbols through allowing them to adopt certain tendencies, skills etc.
o However… it is impossible to say what these tendencies/skills may be for a Xian in an industrial society.
o Cannot reduce human life to worship. People acquire skills/tendencies through different aspects of life e.g. political sphere. Geertz assumes that religion is the primary factor in determining individuals’ behaviours etc.
