The Anthropology of Parliaments: Entanglements in Democratic Politics

Description

The Anthropology of Parliaments offers a fresh, comparative approach to analysing parliaments and democratic politics, drawing together rare ethnographic work by anthropologists and politics scholars from around the world. Crewe’s insights deepen our understanding of the complexity of political institutions. She reveals how elected politicians navigate relationships by forging alliances and thwarting opponents; how parliamentary buildings are constructed as sites of work, debate and the nation in miniature; and how politicians and officials engage with hierarchies, continuity and change. This book also proposes how to study parliaments through an anthropological lens while in conversation with other disciplines. The dive into ethnographies from across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Region demolishes hackneyed geo-political categories and culminates in a new comparative theory about the contradictions in everyday political work. This important book will be of interest to anyone studying parliaments but especially those in the disciplines of anthropology and sociology; politics, legal and development studies; and international relations. Cover Half Title Endorsements Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introducing parliaments and anthropology A map of this book Parliaments and legislatures What is anthropology? My own entry into parliaments PART I: The sociality of parliaments 2. The alchemy of voting Elections: socially, historically and technologically embedded Vernacular election games in the UK Quiet rebellions: voting shifts as an indicator of social change Fetishising the vote 3. Representing What is political representation? Feminist theories of under-representation The anthropology of representing and ignoring In UK constituencies: the collective MP Resonance and alienation 4. Scrutiny of the state Anthropologists on the shape of the state Reading the runes: making law in the UK Crocodiles and snakes Critique as scrutiny Scrutiny as part of shapeshifting work PART II: The cultures of parliaments 5. Rhythms of performance Agendas and diaries of time and space The emotional gestures of minds and bodies Breaking rhythms: moving on or staying put 6. Riffs of meaning Ideology and knowledge Rhetoric: communicating riffs of meaning Networked advocacy 7. Rituals and symbols in politics Ritualised decision-making Ceremonies of state Rituals, solidarity and violence PART III: Politics with the dial turned up 8. A sense of proportion Everyday political work: walking between friends and foes Disentangling power The democracy dials 9. Improvising together Researching as learning and (in the fullness of time) advocacy Entangled, reflexive anthropology: how and why? What we don’t know References Index