The Culture Cult

Designer Tribalism and Other Essays

Bibliographic Data

ID11850434
AuthorsRoger Sandall (corresponding author)
Year2018
Pages228
Publication date2018-02-19
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueCulture Cult (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9780429496714
OpenAlexW4242576568
ISBN9780429496714
Open LibraryOL53971715M
LanguageEN
Citations received2

The Culture Cultis an acerbic critique of that longing widespread in society today to ?retreat from civilization.? From Rousseau and the Noble Savage to modern defenders of ethnicity such as Isaiah Berlin and Karl Polanyi, a prominent intellectual tradition has over-romanticized the virtues of tribal life. In contrast, another tradition, represented by Karl Popper, Michael Polanyi, and Ernest Gellner, defends modern values and civil society. The Culture Cult discusses both sides of this divide between "culture" and "civilization," and between "closed" and "open" societies. The romantic insistence on the superiority of the primitive is increasingly grounded in a fictionalized picture of the past-a picture often created with the aid of well-meaning but misguided anthropologists. Such idealizations work to the detriment of the very people they are meant to help, for they isolate minorities from such undeniable benefits of modern society as literacy and health care, and discourage them from participating in modern life. Few will find comfort in The Culture Cult, but many will recognize a valuable criticism of currently popular social politics

Cult · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Globalization and Cultural Identity · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy · Alternative lifestyles · Anthropology · Culture · Cultuur · Ethnology · History · Meningen · Modern Civilization · Popular opinion · Prehistoric peoples · Primitive societies · Primitivism · Public opinion · race relations · Representation · Theory and criticism

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