Description
Book Synopsis Over the past two decades, “chaos theory” – the perception of order previously hidden in phenomena of apparent randomness and disorder – has fundamentally transformed the natural sciences. In recent years, numerous scholars in the social sciences and humanities have attempted to adapt the insights of chaos theory to their studies of human cultural and social systems. Several of the world’s leading anthropologists, such as Roy Wagner, Marshall Sahlins, Marilyn Strathern, and Arjun Appadurai – have similarly drawn upon particular elements of chaos theory for their inspiration, but as yet there is no focused, comprehensive treatment of the applicability of chaos theory to anthropology’s distinctive ethnographic and cross-cultural materials. This edited volume fills the gap, with both accessible theoretical discussions of chaos theory applications in anthropology and detailed ethnographic and historical illustrations from Africa and Melanesia.
Trade Review “Through a sequence of theoretically stimulating and ethnographically diverse contributions, the volume engages with ‘chaos models’ developed by mathematicians and natural scientists studying complex dynamic systems.” · Anthropological Forum
"I have rarely seen such an excellent collection of articles. And it cannot be more timely. Within the covers of this volume we find some of the most original and brightest minds in anthropology today…this is a truly unique volume that will make a major and original contribution to anthropology and far beyond." · Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
Table of Contents List of Figures and Tables
List of Contributors
Preface and Acknowledgements
Prologue
Marilyn Strathern
Chapter 1. Introduction: A (Re)Turn to Chaos: Chaos Theory, the Sciences, and Social Anthropological Theory
Mark S. Mosko
Chapter 2. From Lévi-Strauss to Chaos and Complexity
Jack Morava
Chapter 3. Fractal Figurations: Homologies and Hierarchies in Kabre Culture
Charles Piot
Chapter 4. “Pity” and “Ecstasy”: The Problem of Order and Differentiated Difference Across Kula Societies
Frederick H. Damon
Chapter 5. Fractality and the Exchange of Perspectives
José Antonio Kelly
Chapter 6. Fluids and Fractals in Rwanda: Order and Chaos
Christopher C. Taylor
Chapter 7. Peace, War, Sex, and Sorcery: Nonlinear Analogical Transformation in the Early Escalation of North Mekeo Sorcery and Chiefly Practice
Mark S. Mosko
Chapter 8. Afterword: Order Is What Happens When Chaos Loses Its Temper
Roy Wagner
Bibliography
Contributors
Index
