Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali
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...
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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.Geoffrey Samuel - Journal of Asian Studies[A]n enjoyable and stimulating book.
List of Figures xiList of Tables xiiiForeword xvPreface to the 2007 Edition xixAcknowledgments xxxiIntroduction: The Gods of the Countryside 3"Income to Which No Tears Are Attached" 17The Powers of Water 37The Waters of Power 59The Temple of the Crater Lake 73Chance Observations and the Metaphysics of Taxation 95Massive Guidance 111Conclusion: Sociogenesis 127Afterword Valerio Valeri 134Plan of the Temple of the Crater Lake 145Technical Report on the Ecological Simulation Model James N. Kremer 153Notes 159Index 181
\ Journal of Asian Studies[A]n enjoyable and stimulating book.\ — Geoffrey Samuel\ \ \ \ \ Contemporary South AsiaPriests and Programmers is written with admirable clarity and should be of interest . . . to anybody working on applied social research.\ — Michael Hitchcock\ \ \ Technology and Culture[B]rilliant and delightful. . . . [N]ot only has [Lansing] written a superb book, but he has contributed materially and humanely to the quality of life of the people he has studied. Too few scholars can make this claim.\ — Bryan Pfaffenberger\ \ \ \ \ MissiologyThis is fascinating cultural anthropology, even history of religions.\ — Edward H. Schroeder\ \ \ \ \ Journal of Asian Studies[A]n enjoyable and stimulating book.\ \ \ \ \ Contemporary South AsiaPriests and Programmers is written with admirable clarity and should be of interest . . . to anybody working on applied social research.\ \ \ \ \ Technology and Culture[B]rilliant and delightful. . . . [N]ot only has [Lansing] written a superb book, but he has contributed materially and humanely to the quality of life of the people he has studied. Too few scholars can make this claim.\ \ \ \ \ MissiologyThis is fascinating cultural anthropology, even history of religions.\ \ \ \ \ Contemporary South AsiaPriests and Programmers is written with admirable clarity and should be of interest . . . to anybody working on applied social research.\ — Michael Hitchcock\ \
