Dr Italo Pardo, Honorary Professor of Social Anthropology, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Dr Giuliana B. Prato, have published an important new volume on Legitimacy: Ethnographic and Theoretical Insights.
Global in scope, this original and thought-provoking edited volume applies new theory on legitimacy and legitimation to urban life. This informed reflection on a comparatively new topic in anthropology, in relation to morality, action, law, politics and governance, is both timely and innovative, especially as worldwide discontent amongst so-called ordinary people grows.
The ethnographically-based analyses in this book range from the banking sector to suburban neighbourhoods, from poverty to political action at the grassroots. The authors recognise the growing gap between the rulers and the ruled with particular attention to the morality of what is right as opposed to what is legal. On the strength of fourteen chapters rooted in ethnographic research, contributed by the editors and high-calibre colleagues from around the world, this book is a unique contribution to social theory, fostering discussion across the many boundaries of anthropological and sociological studies.
Professor Judith DeSena, of St. John’s University, USA, believes that, “This timely volume, organised around legitimacy as the central concept, seizes a moment of increasing discontent and disdain for those in power amongst ordinary people worldwide. A must-read for those interested in urban studies in the fields of anthropology, economics, political science, sociology, history and qualitative research, as well as policy makers involved in social reform and social change.”
For Judy Arnold, Retired Professor of Education, Lincoln Memorial University, USA, “This original and thought-provoking work will propel the comparatively new discussion of legitimacy and legitimation into still newer fields. The impressive scholarship gathered here not only provides an important examination of the core of humanity and the question of morality, but also forms a theoretical base for future discussions across the many boundaries of anthropological and ethnographic studies.”
Legitimacy: Ethnographic and Theoretical Insights by Italo Pardo and Giuliana B. Prato (eds) is published by Palgrave Macmillan, New York (DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-96238-2).