ANTHRO 9 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Edward Said, Gananath Obeyesekere, Ethnocentrism
Document Summary
Structure of the conjecture: the overlap between two cultures after they interact. Sahlins developed the concept of the "structure of the conjuncture" to grapple with the problem of structure and agency, in other words that societies were shaped by the complex conjuncture of a variety of forces, or structures. Earlier evolutionary models, by contrast, claimed that culture arose as an adaptation to the natural environment. Crucially, in sahlins"s formulation, individuals have the agency to make history. Sometimes their position gives them power by placing them at the top of a political hierarchy. At other times, the structure of the conjuncture, a potent or fortuitous mixture of forces, enables people to transform history. Looking at the mechanism by which such a transformation happens. Even if you are doing things in the way that they have been done in the past, nonetheless there is a certain unpredictability because your culture is not the only one there.
