It would seem desirable for any state to gum an ideological foothold in local knowledge and
symbols to facilitate the assimilation of its order by average citizens and to argue for its�…

The anthropological study of architecture has suffered somewhat less from the widespread
notions concerning utility that have hampered the study of other aspects of material culture�…

The emergence of states is an enduring focus for anthropologists. Identifying when and
under what circumstances this political transformation has occurred in independent cases is�…

Stone is not only good to build with but to think with as well. Rural populations in the area of
Imerina in central Madagascar continue to recognize certain boulders and large stones as�…

This paper suggests that, rather than investigating “the origin of the state” within familiar
sociopolitical typologies based on general evolution, anthropologists (I) study specific�…

In 1988, at the beginning of the'Urban Origins in Eastern Africa'research project, it was
thought that no towns existed in Madagascar prior to the 17th century. This thesis shows that�…

Myth and history are not so different as was once thought. People may have different
interpretations of the same'historical facts'. History may therefore be used like myth to�…

In The Weight of the Past, Michael Lambek explores the complex ways that history shapes,
constrains, and enables daily life. Focusing on ritual performances of spirit mediumship in a�…

This article discusses different understandings of the origins of a ritual associated with the
Antankaraña polity of northern Madagascar. If we are to understand how history is “made”�…

This dissertation is an historically informed study of a polity in contemporary northern
Madagascar. By focusing on the intertwined interests of the polity's rulers (those influential�…