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Ethnographies of Legitimacy: Methodological and Theoretical Insights

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Legitimacy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology ((PSUA))

Abstract

Pioneered in the mid-1990s by a small group of anthropologists, the study on the complex dynamics of legitimacy and legitimation—of ordinary people’s morality and actions, of the law, of politics and governance—has grown into a sophisticated debate that eschews confusion between law and legitimacy. In the face of the growing gap between the rulers and the ruled, this chapter introduces a coherent collective effort by anthropologists and qualitative sociologists to demonstrate the epistemological significance of ethnographic knowledge gained, classically, through long-term field research to our understanding of grassroots processes of legitimacy. As a whole, this endeavour aims to chart new theoretical directions on ‘legitimacy and urban governance’ as a locus of ethnographic research that matters to our urban futures.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This project draws on international multidisciplinary seminars, round tables, conferences and seasonal schools to encourage debate and originate publications in the form of individual articles, edited volumes, journal special issues and comments in the media.

  2. 2.

    A generous grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Gr. CONF-751) and the intellectual and organizational know-how, network and local knowledge of the International Urban Symposium (IUS) significantly contributed to the success of the meeting. We wish to express our gratitude to these bodies and to the local municipal authorities for their gracious welcome.

  3. 3.

    See, for instance, Breitmeier (2008), Camargo Sierra and Hurtado-Tarazona (2013), Coicau (2002), Pardo ed. (2000), Pardo (1995, 2000b, 2004), Prato (1993, 2000, 2006, 2011), Peters et al. (2009), Pardo and Prato (2011), Spyridakis (2011), Forster and Koechlin (2011).

  4. 4.

    See, on this, Bekkers et al. (2007), Gupta (1995), Morris ed. (2000), Pardo and Prato eds (2011), Riberio Hoffman and van der Vleuten eds (2007), Sarduski (2008), Sharma and Gupta eds (2006).

  5. 5.

    See contributions in Overing ed. (1985), in Prato ed. (2009) and in Prato and Pardo eds (2011), also Pardo (1996) and Lukes (2008).

  6. 6.

    We refer, here, to the jurisprudential principle of law as imposed law (Weber 1978: 753–84; Burman and Harrel-Bond 1979: Introduction; Lloyd-Bostock 1979) in the knowledge that law may need distance but, like politics, cannot be superimposed on the social context. (Hamnett 1977: 4; Pitch 1983: 120 ff.; Saltman 1985; Strathern 1985).

  7. 7.

    For many years, Pardo reminds us, a succession of such people have stayed in power with the support of a cross-party slight majority of MPs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK

    Italo Pardo & Giuliana B. Prato

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  1. Italo Pardo
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  2. Giuliana B. Prato
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Correspondence to Italo Pardo .

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    Italo Pardo  & Giuliana B. Prato  & 

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Pardo, I., Prato, G.B. (2019). Ethnographies of Legitimacy: Methodological and Theoretical Insights. In: Pardo, I., Prato, G.B. (eds) Legitimacy. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96238-2_1

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