This book examines the political economy of the master-slave relationship viewed through the lens of consumption and market exchange. What did it mean when human chattel bought commodities; "stole" property; or gave and received gifts? Forgotten exchanges; this study argues; measured the deepest questions of worth and value; shaping an enduring struggle for power between slaves and masters. The slaves' internal economy focused intense paternalist negotiation on a ground where categories of exchange - provision; gift; contraband; and commodity - were in constant flux. At once binding and alienating; these ties endured constant moral stresses and material manipulation by masters and slaves alike; galvanizing conflict and engendering complex new social relations on and off the plantation.
#3238643 in Books Edmonds III Radcliffe G 2013-12-16Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.98 x .98 x 5.98l; 1.60 #File Name: 1107038219464 pagesRedefining Ancient Orphism
Review
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful. A Fresh Angle on an Old ProblemBy Laura Knight-JadczykExcellent review and analysis of Orphic literature that gives a more comprehensive angle on the phenomenon. Hopefully more "speculators" will read this and get some grounding before they take off into La-la Land; creating vast conspiracy theories about secret religions. I do think the author would have benefited enormously from reading astronomers; Victor Clube and Bill Napier and their theories about the origins of religion in the Greek Dark Ages being cometary disasters. (The Cosmic Serpent). A lot of what Edmonds sees as "Orphism" would then make a lot more sense: a desperate attempt to stabilize the environment in the face of cataclysm; to appease the gods; to find the right button to push to make things normal once again.
