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CALL FOR PAPERS (CLOSED)
Society and Morality in Eurasia: from Prehistory to the Present Day
Final Conference of the International Max Planck Research School for the Anthropology, Archaeology and History of Eurasia (IMPRS ANARCHIE)
MPI for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale), 2–5 December, 2020
The moral/ethical/normative dimension of human social life has generally been considered unique to our species. But how did it originate, how does it function, and how does morality change/adapt in history? The questions have been addressed in general terms by countless philosophers, and more recently by Darwinian evolutionists; they can also be illuminated by empirical projects in disciplines such as those that make up ANARCHIE. Indeed, many of the projects of the four doctoral cohorts of ANARCHIE have already addressed normative issues, at least implicitly. The civilizations/cultures/ societies of Eurasia illustrate numerous forms of community social organization and belief, from prehistoric bands to postsocialist deindustrialization. This final conference of our School will address the normative dimensions of social life, reaching behind religious ideals of transcendence and secular notions of sympathy (Rousseau, Smith, etc.) to explore concrete institutions such as those of cooperation, punishment, charity and philanthropy. If different norms are applied to the treatment of strangers, how are the boundaries of “our” society drawn? How are notions of “the good” expressed by citizens and subjects in everyday life? How are they reflected in political hierarchies and interethnic relations, in economic exchange and provisioning, in legal codes, and in the reciprocal obligations of kinship and friendship? In short: we invite papers that explore the big questions of normativity addressed by philosophers and sociobiologists, in the light of empirical data. Possible topics of enquiry might include:
- morality in prehistory (archaeobiology, archaeogenetics, etc.)
- religion, salvation, legitimacy
- moral dimensions of economic life
- migration and transfer of ethical values
- moral dimensions of social movements and revolutions
Other possibilities concerning roots and forms of social cohesion across Eurasia in all epochs are welcome!
Proposals (circa 250 words) should be sent by email to Chris Hann (hann@eth.mpg.de) before 17th January 2020. Scholars whose proposals are accepted will have all reasonable costs reimbursed. More information concerning ANARCHIE can be found at:
https://www.eth.mpg.de/anarchie
Call for Papers in pdf format
Distinguished lecture of the IMPRS ANARCHIE by the German historian Wolfgang Reinhard
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology on 13th of November 2019 at 18:00
The Representation of Power and the Power of Representation
Poster
The English queen rules, but she does not govern. But if she does not govern, what does “she rules” mean? Her power is only indirect and consists in representation. That means she symbolizes the stability of the political order. Throughout history, “political order” has generally meant monarchy based upon the quasi-religious faith of the subjects. No state without faith! Therefore, the papacy became the prototype of European monarchical domination, the incarnation of both spiritual and secular power (plenitudo potestatis). Loss of material power was compensated by ideological achievements. Popes were masters of the representation of power through architecture and ritual. Another major sacral and ceremonious society was the ancient Chinese empire. But whereas ritual performance in Roman Christendom was characterized by transcendence, Chinese rituals remained world-immanent. The Chinese monarchy was hereditary, but the Roman system had at least as much stability as any dynasty due to the systematic circulation of electing cardinals and elected popes. The culturally different strategic elites of these two systems were functionally almost equivalent. Today, however, power is represented not so much by monarchs as by nations. But national representation is still just as much the basis of political power as it was during the times of kings. (Speaker’s abstract)
The Distinguished Lecture opens the IMPRS ANARCHIE Autumn School 2019 on "Representing Domination" which takes place on the 14th-15th of November at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Winter School, Berlin, 5–7 February 2018
Programme
Kooperationsprojekt ANARCHIE geht in die vierte Runde
Am 1. November 2017 wurden die neuen Doktoranden der gemeinsamen Graduiertenschule des Max-Planck-Instituts für ethnologische Forschung und der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) offiziell begrüßt. An dem Kooperationsprojekt, das seit 2012 besteht, sind Ethnologen, Archäologen und Historiker beteiligt. Der russische Ethnologe Prof. Dr. Victor Shnirelman hielt im Max-Planck-Institut den wissenschaftlichen Vortrag zum Auftakt des vierjährigen Doktorandenprogramms. Titel des Vortrags: "Eurasian Theory or Eurasian Discourse: the many faces of Eurasia".
Eurasian Theory or Eurasian Discourse: the many faces of Eurasia
Distinguished Lecture of the IMPRS ANARCHIE by the Russian Anthropologist Victor Shnirelman
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Main Seminar Room, 1 November 2017 at 6 p.m.
poster
How has the image of Eurasia as an entity been interpreted, reinterpreted and contested both in time and space? As a political, religious, and cultural symbol, an image can be instrumentalised to serve the goals of various actors. One idea of Eurasia was rooted in the discourse of the late 19th through the early 20th century and given a political interpretation by Russian émigré intellectuals in the 1920s. Eurasianism was the first attempt to develop a scholarly theory that supported the imperial claims of a particular faction within Russian nationalism. From the very beginning this image had two different targets: an empire’s integrity was at stake, and, simultaneously, concerns about relationships with Russia’s close neighbors were growing. Rescuing the Russian empire’s integrity was a core component of the Eurasian idea in the 1920s. (Speaker’s abstract)
The lecture marks the official launch of the new ANARCHIE cohort devoted to the topic of "Representing Domination". It is also the opener of the Autumn School for the previous cohort on "Economic and Demographic Drivers of Social Change" taking place at the MPI on 2-3 November.
Online now! The video of the IMPRS ANARCHIE Autumn School's distinguished lecture by the Danish archaeologist Flemming Kaul
Today, it seems straightforward to work with Bronze Age religion – and Prehistoric religion – even when considering a narrow definition of religion, including trans-empirical powers. However, not many years ago, research in Prehistoric religion had much lower prestige among researchers.
Going back through the history of research, some interesting fluctuations can be observed related to the willingness of working with and interpreting in the sphere of religion. A lack of interest in religious explanations is marked around 1875 and 1975, while the interest in religious explanations peaks around 1925 and is seemingly at its highest again after 2000. Now, the acceptance level for incorporating interpretations related to religion seems extremely high, and many concurrent approaches are in play. Considering Bronze Age iconography, many themes can be linked to a cyclical sun mythology: Chaos powers of the underworld, fragments of a creation myth, anthropomorfisation of the sun god; even research into the prospects for a Bronze Age afterlife in the “Sonnenbarke” seems possible.
Prehistoric Religion-Bronze Age Religion-A Difficult Topic of Research?
Prehistoric Religion-Bronze Age Religion-A Difficult Topic of Research?
Distinguished lecture of the IMPRS ANARCHIE by the Danish archaeologist Flemming Kaul
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology on 9th of November 2016 at 18:00
Poster
Today, it seems straightforward to work with Bronze Age religion – and Prehistoric religion – even when considering a narrow definition of religion, including trans-empirical powers. However, not many years ago, research in Prehistoric religion had much lower prestige among researchers.
Going back through the history of research, some interesting fluctuations can be observed related to the willingness of working with and interpreting in the sphere of religion. A lack of interest in religious explanations is marked around 1875 and 1975, while the interest in religious explanations peaks around 1925 and is seemingly at its highest again after 2000.
Now, the acceptance level for incorporating interpretations related to religion seems extremely high, and many concurrent approaches are in play. Considering Bronze Age iconography, many themes can be linked to a cyclical sun mythology: Chaos powers of the underworld, fragments of a creation myth, anthropomorfisation of the sun god; even research into the prospects for a Bronze Age afterlife in the “Sonnenbarke” seems possible.
The Distinguished Lecture opens the IMPRS ANARCHIE Autumn School 2016 on "Religion and Ritual" which takes place on the 10th-11th of November at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Summer School, Weimar, 18-20 July 2016
Social and economic transformations in Eurasia in the longue durée
Programme
Winter School, Wittenberg, 1-3 February 2016
Programme
Pulitzer prize winner David Kertzer will deliver a guest lecture on
Anthropology, Demography, and History
in the seminar “The Determinants of Social Change” at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology on 9th November 2015 at 6:00 p.m.
Over the past two decades anthropological demography has emerged both as a specialty within anthropology and as a recognised part of demography. Special doctoral programmes sprang up in the United States, a regular committee of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population was devoted to the field, and meetings of the Population Association of America began to feature sessions focusing on anthropological work. Yet obstacles remained. Anthropologists working in demography often found themselves caught between a strong anti-positivist sentiment among many anthropologists and demographers suspicious of ethnographic research as a methodology and uncomfortable at the relentless deconstruction of analytical categories that characterises anthropology.
Social anthropology’s intersections with demography are many, although often anthropologists working on issues of demographic interest are unaware of the connections. This presentation examines some of these connections, and in doing so pays particular attention to the relations of anthropology to history, and the relevance of demography to this anthropology/history nexus. In conclusion, as an example of the richness and importance of anthropological demography, the example of the use of identity categories in demographic research is briefly considered.
The third cohort of the IMPRS ANARCHIE will be officially launched on 12 October 2015 at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology at 6:00 p.m. László Kürti from the University of Miskolc will lecture on:
Ethnography, History and the New Nomadism in Hungary
The policy of the Hungarian state towards commemorations, rituals and historic pageantry is complex, ambivalent, and unpredictable.
The history of nomadism, which at first glance has little connection to modern Hungary, has been used by different social actors to interpret and organise social relations, the interaction between state and civil society and national identity. Hungarian „conquest-type” nomadism identifies historical and legendary elements of the 9-10th centuries. It also builds on previous nomadic incursions to Central Europe by Asiatic tribes, particularly the Scythians, Avars and the Huns. In contrast, some communities of central Hungary have been rekindling interest in a distinct Turkic and Iranian nomadic heritage which dates back to the 13-14th centuries.
Based on extensive fieldwork in Hungary in the past two decades, the lecture will explore the creative social engineering of various elites who reconstruct nomadic histories in order to fashion local identities and a new national one. At the same time the lecturer will draw out the implications of these results for historical and anthropological scholarship.
Summer School, Erfurt, 17-19 July 2015
Religion and Ritual: A Matter of Power. Interdisciplinary Approaches
Programme
Winter School, Wittenberg, 9-11 February 2015
Programme
Summer School, Naumburg, 19-21 July 2013
Identities in (Ex)Change: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Challenges
Programme
Winter School, Wittenberg, 5-7 February 2013
Programme
Launch of the International Max Planck Research School for the Anthropology, Archaeology and History of Eurasia (IMPRS ANARCHIE)
The IMPRS ANARCHIE will be officially launched on 15 October 2012 at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology at 6:00 p. m.
Stephen Shennan, Director of the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, will lecture on:
Patterns of long-term change in the European Neolithic
The talk will show that although the appearance of farming led to increased populations in Europe these were not sustained. Regional populations underwent a pattern of 'boom and bust'. These fluctuations had a major impact on social, economic and cultural patterns, including the building of monumental tombs and enclosures, the exploitation of flint resources and the spatial and temporal patterns recognised by traditional culture history. It will be suggested that describing and explaining 'big pictures' is an appropriate goal for a unified archaeological and anthropological approach to European prehistory and that the integrative theoretical perspective of 'cultural evolution' as developed over the last 30 years by Boyd and Richerson and many others offers a productive framework for achieving it.