Browsing by Author "Fischer, Michael M. J."
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Item Knowledge and power: Guided social change in the Philippines(1988) Weeks, Priscilla; Fischer, Michael M. J.This is a study of Third World developers--those involved in the development process in their own countries. Using an integrated development project in the Philippines as an example, it tries to portray the complexity of the position of these Third World elites as nationalists, post-colonial intellectuals and activists engaged in an endeavor which has the potential to make their countries independent but which often reinforces dependence on the First World. What these developers want to accomplish, how they see their work, some of the unintentional consequences of their projects and the criticism leveled against them by their colleagues will be explored. Third World intellectuals engaged in development have come under increasing criticism from a sector of their peers who maintain that modernization theory is based on false Western premises and development, as currently practiced, only serves to perpetuate dependence. They feel that social science theory has aided in the maintenance of Western hegemony and therefore needs to be reformulated i.e. indigenized, in order to rid it of its colonial bias. The literature on modernization and development is perhaps most closely associated with colonialism because of the ideology of progress which underlies both colonialism and development, development's role in pacification campaigns, and the fact that old colonial powers heavily contribute to development projects in their former colonies. Given such a critique of their efforts, why do developers persist? My contention is that a combination of factors contribute to this paradox. As Third World intellectuals calling for appropriate social science models maintain, education based in Western models is important. Theoretical rigidity, however, is mediated by career goals, personal past, bureaucratic milieu and acceptance of government modernization goals.Item Modernist cultural critique: The visual arts and anthropology(1988) Hill, Diana Louise; Fischer, Michael M. J.This thesis juxtaposes the comparable development of the written discourse surrounding three twentieth century modern art movements, Surrealism, American Abstract Expressionism and the performance art of Joseph Beuys, with that of cultural anthropology with regard to the role of each as cultural critique. This juxtaposition also examines the multiple layering suggested by the relationship between art, art history and art criticism to both, each other and to broader social and cultural arenas as comparable to that of anthropology to its 'other' as well as its own society. An anthropological analysis of the arts reveals their 'native' hermeneutic tradition and thus challenges anthropology to engage with realms of social discourse where it is not a privileged locus of interpretation. The crisis of representation faced by anthropology at present is compared to the crisis of subject matter which laid the foundation of modern art forty years ago.Item Shi'ism in transition(1988) Abedi, Mehdi; Fischer, Michael M. J.The importance of Islam as a religious, cultural, and political force has been too evident in the last decades of the twentieth century to need any emphasis. To reach an understanding of the position and influence of Islam in the world today, it is necessary not only to understand "classical" Islam, but to recognize that Islam is a transforming force. It is more than an old religion, it is a modern day ideology for "changing". At the same time it is, itself, a "changing" ideology. As it attempts to transform its own abode (as well as the entire world), it becomes transformed by the delimiting forces which surround it. Currently Shi'ite Islam deserves particular attention. It is no longer a traditional/traditionalist force vis-a-vis secularist "social reform" confined in its abode (mainly Iran), but an expanding "revolutionary" force. It is revolutionary in its call to all Muslims of the world to "return": to "original Islam", to "self" (from cultural disalienation, dis-assimilation), and to the world which the "eroding acid of modernism/modernization" has severely damaged but not totally destroyed. This study draws attention, through a variety of interpretive techniques, to this complex change and transformation. Part 1 explores individual growth and education in Iran through a series of autobiographical sondages set in the postmodern world. Part 2 features the life and works of an important Shi'ite ideologue who reinterpreted his old faith into a practical ideology in light of modern thought. Part 3 interprets ethnographic observations among Muslim immigrants (and converts) in Houston, Texas. The study concludes by addressing the issue of minority adjustment in exile.