The holistic person; or, the ideology of egalitarianism

Bibliographic Data

ID2252058
AuthorsDavid Riches (0000-0002-3807-9098, University of St Andrews, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume6
Issue4
Pages669-685
Publication date2000-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-0987 • E-ISSN: 1467-9655
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9655.00039
OpenAlexW2154448770
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited18

Over the past decade and more, Western practices bearing on social life have been marked by a turn against Cartesian dualism. In particular, sociological analysts, political activists, and many ordinary Westerners have come increasingly to advocate an appreciation of the person in terms of the mind-body construed as inextricably one. To account for this, comparative material from Inuit hunter-gatherers and the Western New Age movement is brought to bear. Using this material, the holistic person is interpreted as a discourse about individual moral frailty, ideologically pertinent in societies where egalitarianism of outcome is the dominant cultural ethos. This analysis is related to Giddens's account of 'late modernity', specifically as this is informed by 'life politics

Aesthetics · Dualism · Egalitarianism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ethos · Ideology · Modernity · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology

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