The State as Cultural Practice offers an original theory of the state. In place of the institutional state, Bevir and Rhodes argue for 'the stateless state', or for a focus on the contingent beliefs and practices of individuals. In short, they put the people back into the study of the state.

The State as Cultural Practice offers a fully worked out account of the authors' distinctive interpretive approach to political science. It challenges the new institutionalism, probably the most significant present-day strand in both American and British political science. It moves away from such notions as 'bringing the state back in', 'path dependency' and modernist empiricism. Instead, Bevir and Rhodes argue for an anti-foundational analysis, ethnographic and historical methods, and a decentred approach that rejects any essentialist definition of the state and espouses the idea of politics as cultural practice. The book has three aims: · to develop an anti-foundational theory of the state · to develop a new research agenda around the topics of rule, rationalities, and resistance · by exploring empirical shifts and debates about the changing nature of the state to show how anti-foundational theory leads us to see them differently. Bevir and Rhodes argue for the idea of 'the stateless state' or the state as meaning-in-action. So, the state is neither monolithic nor a causal agent. It consists solely of the contingent actions of specific individuals; of diverse beliefs about the public sphere, about authority and power, which are constructed differently in contending traditions. Continuity and change are products of people inheriting traditions and modifying them in response to dilemmas. A decentred approach explores the limits to the state and seeks to develop a more diverse view of state authority and its exercise. In short, political scientists need to bring people back in to the study of the state.

Culture, Power, and Authoritarianism in the Indonesian State is a critical history of cultural policy in one of the world’s most diverse nations across the tumultuous twentieth century. It charts the influence of momentous political changes on the cultural policies of successive states, including colonial government, Japanese occupation, the killing and repression of the left and their affiliates, and the return of representative government, and examines broader social changes like nationalism and consumer culture. The book uses the concept of authoritarian cultural policy, or cultural policy that was premised on increased state control, tracing its presence from the colonial era until today. Tod Jones’ use of historical and case study chapters captures the central state’s changing cultural policies and its diverse outcomes across Indonesia.

This book provides an anthropological analysis of the cultural formation, practices and experiences of the first generation of Slovenes working in the institutions of the European Union. On 1 May 2004, Slovenia became a full-fledged member of the European Union and was thus formally incorporated into the processes of European integration redefining the relations among EU member states. European integration processes take place at multiple, interlocking levels — from the level of government bodies to the level of individual social actors. The numerous Slovenes who were successful in attaining the positions available for citizens from new member states now work as Eurocrats at multiple locations across the EU’s institutional network. This work explores European integration from the perspective of Slovene Eurocrats by analyzing how Slovenes plot careers and lives in European terms.To this end, the author examines the experiences of Slovene Eurocrats in Brussels within the broader context of their life experiences and professional formation. As recent EU officials, Slovene Eurocrats provide many insights into European integration as an ongoing social process. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Delo Tatiane Bajuk Senčar Evropska integracija kot kulturna praksa je antropološka analiza kulturnih formacij, praks in izkušenj prve generacije Slovencev, ki delajo v ustanovah Evropske unije. Slovenija je 1. maja 2004 postala njena polnopravna članica in se s tem tudi formalno vključila v procese evropske integracije, ki na novo opredeljujejo razmerja med državami članicami. Procesi integracije potekajo na številnih, med seboj prepletenih ravneh – od ravni vladnih teles do ravni posamičnih družbenih akterjev. Številni Slovenci so se uspešno prijavili za delo v institucijah EU in agencijah, ki se širijo z vsako naslednjo širitvijo EU; zdaj delajo kot evrokrati na različnih lokacijah v institucionalnem omrežju EU. Avtorica raziskuje integracijski proces iz vidika slovenskih evrokratov, pri čemer analizira njihove načrte kariernih poti, samo poklicno socializacijo in življenjske izkušnje, pridobljene v evropskih ustanovah. Raziskava slovenskih evrokratov oziroma evropskih uradnikov nam tako razgrinja številne poglede na nenehni družbeni proces, na evropsko integracijo.

Refuting the notion that the West is everywhere, Rustom Bharucha draws on the emergent cultures of secular struggle in contemporary India to engage with the volatile global issues of intellectual property rights, cultural tourism, and the marking of minorities on the basis of religion, caste, language, gender, and sexuality.

This handbook looks at cross-cultural work on harmful cultural practices considered gendered forms of abuse of women. These include female genital mutilation (FGM), virginity testing, hymenoplasty, and genital cosmetic surgery. Bringing together comparative perspectives, intersectionality, and interdisciplinarity, it uses feminist methodology and mixed methods, with ethnography of central importance, to provide holistic, grounded theorizing within a framework of transformative research. Taking female genital mutilation, a topical, contested practice, and making it a heuristic reference for related procedures makes the case for global action based on understanding the complexity of harmful cultural practices that are contextually differentiated and experienced in intersectional ways. But because this phenomenon is enshrouded in matters of sensitivity and prejudice, narratives of suffering are muted and even suppressed, are dismissed as indigenous ritual, or become ammunition for racist organizing. Such conflicted and often opaque debates obstruct clear vision of the scale of both problem and solution. Divided into six parts: • Discourses and Epistemological Fault Lines • FGM and Related Patriarchal Inscriptions • Gender and Genitalia • Female Bodies and Body Politics: Economics, Law, Medicine, Public Health, and Human Rights • Placing Engagement, Innovation, Impact, Care • Words and Texts to Shatter Silence Comprised of 24 newly written chapters from experts around the world, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of nursing, social work, and allied health more broadly, as well as sociology, gender studies, and postcolonial studies.