The Social Anthropology of the Nation-State - 9781138538559

Name: The Social Anthropology of the Nation-State - 9781138538559
Brand: Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis

The contemporary nation-state is popular in that it rests upon mutual identification between rulers and ruled > The contemporary nation-state is popular in that it rests upon mutual identification between rulers and ruled. Such identification is based upon common primordial qualities that are felt to be ancient, inherent, given, however new they may in fact be: language, territory, culture, race. But the nation-state has also produced far more rigorous authoritarianisms and frequently less tolerance than old empires.Anthropology, the \""study of man,\"" for all the immodesty of its name, has concerned itself almost exclusively with people in small groups: bands, tribal segments, village communities, and, recently, urban neighborhoods, schools, and work places. Social anthropology has been the science of the socio-cultural microcosm and has developed a method and style of inquiry appropriate to this task. This volume uniquely applies the techniques of social anthropology to the studyl