381 research outputs found
Conduite sociale et compétence écrite
Dans cet essai, Goody poursuit ses rĂ©flexions sur la compĂ©tence Ă©crite (literacy) dans le cadre dâune Ă©tude des relations entre la transmission de normes de conduite Ă lâintĂ©rieur des sociĂ©tĂ©s purement orales et leur communication par lâentremise de guides Ă©crits. Il cherche ainsi Ă identifier les transformations sociales quâentraĂźne la formalisation de contraintes de conduite par un code Ă©crit afin de discuter des implications dâune diffĂ©rence dans le mode dâapprentissage et la mĂ©diation dâun discours de type juridique. En menant son investigation dans une perspective rĂ©solument comparatiste, Goody sâappuie sur ses recherches antĂ©rieures, qui englobe le langage des fleurs jusquâaux us et coutumes de la sociĂ©tĂ© des LoDaaga, ainsi que sur diffĂ©rents phĂ©nomĂšnes culturels, depuis les dix commandements jusquâĂ lâexpansion de lâĂtat chinois.In this essay, Goody continues to investigate literacy by outlining its impacts on the transmission of standards of behaviour. He argues that if jural norms exist within both oral and literate societies, written behaviour guides radically transform the way they are applied, learned and formalized. In a truly comparative perspective, he examines a wide range of case studies, stemming from his earlier work on the language of flowers or the Bagree Society, as well as on other cultural phenomenons like the Ten Commandments and the expansion of the Chinese State
Kinship and the âGreat Divideâ
The article questions the binary opposition between « traditional » and « modern » societies, or of East and West, in which the latter is « capitalist » and civilized, and the former « primitive ». This has marked both anthropology and sociology. The article focuses on the question of demography and the family. It queries attempts to establish a fundamental difference between the family structures of Europe and Asia, with the former being deemed more suitable for the development of « capitalism ». Challenging Malthusâ view of China, among others, it highlights similarities, rather than differences, in terms of the dowry, inheritance, and the class system in Eurasia. These are common features shared by post-Bronze Age, urban, and stratified societies.Cet article revient sur lâopposition binaire qui a marquĂ© de son empreinte la pensĂ©e tant anthropologique que sociologique, entre Orient et Occident, câest-Ă -dire entre sociĂ©tĂ©s dites « traditionnelles » et sociĂ©tĂ©s dites « modernes », oĂč les premiĂšres sont considĂ©rĂ©es comme « primitives » et les secondes comme « capitalistes » et donc « civilisĂ©es ». En sâintĂ©ressant plus particuliĂšrement aux thĂ©matiques de la parentĂ© et de la famille, il sâagit de remettre en question les tentatives visant Ă Ă©tablir une diffĂ©rence fondamentale entre les modĂšles familiaux dâEurope et dâAsie, pour lesquelles le systĂšme europĂ©en aurait Ă©tĂ© le plus apte Ă favoriser le dĂ©veloppement du capitalisme. RĂ©cusant cet argument que lâon doit, entre autres, aux prĂ©supposĂ©s de Malthus Ă propos de la Chine, nous mettrons plutĂŽt ici en Ă©vidence les similitudes existant sur tout lâespace eurasiatique en termes de parentĂ©Â : notamment la dot, lâhĂ©ritage ou le systĂšme de classes, partagĂ©s par toutes les grandes sociĂ©tĂ©s urbaines et stratifiĂ©es dâEurope et dâAsie issues de lâĂąge du bronze, apportant ainsi la preuve que, dans ce creuset eurasiatique, sâest donc forgĂ©e une relative unitĂ© civilisationnelle
Globalisation, Population and Ecology
This paper deals with some variables that are not generally included as economic or market variables in order to show how these affect the question of population growth, which is after all the core of resource allocation. It shows that population growth may also depend on better medical treatments, higher productivity, less local violence and the decline of customary restraints (i.e. social and family pressures), and not only on the evaluation of the benefits and losses of having more children in relation to limited property resources. On the other hand, as far as demographic transition is concerned, there is one essential factor that affects family size throughout the world. This is education. School has decreased mortality by the emphasis on personal and household hygiene. It has then decreased fertility by the increased costs of bringing up children in a school situation, i.e. demographic transition is set in progress without urbanization, industrialization and scarcely without modernization, except for the school itself. Education, as we know it, preceded industrialization and intrusive urbanization in Europe too. It was not until very late (1870) that attempts at introducing compulsory education were made, and it was mass schooling that made a marked difference. Widespread education may also accomplish the control on fertility, i.e. later marriage. Education promotes consumerism and when there is a large gap between achievement in the economic and educational domains, major difficulties arise. Despite earlier hopes the economy has not expanded pari passu with education. There is a gap between the literates and the number of jobs. This discrepancy has produced a floating population of the young who are a threat to political stability. The other outlet is migration overseas. For good or for bad the globalisation of education releases a potent force in the globalisation of the family.Globalisation, Population, Ecology
AndrĂ©-Georges Haudricourt / Jean-François Bert, Essai sur lâorigine des diffĂ©rences de mentalitĂ© entre Occident et ExtrĂȘme-Orient / Un certain sens du concret
The republication of the essay by AndrĂ©-Georges Haudricourt (which first appeared in 1962, and was later revised) on the differences in mentality between the East (pastoral, abstract) and the Far West (agricultural, concrete) is to be welcomed. He makes a case for significant differences between the life and works of the two, between the pastoralist and the gardener. In a quotation that heads the editorâs, Jean-François Bertâs, accompanying essay, he declares that contrary to most Marxists, h..
Sacrifice among the Lodagaa and elsewhere
For the persons involved, sacrifice is a formal act of communication with spiritual agencies. As the LoDagaa (Dagiri) myth of the Bagre shows, implicit questions are â even from this emic viewpoint â asked about the ways available to people for establishing this communication. A comparison of traditional rites in northern Ghana is made with how Islam, Christianity and Hinduism conceive of this communication. In the latter, which are âliterateâ religions, there is not only avoidance of blood sacrifice but also rejection of meat altogether, at least in holy contexts. In effect, an increase of asceticism, a rejection of the more concrete aspects of god-man communication, occurred long before the recent process of secularization.Pour les acteurs des rites sacrificiels, le sacrifice est un acte formel de communication avec des puissances surnaturelles. Comme en tĂ©moigne le mythe lodagaa (dagari) du âBagreâ, des questions â mĂȘme du point de vue des intĂ©ressĂ©s â se lĂšvent de maniĂšre implicite Ă propos des moyens disponibles Ă lâhomme pour Ă©tablir cette communication. La conception de cette communication fait lâobjet dâune comparaison entre, dâune part, des rites du Nord du Ghana et, dâautre part, lâislam, la chrĂ©tientĂ© et lâhindouisme. Dans ces trois derniers, qui sont des religions de lâĂ©crit, on trouve une tendance Ă Ă©viter le sacrifice sanglant et, en plus, un refus de la consommation de la viande (du moins dans certains contextes sacrĂ©s). En effet, une croissance de lâascĂ©tisme et un refus des aspects concrets de la communication entre les dieux et les hommes sont intervenus longtemps avant lâavancĂ©e rĂ©cente du processus de sĂ©cularisation
Culture et technique
Ăric Guichard souhaite traiter la question importante de la relation entre la technique, la culture et lâĂ©criture. Permettez-moi de laisser de cĂŽtĂ© la technique puisque je pense que lâĂ©criture nâest pas autre chose, en tant que technologie (technique) de lâintellect. Elle permet Ă notre intellect de faire des choses plus compliquĂ©es. Les diffĂ©rences entre moi et un Africain non alphabĂ©tisĂ© comme ceux que jâai Ă©tudiĂ©s en Afrique de lâOuest ne sâexpliquent pas du tout en termes dâopposition ent..
Le rapport au passé dans les cultures orales et écrites
Sâil est bien une chose que les anthropologues de la vieille Ă©cole nous ont enseignĂ©e, câest que les sociĂ©tĂ©s qui ne disposent que dâun systĂšme de communication orale peuvent ĂȘtre nĂ©anmoins trĂšs compliquĂ©es. La sociĂ©tĂ© humaine est devenue beaucoup plus complexe avec lâinvention du langage â peut-ĂȘtre mĂȘme est-elle apparue avec lui. Câest le langage qui a, dâaprĂšs moi, donnĂ© naissance Ă la pensĂ©e proprement dite ou Ă une conscience supĂ©rieure. Ce que lâon appelle la « rĂ©volution humaine » se p..
Inheritance, property and women: some comparative considerations
Se comparan sociedades agrĂcolas, sus variaciones y semejanzas, dentro de Europa, y, a veces, de algunas sociedades asiĂĄticas, con las de Ăfrica, con el fin de advertir que las relaciones de las familias con la tierra son significativamente diferentes, en cada caso, asĂ como los acuerdos sobre la propiedad marital y el papel que se atribuyen a los cĂłnyuges estĂĄ Ăntimamente relacionado con los modos de producciĂłn agrĂcola, "intensivo" en un caso (con arado y riego) y "extensivo" en los otros (con quema y azada). Estas diferencias tienen consecuencias en la posiciĂłn de las mujeres, la estructura de los roles sociales, la conducta de la parentela y las estrategias de la organizaciĂłn familiar. Es precisamente sobre ese amplio fondo que se observan las variaciones en las costumbres de Europa Occidental. Es por eso tambiĂ©n que las diferencias en la propiedad conyugal y las ocasionadas en el momento de la fisiĂłn familiar son sin duda importantes por sus consecuencias, sobre todo por su influencia en la relaciĂłn entre parientes, amigos y allegados.The author compares the variations and similarities among agricultural societies, within Europe, and occasionally among some Asian to the African societies. He concludes that in each case, the way that families related to the land and the forms of marital property agreements were very different. He points out that the roles assigned to the spouses are very tightly linked to the means of agricultural production, intensive in some cases (with ploughing and irrigation) and extensive in others (with burning and hoeing). These differences determined the position of women, the structure of social roles, the conduct of the clan and the strategic of family organisation. It is against this broad backdrop that Goody analyses the variations in Western European customs. For this same reason, the differences in marital property, the consequences of family separations and the way they affect relationships among relatives and friends are so important
- âŠ