Progress in the Balance

Daniel R. Reichman

ISBN 10: 1501770438 / ISBN 13: 9781501770432

Published by Cornell University Press, US, 2023

About this Item

Through a historical ethnography of Santos, Brazil, Progress in the Balance addresses and assesses an anthropological theory of progress. Observing that anthropology is a progressive discipline with a pessimistic attitude towards progress, Daniel Reichman explains the contested meanings of progress in Brazil and explores how anthropologists and others can define this concept more generally. He investigates how any society can separate "progress" from plain old change and, if change is constantly happening all around us, how and why certain events get lifted out of a normal timeframe and into a mythic narrative of progress. Each chapter outlines a particular episode in the history of Santos, a city undergoing an unprecedented period of economic and political turmoil, as it is represented in public culture, mainly through museums, monuments, art, and public events. Drawing on the anthropology of myth, Reichman proposes a model that he refers to as a "clash of timescapes." Progress in the Balance shows how this concept of "progress" requires a different temporal structure that separates sacralized social change from mundane historical events.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781501770432

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Progress in the Balance
• Publisher: Cornell University Press, US
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1501770438
• ISBN 13: 9781501770432
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 454 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Through a historical ethnography of Santos, Brazil, Progress in the Balance addresses and assesses an anthropological theory of progress. Observing that anthropology is a progressive discipline with a pessimistic attitude towards progress, Daniel Reichman explains the contested meanings of progress in Brazil and explores how anthropologists and others can define this concept more generally. He investigates how any society can separate "progress" from plain old change and, if change is constantly happening all around us, how and why certain events get lifted out of a normal timeframe and into a mythic narrative of progress.

Each chapter outlines a particular episode in the history of Santos, a city undergoing an unprecedented period of economic and political turmoil, as it is represented in public culture, mainly through museums, monuments, art, and public events. Drawing on the anthropology of myth, Reichman proposes a model that he refers to as a "clash of timescapes." Progress in the Balance shows how this concept of "progress" requires a different temporal structure that separates sacralized social change from mundane historical events.

About the Author

Daniel R. Reichman is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Rochester. He is the author of The Broken Village.