Abstract

ESCALONA VICTORIA, José Luis. Returns of the State. Inquiries on the Strength of an Idea. Estud. sociol [online]. 2021, vol.39, n.115, pp.237-260.  Epub Sep 06, 2021. ISSN 2448-6442.  https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2021v39n115.2091.

Despite the diversity of concrete forms of the state, and its decentered, diffuse and even ghostly nature, as recently pointed out by anthropological and ethnographic studies, the idea of a centralized, omnipotent power continues to animate political fantasy, discussion and social mobilization. A problem is formulated from the perspective of various contemporary situations involving political dispute, in which the state re-emerges as a replica, fractal or fetish: to what extent does our understanding of politics remain bound to the idea of state, as pointed out by Monique Nuijten (2003) and other analysts. This essay is therefore an invitation to think about the margins of contemporary politics.

Keywords : anthropology of the state; idea of state; fetish; politics; social power.

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