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Updated: 2010 |
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— Through
existing and experimental data, I am examining the motion of culture
through the lens of three laws or axioms. The first paper in a
planned series has already been published (American Anthropologist
12(1): 122-139, 2010). A second paper, currently under review,
makes a case for considering the laws of supply and demand in classical
economics as special cases of the laws of cultural motion. A
third that views social relations through the laws of cultural
motion is in preparation.  |
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— The
goal of this project is to discover the force or forces that have
impelled the spread of modern national constitutions over the past
two hundred plus years. I am investigating this phenomenon through
a comparative study of the wording in the present and past constitutions
of the 192 countries currently recognized by the United Nations.
Three papers leading up to this project have already been published
in 2008: "The Circulation of Secularism," "Freedom
and Culture," and "Citizenship
as a Mode of Belonging by Choice." Two papers that are direct
outgrowths of the project have already been drafted and presented
in different venues but not yet submitted: "A Sentence That
Shaped the Modern World" and "The Recognition of Indigenous
Identity." I
envision a book publication emerging from the project. At the
same time, I have begun to ethnographically explore the attitudes
people have towards their constitutions. The
goal of this latter ethnographic work is an interactive website
to which citizens can contribute. |
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— This
ongoing project primarily involves research with American and European
corporations. The work involves conversations with corporate executives,
as well as problem-focused research conducted with specific corporations.
A related activity is the 2011-12 year-long program on "Corporations
and Citizenship," part of the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship,
and Constitutionalism. |
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— The
original focus of my anthropological field research was Amerindian
Brazil, where I was concerned with language, discourse, myth, ritual,
and social life more generally. While I no longer maintain an active
field research project with Native South American communities,
I continue to have interest in ongoing projects being carried out
by others. |
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