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Abstract
In this article I attempt to do an ethnography of the state by examining the discourses of corruption in contemporary India. I focus on the practices of lower levels of the bureaucracy in a small north Indian town as well as on representations of the state in the mass media. Research on translocal institutions such as "the state" enables us to reflect on the limitations of participant-observation as a technique of fieldwork. The analysis leads me to question Eurocentric distinctions between state and civil society and offers a critique of the conceptualization of "the state" as a monolithic and unitary entity. [the state, public culture, fieldwork, discourse, corruption, India]
Journal Information
American Ethnologist is a quarterly journal concerned with ethnology in the broadest sense of the term. The editor welcomes manuscripts that creatively demonstrate the connections between ethnographic specificity and theoretical originality, as well as the ongoing relevance of the ethnographic imagination to the contemporary world.
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American Ethnologist © 1995 American Anthropological Association
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Study Guide7/13-16/20202.1.1 Study: The Growth of Big BusinessU.S. History since the Civil Warmonopoly: A situation in which a company, or group of companies, has enough control over an industry to be able to affect prices and availability of products.land grants: Land that is given by a government to a person or organization.Pacific Railway Act: A law passed in 1862 that called for the building of a railroad from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. The law gave millions of acres of land to railroad companies. The companies sold someof this land to farmers and ranchers.corporation: A business formed by many shareholders who each own a part of the company. Shareholders split the profits based on their level ofownership.Fourteenth Amendment: The 1868 amendment that overruled the Dred Scotdecision and gave blacks the right to citizenship. It also ensured that all men had equal rights under the law.One outcome of laissez-faire economic policies was businesses paying workers very little.One reason government officials ignored unfair business practices was that some companies paid them money to ignore these problems.The railroad industry was helped the most by increased immigration from China.
2.1.3 Study: Leaders of IndustryU.S. History since the Civil WarAndrew Carnegie: (1835 – 1919) An immigrant from Scotland who became very rich in the U.S. steel industry. He used much of his wealth tobuild libraries, schools, and colleges in the United States and other countries.John D. Rockefeller: (1839 – 1937) An American businessman who became very rich in the oil industry. He founded the Standard Oil Company, which operated as a monopoly — that is, without much competition. He used much of his wealth to pay for research in medicine,education, and science.trust: A company that is formed by a group of companies in order to control an industry. The trust consists of a board of directors that controls the companies' activities, including setting prices and market conditions.Cornelius Vanderbilt: (1794 – 1877) An American businessman who became very rich in the shipping and railroad industries. He gave money to churches in the New York City area, as well as $1 million to a universitythat was later named after him in honor of the gift.Second Industrial Revolution: Also called the "Technological Revolution,"referring to the period between the mid-1800s and 1914. It took place in Western Europe, Japan, and the United States. It included the use of electricity, the internal combustion engine, and advances in the chemical,steel, and oil industries.