Priests and Programmers : : Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali / / J. Stephen Lansing.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Lansing, J. Stephen,
• TeilnehmendeR: Clark, William C.
• MitwirkendeR: Kremer, James N.,; Valeri, Valerio,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2009]; ©2007
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (216 p.)

For the Balinese, the whole of nature is a perpetual resource: through centuries of carefully directed labor, the engineered landscape of the island's rice terraces has taken shape. According to Stephen Lansing, the need for effective cooperation in water management links thousands of farmers together in hierarchies of productive relationships that span entire watersheds. Lansing describes the network of water temples that once managed the flow of irrigation water in the name of the Goddess of the Crater Lake. Using the techniques of ecological simulation modeling as well as cultural and historical analysis, Lansing argues that the symbolic system of temple rituals is not merely a reflection of utilitarian constraints but also a basic ingredient in the organization of production.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Foreword -- Preface to the 2007 Edition -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. The Gods of the Countryside -- Chapter One. "Income to Which No Tears Are Attached" -- Chapter Two. The Powers of Water -- Chapter Three. The Waters of Power -- Chapter Four. The Temple of the Crater Lake -- Chapter Five. Chance Observations and the Metaphysics of Taxation -- Chapter Six. Massive Guidance -- Conclusion. Sociogenesis -- Afterword -- Appendix A. Plan of the Temple of the Crater Lake -- Appendix B. Technical Report on the Ecological Simulation Model -- Notes -- Index