This is the first English translation of the classic work by Louis Dumont, one of the premier anthropologists and social theorists of his generation. Dumont traces the history and distribution of the Pramalai Kallars of south India: their culture, agricultural practices, economic and political organization, and the collective representations embedded in their social organization and religion. This work is particularly noteworthy as a structuralist ethnography and as the first step in Dumont's construction of a comprehensive structuralist theory of traditional Indian society.

A South Indian Subcaste: Social Organization and Religion of the Pramalai Kallar (French Studies on South Asian Culture and Society)

Dumont, Louis

Moffat, Michael

Morton, Lewis

Morton, Alice

Oxford University Press

In this comparative anthropological analysis, Louis Dumont illuminates German and French ideology, European culture, and cultural interaction. His analysis of texts by Troeltsch, Thomas Mann, Goethe, and others, against the background of previously gathered evidence and of French common notions, specify the differences—otherwise frequently but vaguely alluded to—between French and German cultures. Anyone interested in the fate of national ideology and the concept of the individual will benefit from this radical reinterpretation of modern values and the place of modernity in history. "What François Furet did for French history, Dumont did for anthropology, turning it away from engaged politics and towards the sober study of the modern age." —Mark Lilla, London Review of Books "There are many fine things in Dumont's study. Beyond any doubt, his cultural anthropology of the modern spirit highlights some of the key energies of the of the last two centuries. . . . [An] impressive . . . detailed analysis." —Martin Swales, Times Higher Education Supplement "[An] unsettling, rich, demanding, profound study." —Publishers Weekly

German Ideology: From France to Germany and Back

History

Europe

University of Chicago Press

In this comparative anthropological analysis, Louis Dumont illuminates German and French ideology, European culture, and cultural interaction. His analysis of texts by Troeltsch, Thomas Mann, Goethe, and others, against the background of previously gathered evidence and of French common notions, specify the differences—otherwise frequently but vaguely alluded to—between French and German cultures.Anyone interested in the fate of national ideology and the concept of the individual will benefit from this radical reinterpretation of modern values and the place of modernity in history."What François Furet did for French history, Dumont did for anthropology, turning it away from engaged politics and towards the sober study of the modern age." —Mark Lilla, London Review of Books"There are many fine things in Dumont's study. Beyond any doubt, his cultural anthropology of the modern spirit highlights some of the key energies of the of the last two centuries. . . . [An] impressive . . . detailed analysis." —Martin Swales, Times Higher Education Supplement"[An] unsettling, rich, demanding, profound study." —Publishers Weekly

Business & Money

Economics

Louis Dumont's Essays on Individualism is an ambitious attempt to place the modern ideology of individualism in a broad anthropological perspective. The result of twenty years of scholarship and inquiry, the interrelated essays gathered here not only trace the genesis and growth of individualism as the dominant force in Western philosophy, but also analyze the differences between this modern system of thought and those of other, nonmodern cultures. The collection represents an important contribution to Western society's understanding of itself and its place in the world.

Essays on Individualism: Modern Ideology in Anthropological Perspective

Politics & Social Sciences

Sociology

Univ of Chicago Pr

Louis Dumont's Essays on Individualism is an ambitious attempt to place the modern ideology of individualism in a broad anthropological perspective. The result of twenty years of scholarship and inquiry, the interrelated essays gathered here not only trace the genesis and growth of individualism as the dominant force in Western philosophy, but also analyze the differences between this modern system of thought and those of other, nonmodern cultures. The collection represents an important contribution to Western society's understanding of itself and its place in the world.

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications (Nature of Human Society)

Louis Dumont's modern classic, here presented in an enlarged, revised, and corrected second edition, simultaneously supplies that reader with the most cogent statement on the Indian caste system and its organizing principles and a provocative advance in the comparison of societies on the basis of their underlying ideologies. Dumont moves gracefully from the ethnographic data to the level of the hierarchical ideology encrusted in ancient religious texts which are revealed as the governing conception of the contemporary caste structure. On yet another plane of analysis, homo hierarchicus is contrasted with his modern Western antithesis, homo aequalis.This edition includes a lengthy new Preface in which Dumont reviews the academic discussion inspired by Homo Hierarchicus and answers his critics. A new Postface, which sketches the theoretical and comparative aspects of the concept of hierarchy, and three significant Appendixes previously omitted from the English translation complete this innovative and influential work.

Social Sciences

Louis Dumont's modern classic, here presented in an enlarged, revised, and corrected second edition, simultaneously supplies that reader with the most cogent statement on the Indian caste system and its organizing principles and a provocative advance in the comparison of societies on the basis of their underlying ideologies. Dumont moves gracefully from the ethnographic data to the level of the hierarchical ideology encrusted in ancient religious texts which are revealed as the governing conception of the contemporary caste structure. On yet another plane of analysis, homo hierarchicus is contrasted with his modern Western antithesis, homo aequalis. This edition includes a lengthy new Preface in which Dumont reviews the academic discussion inspired by Homo Hierarchicus and answers his critics. A new Postface, which sketches the theoretical and comparative aspects of the concept of hierarchy, and three significant Appendixes previously omitted from the English translation complete this innovative and influential work.

Affinity As a Value: Marriage Alliance in South India, With Comparative Essays on Australia

Dans Homo hierarchicus, analyse désormais classique de la société des castes, Louis Dumont annonce son intention d'inverser la perspective et d'étudier la société égalitaire à la lumière de la société hiérarchique de type pur. Il vise à éclairer la formation de la civilisation occidentale moderne, égalitaire et individualiste, par rapport à ce que l'auteur appelle une civilisation holiste, fondée sur un système de valeurs globalisant et hiérarchique.Louis Dumont révèle comment, dans l'idéologie moderne, la catégorie de l'"économie" se dégage progressivement de l'idéologie globale, comment la pensée économique innove et raffine la conception même de la richesse, comment elle accentue un clivage fondamental de valeurs entre deux types de relations, relations des hommes entre eux et relations des hommes aux choses.

From Mandeville to Marx

the objects of human consumption are the essential goods

From Mandeville to Marx: The genesis and triumph of economic ideology

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dumont, Louis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Dumont, Louis

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dumont, Louis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A South Indian Subcaste: Social Organization and Religion of the Pramalai Kallar (French Studies on South Asian Culture and Society)

German Ideology: From France to Germany and Back

German Ideology: From France to Germany and Back

Essays on Individualism: Modern Ideology in Anthropological Perspective

Essays on Individualism: Modern Ideology in Anthropological Perspective

Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications (Nature of Human Society)

Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications (Nature of Human Society)

Affinity As a Value: Marriage Alliance in South India, With Comparative Essays on Australia

From Mandeville to Marx

From Mandeville to Marx: The genesis and triumph of economic ideology