Progress in the Balance : : Mythologies of Development in Santos, Brazil / / / Daniel R. Reichman.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2023
• VerfasserIn: Reichman, Daniel R.,
• Author: Reichman, Daniel R.,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : : Cornell University Press, , [2023]; ©2023
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (204 p.) :; 13 b&w halftones, 1 map

Through a historical ethnography of Santos, Brazil, Progress in the Balance addresses and assesses an anthropological theory of progress. Observing that anthropology is a progressive discipline with a pessimistic attitude towards progress, Daniel Reichman explains the contested meanings of progress in Brazil and explores how anthropologists and others can define this concept more generally. He investigates how any society can separate "progress" from plain old change and, if change is constantly happening all around us, how and why certain events get lifted out of a normal timeframe and into a mythic narrative of progress.Each chapter outlines a particular episode in the history of Santos, a city undergoing an unprecedented period of economic and political turmoil, as it is represented in public culture, mainly through museums, monuments, art, and public events. Drawing on the anthropology of myth, Reichman proposes a model that he refers to as a "clash of timescapes." Progress in the Balance shows how this concept of "progress" requires a different temporal structure that separates sacralized social change from mundane historical events.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Terminology -- Introduction: Cracks in the Foundation -- 1. Spectacles of Colonialism: Two Timescapes of Indigenous Presence in Santos -- 2. Coffee of the Past, Coffee of the Future: Two Timescapes of Export Agriculture -- 3. Port of the Past, Port of the Future: Two Timescapes of Labor and Capital -- 4. Sacralizing the Sewer: Turning Pollution into Progress -- 5. Citizen of the World, King of All Nations: Globalization and the FIFA Class at the Pelé Museum -- Conclusion: The Shapes of Progress: Configuring Social Change in Theory -- Notes -- References -- Index