Ethnographies of Moral Reasoning

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. An Introduction to the Ethnography of Moral Reasoning

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Residence: Moral Reasoning in a Common Place—Paradoxes of a Global Age

      • Karen Sykes

      Pages 3-40

3. Valuers and Value: Words on an Uncommon Ground

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 41-41

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   2. Privatization: Jokes, Scandal, and Absurdity in a Time of Rapid Change

      • Catherine Alexander

      Pages 43-65

   3. Charity: Conversations about Need and Greed

      • Soumhya Venkatesan

      Pages 67-89

4. Contestations of the Standards of Value

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91

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   2. Custom: The Limits of Reciprocity in Village Resettlement

      • Keir Martin

      Pages 93-116

   3. Corruption: Insights into Combating Corruption in Rural Development

      • Alpa Shah

      Pages 117-135

5. Subaltern Reason, Moral Ambiguity, and Paradoxes of Value

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 137-137

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   2. Fakes: Fraud, Value-Anxiety, and the Politics of Sincerity

      • Susanne Brandtstädter

      Pages 139-160

   3. Sacra: Rumors about the Moral Force of Ritual Objects as Public Art

      • Karen Sykes

      Pages 161-185

6. After Words

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 187-187

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   2. After Words: From Ethos to Pathos

      • C. A. Gregory

      Pages 189-201

7. Back Matter

   Pages 203-206

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Rather than measure the actions of their subjects by reference to either universal rationality or cultural relativism, contributors in this volume describe ordinary people as they value human relationships and reason through the commonplace contradictions of their local way of life in a global age.

• age
• brand
• corruption
• ethnography
• living
• measure
• privatization
• rationality
• reason
• reasoning
• relationships
• relativism
• standards
• subject
• Volume

"Anthropologists have become used to people's voices, 'analyses' even - this book breaks new ground by listening to 'arguments'. Arguments over what's best or right, moments of doubt or paradox about what's worthwhile, conundrums that need reasoning through. The approach is an enriching one,offering a novel purchase on the predicaments of social values in flux." - Marilyn Strathern, Professor of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University.

KAREN SYKES is Senior Lecturer of Anthropology, University of Manchester, UK.

Policies and ethics