{"product_id":"the-political-machine-9780691163239","title":"The Political Machine","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Political Machine investigates the essential role that material culture plays in the practices and maintenance of political sovereignty. Through an archaeological exploration of the Bronze Age Caucasus, Adam Smith demonstrates that beyond assemblies of people, polities are just as importantly assemblages of things--from ballots and bullets to c\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The coherence and brevity of the book reflects its development from the 2013 Rostovtzeff Lecture Series at New York University. The book can be read quickly, and its significance for evolutionary studies can be assimilated thoughtfully. It deserves to be read broadly by academics, graduate students and an interested public.\"--Timothy Earle, Antiquity \"I most strongly recommend this as a book with which to argue, for all interested in the newest forms of theory concerning politics and objects, as well as anyone examining ancient Eurasian cultural forms and connections.\"--Chris Gosden, American Anthropologist \"The Political Machine surely succeeds in bringing the political back into the mainstream of archaeological theory. Smith's provocative work will be studied by all interested in ontology and the epistemology of things, and by archaeological theorists.\"--Geoffrey D. Summers, Bryn Mawr Classical Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePreface ix  Introduction: Reverse Engineering the Polity 1  The Conditions of Sovereignty 4  Machine Politics 7  Bodies and Things 11  Into the Caucasus 16  Schematic 20  Part I: The Machinery of Sovereignty  Chapter 1. On Assemblages and Machines 27  Things and Objects 29  The Exile of Things 33  Nature Morte 40  The Assemblage Assembled 43  The Efficacy of Machines 48  Sense, Sensibility, and Sentiment 54  Chapter 2. On The Matter of Sovereignty 59  Sovereignty Disassembled 61  Prehistory and the Political 64  Archaeologies of Sovereignty 67  Assembly and Assemblage 72  Origin Myths 73  Wayward Things and the Dual Sovereign 78  Exit Objects 1: Liberal Theory and Things 81  Exit Objects 2: Marx and Matter 83  Sovereign Matter, Governmental Machines 86  The Sovereign Conditions 91  Part II: Assembling Sovereignty  Chapter 3. The Civilization Machine in the Early Bronze Age 97  The Kura-Araxes 102  Sensibility 105  Sense 110  Sentiment 122  An Early Bronze Age Public 125  Chapter 4. The War Machine in the Middle Bronze Age 127  The Caucasus in Transition 130  Sensibility 138  Sense 144  Sentiment 148  Territorialization and Contradiction 151  Chapter 5. The Political Machine in the Late Bronze Age 154  The Caucasus at the Beginning of the Late Bronze Age 157  Sensibility 165  Sense 171  Sentiment 178  The Enduring Political Machine 183  Conclusion 186  Erebuni-Yerevan 188  Brother Axe 194  References Cited 197  Index 233","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49403808973143,"sku":"9780691163239","price":37.8,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780691163239.jpg?v=1730484612","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-political-machine-9780691163239","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}