The Interpretation of Caste (Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology) by Declan Quigley ISBN 13: 9780198278825

Oxford University Press, 1993-04-08. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8x5x0. Signed by Author. Oxford University Press, 1993; same date on title and copyright pages, no later printings indicated. Inscribed by author to American anthropologist Gloria Goodwin Raheja. Binding is tight, sturdy, and square; light wear to edges of black cloth boards; text very good. Very minor wear to edges of unclipped dust jacket. Ships from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Oxford New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press, 1993. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-nicked and dust-dulled dust wrapper, now mylar-sleeved. Remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Physical description: viii, 184 pages: illustrations; 23 cm. Contents: 1. The Problem Before Dumont -- The Entrenched View of Caste -- The Word 'Caste' -- Is Caste an Orientalist Construct? -- 2. Dumont's Theory of Caste -- Epistemology and Sociology -- The Distinctiveness of Caste -- Status, Power, and Encompassment -- The Structuralist Interpretation of Caste -- Dumont's View of Empiricism -- Dumont's Critique of His Critics -- 3. The Problem With Dumont's Solution -- Why the Problem is not Simply about Caste -- The Sociological Bridge between Traditional and Modern Societies -- Power and Legitimacy -- Structuralism -- 4. The Pure Brahman and the Impure Priest -- The Ideal Brahman in the Real World -- Priests and 'Others' as… Read More

Somer minor rubbing. Light binding corner bumps. VG., dustwrapper. Indian Social Anthropology Clarendon Press Oxford 1993 orig.cloth 22x14cm, viii,184 pp. "This book provides a radical alternative to prevailing theories of caste which either build on indigenous rationalizations of the Brahman's supremacy or reduce hierarchy to material factors. Drawing on a wide range of historical and ethnographic sources as well as four years fieldwork, Declan Quigley proposes a comparative approach which locates caste- organized communities in the context of complex agrarian societies generally. At the heart of caste, he argues, there is a tension between the centralizing forces of kingship with its associated ritual and the decentralizing forces of kinship. Dr Quigley believes that it is this tension, rather than Brahminical ideology, which generates the characteristic patterns of hierarchy and the preoccupation with purity and pollution. In making kingship central to the explanation of caste, this book… Read More

hardcover. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.