Canadian Wood Toys INC. Essay Example for Free

Canadian Wood Toys INC. Essay I will begin by highlighting the importance of the audit in assessing the risk and identifying the steps in reducing and mitigating the risk that our company is facing. The impact of the risks on global business it is dramatic in our days, changing the entire look of the industries and financial services. Some risks could be anticipated and identified but some could not. Companies now are using more and more key steps and principles to better manage the risks by; *** identifying the risks relevant to the organization *** assess the significance and implications of those risks to the business *** identify and establish a process for collaboration on risk mitigation with other organizations and partners *** integrate Enterprise Risk Management into the organization *** focus resources on key risks in order to achieve the organization’s objectives (Source – PricewaterhouseCoopers – effective ERM) Under IAA Standard 2120 – Risk Management: â€Å"The internal audit activity must evaluate the effectiveness and contribute to the improvement of risk management processes. † Practice advisory 2120.C1 states: –â€Å"During consulting engagements, internal auditors must address risk consistent with the engagement’s objectives and be alert to the existence of other significant risks. In manufacturing companies, production is usually the most important aspect of the entire process mostly due to the high cost incurred, the staffing and the complexity of the departments involved – Production is of vital concern to management because of the important risks associated with the process. I have identified some of the most important risks and how to manage the risks to minimize the impact. Along with the  production process, other areas can be identified as posing risks; distribution, finance, human resources †¦ I have identified below some of the risks with the highest impact in our company: KEY RISKSMITIGATON (examples) The risk of manufacturing defective or substandard products Determine the cause of the quality defect (human error or machine) Trend analysis reports to address the recurrence of the defects The risk of missing deadlines for toys deliveries at Christmas time Review the production scheduling to agree with the specific job orders to avoid overproduction of toys that are not scheduled for delivery The risk of labor insecurity; potential strikes Review labor contracts and minimum wage government regulations; negotiations with union and labor boards The risk of unknown competition on international markets Use various econometric and statistical analysis to monitor the movement of market interest The risk of foreign exchange Use a foreign exchange contract Accept payment in one currency only (US) Hedging of foreign exchange Risk of unanticipated or sudden changes in regulations, codes or standards in regards to the exploitation of the wood and equipment and machineries used The company has to be actively involved in the development of regulations, codes and standards to further improve the safety of the equipment The risk of damage to ecology, scenery – due to over exploitation of forestry Use environmental mitigation programs able to protect and restore the forest Government fire protection programs The risk of accidents in the process of transportation of the logs Regular monitoring of the vehicles Checking drivers hours of work – implementing special schedule of hours Risk of loss of licensing for cutting and harvesting the trees Renewal in advance of the licenses, request from government of auditing the harvesting areas The risk of logging and lumbering fire damage and vehicle damage Forestry and timber Insurance that focuses on logging and lumbering, sawmills, automobiles and equipment The risk related to the liquidity and payment schedules which could lead to credit losses Establish rules for tendering, levels of approval authority and rules for credit control The risk of reporting erroneous financial information for internal and external decision Use external appraisers to evaluate fair value of assets and properties Senior managers should assess their financial reports to determine when they require estimates based on significant judgment; And ensure that independent expertise is applied in deriving the reports The risk mitigation step involves development of mitigation plans designed to manage, eliminate, or reduce risk to an acceptable level. Once a plan is implemented, it is continually monitored to assess its efficacy with the intent of revising the course-of-action if needed. I would like to reiterate as stated in the IAA Standards that the organization should fully understand that management remains responsible for risk management. As Internal auditors, we should provide advice, and challenge or support managements decisions on risk, as opposed to making risk management decisions. Below are some of the responsibilities that will not fall under the audit team: †¢ Setting the risk appetite. †¢ Imposing risk management processes. †¢ Management assurance on risks. †¢ Taking decisions on risk responses. †¢ Implementing risk responses on managements behalf. †¢ Accountability for risk management. Question 4 MEMO To: Director of Internal audit Department From: †¦. Assistant Director Internal audit Date: October 06, 2014 CC: As requested, I have prepared a plan for auditing the division of Student Services as part of the Central College Institution. I will detail 6 steps in the audit process but firstly I want to highlight the Standard 2200, Practice Advisory 2200-1 that states the requirements for the engagements planning and outlines the steps. â€Å"Internal auditors must develop and plan for each engagement, including the engagement’s objectives, scope, timing and resource allocations†. â€Å"The Internal auditor plans and conducts the engagement, with supervisory review and approval† 1. The first step is: To obtain specific knowledge of the unit to be audited. In this stage of the process we will gather and review the specific documentation that will help us getting more familiar with the division of food service – residential and campus. Some of the documents we will be reviewing: The annual budget; we have information about how much the overall budget is (8.9mil.); need to know how much is allocated to the food service program and how is spent. Policies and procedures Previous internal audit papers and reports List of the staff; org charts Contracts with food suppliers Documented projects and how the implementation process took place Upon reviewing of the documents we will be able to assess the problems that incurred; it will help us identify any managerial mistakes, any miscommunication between suppliers and management; if there is enough staffing 2. The second step in the audit plan is to: Establish the audit objectives and the scope of the audit. At this stage we need to review all the activities involving food service program step by step. This is to identify areas of weakness, why there are negative reviews; why there is such a small budget allocated to such important segment in the student’s activity in the campus. Also we will be  able to identify whether the appropriate policies and procedures were followed. Is the part time staff working in the 6 food service facilities skilled for the specific job they do? Why there is only part time staffing and no full time jobs; if there are enough employees considering the large division of food service included 6 cafeterias and restaurants plus residential food service. 3. The following step is: The audit methodology. In this stage of the audit process we will be able to gather additional information by interviewing individuals involved in all aspects of the student services division. We will be asking questions in order to determine if there are possible weaknesses that can have a major impact of the effectiveness of the operating and managing the 6 restaurants and cafeterias as well as the residential food service. We will be interviewing the part time staff about the schedule they have, if there are any complaints, if there is enough coverage at specific time of the day i.e. morning and lunch for the cafeterias and the restaurants. We will be interviewing the students and teachers about the hours of operation of the locations of the food service – they should be open late and they are actually closing early. We will be asking questions about the meal plans and find out if there is anything to improve on 4. The next step is: Determine the audit criteria. This very important step in the audit program will help us identify some of the criteria we can use in order to better assess the practices in the food service division. Budgeting The food service division must have a well established budget and a cost control in place and overseen by qualified staff. Price Management There should be a price verification policy in place to manage better the price of meals provided by the restaurants and the cafeteria – in comparison to other food providers around the campus (beat the price) Staffing there must be a criteria that analyze and conform with the labor standards –  achieve and surpass the minimum wage for the part time employees Food Quality and diversity there should be put in place a more divers meal plan based on the requirements and suggestions from the customers (students –divers ethnicity) new standards for nutritional meals are put in place and need to be followed Food locations management the standards for cleanliness and sanitation that are put in place need to be followed surveys will be handed out or on line surveys to measure the customer satisfaction 5. The following step is: Preparing staffing plans and time budgets At this stage in the audit plan we are dealing with establishing the budget necessary to accomplish the audit scope and the staff required to accomplish the plan in a timely manner. Since we are dealing with specifics in food industry – we have identified areas where there is not enough expertise from our team; therefore we require an additional external consultant (possible a nutritionist that possess the necessary knowledge). For the satisfaction survey we will be using the expertise of the actual marketing staff from the service department to create and implement the survey. 6. The next step is: Communication with management Subsequently, the audit plan needs to be discussing with the management. We will set up time for a meeting with the management to discuss the details over the purpose of the audit. We need to discuss further about the time allocated to the audit plan and go over each proposal for the relevant criteria that was chosen. In the meeting we will highlight the importance of the management active contribution and support to the audit process.

Sociological Areas Of Criminology Sociology Essay

Sociological Areas Of Criminology Sociology Essay Before discussing the social areas of crime. We have to understand what crime is? if any body breaks the criminal laws it may be defined as crime. (sociology making..,2009,page- 556) In sociological aspect of crime sociologists believe that crime cannot be properly understood without examining the surrounding social, political and economical context (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sociological-criminology.htm). The sociological areas of studying crime is really massive. Sometimes the criminals may be caught and sometimes they may not. Some criminals use to advertise themselves and some keep silence. The numbers of crime is always high than the numbers shown. Sociological study of crime is basically the case study of those criminals who breaks the rules of society and not advertise themselves because ht behaviour is always much problematic and painful. The study of crime is always tough because the researchers need to find the subject. In sociological approach the study depends on th e way which highlights that how anyone does crime. What social conditions compailed the person to do a crime and be a criminal. Sociological criminology seeks to explain crime`s relationship to social and environmental change. Another area of social criminology is based on marxism theory. It highlights that crime is ultimately the result of conflict between different social classes. This theory believes that basically laws are made by the group that is in power, to control people who are not in power. This is conflict theory of crime or critical criminology. Another sociological areas of criminology is social process criminology which explain that how people criminals. In this study basic focus is on criminal behaviour as learned behaviour. So, we can say that in sociological areas of criminology we emphasis on social situations responsible for crime. (sociology making..,2009,page- 557) Sociological areas of family Family is the strongest bond of society. It is the main institution of society which is found within the households. Family always changes across time and place and its a social construction. (mckie et al,2005,page- 445) In sociology areas of family we study the various theoretical approaches to the family. Some sociological approaches of families are functionalist, feminist and new rights perspective. The functionalist theory of family is based on socialization. It emphasis that the family socialise its members and this socialisation is beneficial for both family and the society. Feminist approach is the study based on the position of a men within a patriarchal society. The new sight perspective is the study that how family teaches its members that what is wrong and what is right. Another sociological areas of family is the study of decline in family. This area is based on the study of social problems related with family. This study is mostly based on western society. First part of this area is based on family violence. Family is a good and peaceful place but according to this study family can be a dangerous place to be. This problem is mostly caused in nuclear family. Domestic violence is another s ocial problem of family. Physical force applied on women and children caused by aggressiveness is the part of domestic violence. In simple words we can say that the sociological area of family describes both benefits and problems of the society caused by the family. Sociological areas of media Present age is the age of media. Media is unseparated part of today`s life. Most of the information we gathered from the media. In one hand media educates us and in other it is the real source of connecting people. Many types of media is present in today`s society like television, radio, newspaper, internet, etc. We can say that without media we cannot imagine the normal life. It is the accepted part of life. We spend our maximum part of time and money for using media. In (1998, brigs and cobley) extend his views to assert that as we more into the new millenmium the media are increasingly a central part of our lives, our cultures and global economics. (sociology making..,2009,page- 685) Because of this mass effect media has vast sociological area. It shows a very effective role in society different writers analayse and identified the different aspects of media in society. (Mcquail ,1994) drawed a red sketch on media`s social areas. As (mcquail ,1994) described some important social areas of media is as follows:- Information: à ¢-  Media circulates the information about different conditions and events of world and society. à ¢-  It indicates the relation of power. à ¢-  Media facilitate the innovations, adaptions and progress. Correlation: à ¢-  Media explains, interprets and comments on the meaning of events and information. à ¢-  Media provides support to established authority and norms. à ¢-  Media does consensus building. à ¢-  Media sets orders of priorities and signalling relative status. Continuity: à ¢-  Media expresses the dominant culture and recorganises subcultures and new cultural developments. à ¢-  It forges and maintaines common values. Entertainment: à ¢-  Media provides amusement, diversion and means of relaxation. à ¢-  Media reduces social tension by the resource of entertainment. Mobilization: à ¢-  Media campaigning for societal objectives in the sphere of polities, war, economic development, work and sometimes religion. (Mcquail, 1994:79), (sociology making, 2009, page-712) In conclusion we can say that media has the power to change the attitudes and behaviour of society. Media is an important factor of socialization. Media influences on the individual, the group, the institution or culture in general. Moral panics In the words of (stanlay cohen, 1987) moral panic is a condition, episode, person or group of persons became defined as a threat to societal values and interests. (http://en.citizendium.org/moralpanic) As (stanly cohen, 1987) described in his book (Folk devils and moral panics) some moral panics of society are:- à ¢-  Young, working- class, violent males, youth culture and juvenile delinquency. à ¢-  School violence. à ¢-  Bad drugs, wrong drugs used by wrong people at wrong times. à ¢-  Child abuse, sexual and satanic. à ¢-  Sex, violence and blaming media. à ¢-  Welfare cheats and single mothers. à ¢-  Pornography. à ¢-  Refuges and asylum seekers. (http://en.citizendium.org/moralpanic) The idea of moral panic was originally developed to explain the demonization of young people as a social problem and the scapegoating of certain subcultural groups in particular. (sociology making..,2009,page- 735) Jock young used firstly the term moral panic to describe the impact upon public anxiety of creation of `drug squads` in 1960s. Then this concept borrowed by (Stan cohen, 1972) in his classic study of mods and rockers and their treatment by the media and the police in the early 1960s. Stanley cohen, 1972 showed in his work that how media intervention gave from to different subcultural groups and represented them as threatening `folk devil`. In nineteenth century the famous sociologist (person, 1983) used the idea of moral panic to explore the fears generated by the emergence of urban gangs. As (person, 1983) conclude cited in (Toynbee,1983) that every era has its young gangs that catch the terrified imagination of the respectable. Every era also has its myth about a previou s golden age of traditional values, a time when it was safer to walk the streets. Intervention of media gives youth subcultures national exposure and degree of uniformity and definition. (sociology making, 2009, page-734-735)

Corporate Social Responsibility At British Petroleum Commerce Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility At British Petroleum Commerce Essay According to Mohr (1996), corporate responsibility is supported by the concepts of multidimensional definitions and social marketing. In the multidimensional definitions concept, the focus is on the major responsibilities expected from companies. These major responsibilities include economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic dimensions (Carroll, 1991). These responsibilities must be performed in order to benefit not only the company operators but also their employees, customers, the community and the general public. Kotler (1991) notes that the social marketing concept of corporate responsibility stresses that companies should operate in a way that maintains or enhances the well-being of its customers as well as its society. Petkus and Woodruff (1992) supported this concept further by stating that CSR is the avoidance of harm and the provision of good services. The definition given by the authors on corporate social responsibility may vary to a certain degree. However, the meanings of these definitions emphasize on one matter, and that is, a socially responsible organization must have priorities other that short-term profitability (Mohr, 1996). A study has been conducted with regards to the significance of corporate social responsibility to profitability (Mohr Webb, 2001). Although, further studies are still necessary in order to analyze the correlation of these factors, the findings of Mohr and Webb showed that social responsibility plays a significant role in consumer appeal. The perceptions of consumers however, tends to vary with regards to this aspect. Nonetheless, this stresses the importance of corporate responsibility not only on benefiting the stakeholders but also in achieving the goals of the companies towards growth and profitability. Primarily, the main goal of this report is to analyse the corporate social responsibility of British petroleum. Herein, the analysis will discuss how the company has been able to adhere to their responsibilities in the society which they operate. In addition, this paper will also discuss the comparison on the CSR approach of BP and The CO-OP. Overview of the Company British Petroleum known today as BP Amoco is a petroleum industry based in London. It is recognized as one of the top four oil and petroleum companies throughout the world. The company started in 1901when William Knox DArcy was given the permission by the Shah of Persia to explore the land for oil and founded one in May 1908. Because of this discovery, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was established so as to expose these findings. The company has grown gradually because of this as World War I is happening; the British Government shows intense interest to the company which became the source of fuel oil of Royal Navy during WWI. In 1917, the war gives permission to the British Government to have full control of the company and named it British Petroleum. The company has continued to become one of the largest oil companies in Europe and because the company wanted to expand its market, BP merged wit the American Oil Company (AMOCO). Today, the company operated in more than 100 states in 6 continents including China. The main goal of this company is to drill and find oil. The major activities of BP Amoco is exploration and production of natural gas and crude oil; refining or decontamination, marketing, supply and transportation and production and marketing or petrochemicals. In addition, the company also engaged itself in solar power. The strategic use technology and strategic management can be considered as a factor for this achievement. The company also acquires Burmah Castrol and Atlantic Richfield Corporation (Arco) and has been able to launch a combined global branding. The company offers products and services which are divided into three categories; on the roads which include fuels and stations, fuel cards, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), lubricants, roadside assistance and route planners, for the home which consists of products like LPG, online store and solar and renewable; and for business which include a ir BP, Bitumen, BP Marine, BP open books, BP shipping, petrochemicals, power, natural gas, lubricants liquified natural gas (LNG) and LPG, fuels, fuel cards and solar and renewable. In order to easily reach their customers, BP also uses the internet through its website. Corporate Social Responsibility of BP A facet of corporate social responsibility is the companys responsibility in the preservation and care of the environment. Oil companies, particularly the British Petroleum have battled issues coming out against them in relation to environmental issues. In fact, some environmental organisations have expressed dismay over the indiscriminate company performance of BP that resulted to harm in the environment. In August 1991, based on its analysis of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxic release inventory data for 1990 (the most recent available), the Washington, D.C.- based public interest group Citizen Action named BP among the top 10 polluters in the United States (BP: A Legacy of Apartheid, Pollution and Exploitation 2006). The findings brought out by environmental agencies and concerned environmentalist groups have caused the firm to take measures regarding the issue. Two years after Lord John Browne took over the BP administration, the firm rolled out a new marketing strategy that involved emphasis on environmental responsibility. In 1997, the British Petroleum supported the Kyoto Protocol, a worldwide agreement that seeks to prevent global warming by reducing greenhouse emissions. Subsequent efforts to minimise their business impact to the natural environment (providing cleaner burning fuels, reducing emissions, ending all facilitation payments (bribes) and political contributions) were also much publicised by the company, not only in observance of their corporate social responsibility, but also as a way of maintaining their stakeholders trust. These attempts on the part of the firm were questioned for their real intention, particularly the question will it lead the world in a sustainable energy revolution, truly moving beyond petroleum, or will it be content to profit from the exploitation of an increasingly taxed planet while draping itself in green? (Assadourian, 2004). Having been able to realize their corporate social responsibilities, the British petroleum has been able to solve the issue and attempt to have an enormous reinvention in 2000. The main goal of this reinvention is to alter the perception the people regarding BP in terms of its business operation and its role in the society. This reinvention is also a part of the adherence of the company to their social responsibilities and which costs $200 million. British petroleum was the first oil industry which started to address the issue of global climate change. It can be said that the corporate social responsibility challenge for the British petroleum has been threefold. The first one is to the challenge of translating the social responsibility commitment into an efficient and consistent approach in the global market. The next is to be able to meld the BP its subsidiaries like Arco and Amoco to social investments and the last is to satisfy and meet the external expectations from the society. These CSR commitment has been strengthened through the changes or reinvention mentioned above which include their advertisement of the Beyond Petroleum. In doing and meeting their organisational goal of being committed to social responsibilities, the company had been able to conduct rigorous planning with more than 130 fully functions Business Units. In this regard, each of the each of the Business Units has largely autonomous business operations with its own identity, history, imperatives and relationships. The Corporate social responsibility strategy of BP has also been able to give importance to three performance measures which include the social, environmental and financial which are known as the triple bottom line. The commitment of the BP with their social responsibility ensures that wherever they operation, their activities should be able to establish economic benefits and opportunities by enhancing the quality of life of individually, specifically those who are directly influenced by the company. The CSR commitment of the British Petroleum focuses on five aspects which include the employee relationships, ethical conducts, health safety and environmental performance, financial aspect and control (British Petroleum, 2008). In order to ensure that they are able to get affiliated with different international and global organisations for Human rights such as the United Nations, US-UK Voluntary Principles and others, for the labour relationships they follow the standards of the ILO Tri partite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and for environmental accountabilities they are linked with the GHG emissions reduction, ISO14000 and Clean Fuels Programs. Just like British Petroleum, other organisations are also able to adhere to the concept of being socially responsible and THE CO-OP is never an exemption. The corporate social responsibility of this company works in various stakeholders such as individual members, employees, customers, corporate members, suppliers, the wider community, and the cooperative members. In doing so, the company has provide community investment of  £7.3m, which is equal to 3.2% pre-tax profit, up from 2.5% in year 2003.

Exploring Shakespeares Presentation of the Theme of Power in The Tempe

Exploring Shakespeare's Presentation of the Theme of Power in The Tempest In 'The Tempest', power manifests itself in many different forms. Three of the main types of power that Shakespeare explores are the power of love, the power of magic and illusion and the power of a master over his slave. He presents these forms of power in a number of ways. In 'The Tempest' Prospero appears to hold the majority of the power. He maintains his control over other characters in various ways, for example he uses the power of love to influence his daughter Miranda. Miranda is devoted to her father, and Prospero uses guilt to maintain this. In their first conversation, Prospero?s power over Miranda becomes apparent. She says ?Alack, what trouble/Was I then to you!? and it is clear that because of the guilt she feels, she will be willing to do anything for him. It is evident that Miranda is aware of how powerful Prospero is, as she says ?Had I been any god of power, I would/ Have sunk the sea within the earth?. This indicates that she understands the extent of Prospero?s power, and that if she had possessed the same amount of power, she would use it differently to her father. Prospero is manipulative, appearing self-pitying by saying ?When I have decked the sea with drops full salt/ Under my burthen groaned? but also egotistical, saying, ?Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit/ Than other princesses can? to which Miranda responds ?Heaven thank you for?t!? Although he tries to cause Miranda to feel sympathy towards him in order to keep control of her, he also wants her to admire him. Although he also has power over Miranda usi... ...serves in offices/ That profit us?. Prospero needs Ariel and Caliban in order to have power, and so throughout ?The Tempest?, contrary to our beliefs at the beginning of the play, we begin to see that the main protagonist of power within ?The Tempest? is not, in fact, Prospero. Shakespeare presents many kinds of power in ?The Tempest?. He demonstrates the control that Prospero has over Miranda using love, and also different kinds of power between master and slave. Sometimes the master and slave power is subverted, such as at the beginning of the play, when the boatswain takes control. Shakespeare also presents a change in the balance of Prospero?s power. The main reason Prospero has so much power is due to his magic, however at the end of the play he sacrifices his powers and sets free his slaves, Ariel and Caliban.

Graduation Speech: Life is a Blank Canvas -- Graduation Speech, Commen

My father always told me that my life is a blank canvas waiting for me to paint my future upon it. As I stand here before my fellow classmates, cherished friends and beloved teachers, I see more than just a graduating class, I see a group of artists waiting to exhibit their art to the world. See, the beauty of my father's analogy lies in the fact that we have all been given the right to choose our own destiny, essentially to paint whatever we want on our canvases of life. Our parents, teachers and friends have taught us all the techniques we need to embrace a bright and beautiful future, and now with this diploma, we stand alone with a paintbrush, palette and a world waiting our arrival. The question now is how do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I don't think there is a universal answer to this question, but I do think that you'll find an answer for yourself once you understand that even though life may appear to be the highest mountain, you can walk over it taking one step at a time. As a painter, you get to determine what kind of day you are going to have, ...

Labour party Essay

‘To what extent is the Labour party still committed to its original principles?’ The Labour party has often been referred to as a ‘socialist’ party. However, this is misleading. For most of its life – dating back to the eighteenth century, the Labour party has always had less ‘radical’ ideologies than socialism and British ‘socialism’ has always been more moderate than elsewhere in Europe. However, the Labour party abandoned a number of its previous principles in favour of new ones, in order to move to the centre ground and enable the party to compete with the Conservatives. It seems that this was ultimately, a successful strategy as it resulted in Labour winning three general elections and beating the Conservatives. Some people are now of the opinion that the Conservatives have, in fact, moved closer to the centre-ground in order to compete with the New Labour party. Within true socialism, there is the idea that the economy should be based upon ‘production for use’; everything produced is just enough to satisfy human need and demand. Socialism also works to reduce or remove hierarchy. The most radical form of Socialism has been ‘Marxism’. Marxists hold the desire to completely destroy capitalism and its political system. It has been said that Marxism is more like communism than socialism. Although Labour has never been revolutionary, it has always argued that its version of socialism can be achieved in a peaceful way, through parliamentary means. All but the more moderate socialists have viewed social class as a crucial aspect of society. Some socialists assume that the majority of people define their position in society in terms of their social class. This was referred to as ‘class consciousness’ by Karl Marx and the idea is that people tend to develop common interests and purpose with fellow members of their class. For example, a number of people within the middle classes feel they need to protect private property interests, as well as feeling the need to promote and protect business and to keep tax as low as reasonably as possible. The working classes, however, are more concerned with issues such as the welfare state, industrial relations, fair wages, good working conditions and policies that promote equality. In most cases, business classes oppose higher wages, mainly due to the fact this conflicts with the need to make profits and generate funds for further investment. Until about the 1930’s, the British Labour party adopted this ‘class position’ as the Labour has always been forced to consider interests of all the classes in British society, in all of its policies, not just those of the working class. To some extent, the reason for this is the need of electoral support the party has always needed. For a large part of the twentieth century, approximately one third of the British public voted conservative and this meant that, electoral reckoning determined, the Labour party could not win by gaining votes of the other two thirds of the working class alone. Collectivism refers to two main ideas – the first being that people tend to prefer to achieve goals collectively as opposed to independently and secondly, action is more likely to be taken by people in organised groups than a sum of many different individual actions. Collectivism is the political principle of centralized social and economic control. One main example of collectivism practised by the British Labour party in the 1940’s was the nationalisation of several large British industries. These industries included the railways, coal, steel, electricity and gas, as well as telecommunications. Nationalisation was a collectivist enterprise and its purpose was to, firstly, prevent the industrial muscle of private industries exploiting its workers, and secondly, ensuring the industries were run in the interests of the community rather than just the owner. After 1997, for the majority of the time, Labour followed the principles of the ‘Third Way’. Yet, today, many argue that it has gradually shifted towards a ‘New Right position’ – that is, even further away from its original socialist values. The term ‘new’ Labour tends to be used to describe the change in Labour party policies, ideas and goals that occurred as a result of the modernisation process. This was started in the late 1980’s and was accelerated under Tony Blair, in opposition and in government. The differences between ‘new’ Labour and ‘old’ Labour tend to be defined by vital policy movements. This includes the abandonment of nationalisation and the recognition of the ‘rolled back’ state, which was inherited from the conservatives. An emphasis on low inflation, for example, demonstrated the wider role. Since 1997, the Bank of England has started setting interest rates; cuts in income tax and have started to refuse to return to the more ‘sharply progressive’ income tax rates of the 1970’s; cuts in some benefits and eagerness to push forward with market reforms of the welfare state. ‘New’ Labour can also be distinguished from ‘old’ Labour in terms of a weaker association with the trade union movement and a reduced reliability on working class votes. During its early years, New Labour was a party very much dedicated to reforming and modernising, but it was not a fundamental one. It did not make any significant changes to the policies put forward but the Conservatives, however, it did seek to improve the way in which policy was executed and it has also attempted to make government action more susceptible to the needs of the disadvantaged and minorities in society. Its principle reforms, therefore, have been to the public services and to the welfare state. Over time, the party seems to have turned rapidly to consolidation rather than reform. New Labour tends to focus now on improving the delivery of the policies it has already implemented.

Rethinking Anthropology – E. R. Leach

RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS MONOGRAPHS ON SOCLL ANTHROPOLOGY Managing Editor: Anthony For^e The Monographs in on Social Anthropology were established modem The by 1940 and aim to publish results of anthropological research of primary interest to specialists. continuation of the series was made possible from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and more recently by a further grant from the Governors of the London a grant in aid School of Economics and Political Science. re under the direction of an Board associated with the Department of Anthropology of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Editorial The Monographs LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS MONOGRAPHS ON SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY No. 22 Rethinking Anthropology by E. R. LEACH UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THE ATHLONE PRESS NEW YORK: HUMANITIES PRESS INC Published by THE ATHLONE PRESS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON at 2 Gotcer Street, Distributed by Tiptree London wci Book Services Ltd Tiptree, Essex F irst edition, 1961 First paperback edition with corrections, 1966 Reprinted, 1968, 1971 E. R. Leach, 1961, 1971 U. K. U. K. sB N o 485 19522 4 cloth sB N B o 485 19622 o paperback U. S. A. s N 391 00146 9 paperback First printed in 1961 by ROBERT CUNNINGHAM AND SONS LTD ALVA Reprinted by photo-litho by JOHN DICKENS & CO LTD NORTHAMPTON 4- M75†² Preface The title of this collection properly belongs only to the first essay. On 3 December 1959 1 had the honour to deliver the first Malinovvski Memorial Lecture at the London School of Economics. The Editorial Board of the London School of Economics Monographs in Social Anthropology enerously offered to publish the text of my lecture but added the flattering suggestion that I should reprint a number of my other essays at the same time. I have accordingly appropriated the title of my Malinowski lecture for the whole collection. I do not pretend wholly consistent with that The essays extend over a period of fifteen years and is that th e viewpoint of the latest (Chapter i) of the earliest (Chapter 2) but there is, I think, a certain continuity of theme and method in all of them. When they were first written all these essays were attempts to ‘rethink anthropology'.All are concerned with problems of others, I ‘theory' and are based on ethnographic facts recorded by my own contribution being primarily that of analyst. In each case have tried to reassess the known facts in the light of unorthodox assumpSuch heresy seems to me to have merit for its own sake. Unconventional arguments often turn out to be wrong but provided they provoke discussion they may still have lasting value. By that criterion each of the essays in this book is a possible candidate for attention. tions. Among social anthropologists the is game f building new theories on the ruins of old ones almost an occupational disease. Contemporary arguments in social anthropology are built out of formulae concocted by Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown an d Levi-Strauss who in turn were only ‘rethinking' Rivers, Durkheim and Mauss, who borrowed from Morgan, McLennan and Robertson- Smith the total outcome of all — and so on. Sceptics may think that despite all this ratiocination adds up to very little; our pedagogical subtleties, the diversities of human custom remain as bewildering as ever. But that we admit.The contemporary social anthropologist is all too well aware that he knows much less than Frazer imagined that he knew for certain. But that perhaps is the point. The contributions to anthropological pedantry collected in this book add little to the sum of human knowledge but if they provoke some readers to doubt their sense of certainty then they will have served their purpose. A note on the interconnections between the different papers draft of Chapter 2 may prove still helpful. The first was written in 1943 while I was on VI PREFACE and still in direct contact with Jinghpaw speakers. ppeared in the 1945 volume of the J. R. A. I, this was not actually published until 1950. These details of dating are relevant because they explain why my paper contains no reference to Chapters 15 and i6 of Levi-Strauss, Les structures elementaires de la parente (1949) and reciprocally why the latter work ignores the new information provided by my paper. Chapter 3, which was originally a Curl Prize Essay, was completed in the spring of 195 1 and seems to have been the first English language commentar)' on Levi-Strauss's magnum opus though, presumably, my paper and J.P. B. de Josselin de Jong's monograph Levi-Strauss's Theory on Kinship and Marriage (1952) were going through the press at the same time. Although I here criticized Levi-Strauss on the grounds of ethnographical inaccuracy my sympathy with his general theoretical point of view is very great. Professor Levi-Strauss has himself noted the similarity between the view of ‘social structure' implicit in my first Jinghpaw paper (Chapter 2) and his own (Levi-Strauss, 1953, p. 525 n), and in all my subsequent publications my debt to Levi-Strauss is obvious.The relationship of Chapter 4 to earlier literature will be apparent from the references in the text. Although it was not intended to be controversial it provoked Dr Kathleen Gough into a vigorous reply (Gough, 1959). The crucial part of my argument here is that I emphasize the need to distinguish between affinity regarded as an alliance between corporate kin groups and those individual affinal ties which bind a particular wife to a particular husband. This theme recurs in Chapter 5 and again in active military service t Although Chapter i. Chapter 5, as indicated in the text, is linked with a long correspondence which appeared in the pages of Man in 1953 and 1954 but the response which it evoked from my close academic colleagues is only marginally connected with this earlier discussion. Dr Goody has denounced my whole argument as grounded in fundamental error (Goody, 1959, p. 86 ) and Professor Fortes has taken up most of two issues of Man to expound my fallacies and confusions (Fortes, 1959b).Both these explosions of academic wrath were provoked by a single sentence in my essay, namely ‘Thus Fortes, while recognizing that ties of affinity have comparable importance to ties of descent, disguises the former under his expression â€Å"complementary filiation† (see below p. 122). The exact sense in which this statement is an ‘error' is still not clear to me for in the course of his denunciation Fortes reaffirms his view that ‘complementary filiation is a function of affinal relations' (Fortes, 1959b, p. 209) which is precisely the argument I sought to controvert. ^ Professor Fortes has called his article *a rejoinder to Leach', and — readers of Chapter i of this book need to appreciate that ‘a among other things in it is intended as rejoinder to Fortes'. Reference to a short note Man (i960. Art. 6) will perhaps help to mak e this clear. The two short papers on time symbolism reprinted in Chapter 6 do PREFACE influence of Professor Levi-Strauss Vll not form a series with the other chapters of the book though again the is pronounced. Although my ‘Cronus and Chronos' appeared in print in 1953 while Levi-Strauss's ‘The Structural Study of Myth' was only published in 1956, I had in fact already heard Professor Levi-Strauss's lecture on this topic before I wrote my essay.Explorations, the Toronto University publication in which my Chapter 6 was originally published, carried on its fly leaf the statement that it was ‘designed, not as a permanent reference journal that embalms truth for posterity, but as a publication that explores and searches and questions' and both my papers are correspondingly brief and tentative. Nevertheless a number of my friends have suggested that the arguments they contain are of more than ephemeral interest; hence the reissue here^ Chapter i contains a considerabl e amount of matter which was not included in the spoken text of my Malinowski lecture. The other essays^ appear as originally printed, except for the correction of misprints, and one or two very minor alterations intended to clarify the argument. The Introductory Notes at the beginning of Chapters 2-6 are new. Acknowledgements I am indebted to the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for permission to reprint the essays published here as Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 and to Professor E. S. Carpenter and the University of Toronto for permission to reprint the two short essays included in Chapter 6.I am indebted to a personal grant in aid from the Behavioral Sciences Division of the Ford Foundation for facilities employed while preparing } * j] : -^ these papers for publication. E. R. L. Contents 1. RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY I 2. JINGHPAW KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY THE STRUCTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF MATRILATERAL CROSS-COUSIN MARRIAGE 28 3. 54 4. POLYANDRY, INHERITAN CE AND THE DEFINITION OF marriage: with PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO SINHALESE CUSTOMARY LAW ASPECTS OF BRIDEWEALTH AND MARRIAGE STABILITY IO5 5. AMONG THE KACHIN AND LAKHER 6. II4 TWOESSAYS CONCERNING THE SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF TIME (i) 124 Cronus and Chronos, 124 (ii) Time and False Noses, 132 Rethinking Anthropology my arrogant title. Since 1930 British Anthropology has embodied a well defined set of ideas and -^objectives which derive directly from the teaching of Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown this unity of aim is summed up in the statement that British social anthropology is functionalist and concerned with the comparative analysis of social structures. But during the last year or so it has begun to look as if this particular aim had worked itself out.Most of my colleagues are giving up the attempt to make comparative generalizations instead they have begun to write impeccably detailed historical ethno- tET Social me begin by explaining — graphies of particular peoples. I regret this new tendency for I still believe that the findings of anthro- pologists have general as well as particular implications, but functionalist doctrine ceased to carry conviction? why has the understand what is happening in social anthropology I believe we need to go right back to the beginning and rethink basic issues really elementary matters such as To — hat we mean by marriage or descent or the unity of difficult siblings, and that is — for basic concepts are basic; The the ideas one has about them are deeply entrenched and firmly held. One bias of the things we need to recognize is the strength of the empirical which Malinowski introduced into social anthropology and which essential core of social anthropology has stayed with us ever since. is understanding of the way of life of a single particular people. This fieldwork is an extremely personal traumatic kind of experience and the personal involvement of the anthropologist in his work is reflected in wh at he produces.When we read Malinowski we get the impression that he is stating something which is of general importance. Yet how can this be? He is simply writing about Trobriand Islanders. Somehow he has so assimilated himself into the Trobriand situation that he is able to make the Trobriands fieldwork a microcosm of the whole primitive world. successors; for Firth, Primitive citizen of —the And the same is true of his is Man is a Tikopian, for Fortes, he a Ghana. The existence of this prejudice has long been recognized / but we have paid inadequate attention to its consequences.The difficulty of achieving comparative generalizations is directly linked with the problem of escaping from ethnocentric bias. 2 RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY As is appropriate to an occasion I when we honour the memory of Bronislaw MaUnowski, am going to be thoroughly egotistical. I shall imply there my own is merit by condemning the work of in my closest friends. But purpose is to distinguish between two rather similar varieties of comparative generalization, both of which turn up from time to time in contemporary British social anthropology.One of these, which I dislike, derives from the work of Radcliffe-Brown; the other, which I admire, derives from the work of Levi-Strauss. It is important that the differences between these two approaches be properly understood, so I shall draw my illustrations in sharp contrast, all black and all white. In this harsh and exaggerated form Professor Levi-Strauss method my malice. My might well repudiate the authorship of the ideas which I am trying to convey. Hence my egotism; let the blame be wholly mine. My problem is simple.How can a modern social anthropologist, with all the work of Malinowski and Radcliffc-Brown and their successors at his elbow, embark upon generalization with any hope of arriving at a satisfying conclusion? My answer is quite simple too; it is this: By thinking of the organizational ideas that are present in any societ y as constituting a mathematical pattern. The rest of what I have to say that is simply an elaboration of this cryptic statement. concern is with generalization, not with maintained that the objective of social anthropology was the ‘comparison of social structures'.In explaining this he asserted that when we distinguish and compare different types of social structure we are doing the same kind of thing as when we distinguish different kinds of sea shell according to their structural type (RadcliffeBrown, 1953, p. 109). Generalization is quite a different kind of mental First let me emphasize my comparison. Radcliffe-Brown operation. Let me illustrate this point. two points can be joined by a straight line and you can represent this straight line mathematically by a sm^G. first order algebraic equation.Any three points can be joined by a circle and you can represent this circle by a quadratic or second order algebraic equation. It would be a generalization to go straight on fro m there and say any : Any n points in a plane can be joined by a curve which can be represented by an equation of order n-i. This would be just a guess, but it would be true, and it is a kind of truth which no amount of comparison can ever reveal. Comparison and generalization are both forms of scientific activity, but different. Comparison is a matter of butterfly collecting —of classification, of the rrangement of things according to their types and subtypes. The followers of Radcliffe-Brown are anthropological butterfly collectors and their approach to their data has certain consequences. For example, according to RadclifTe- Brown's principles we ought to think of Trobriand society : RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY as 3 classification a society of a particular structural type. The might proceed thus: Main Type Sub-type: Sub-sub-type : societies societies societies composed of unilineal descent groups. composed of matrilineal descent groups. composed of matrilineal descent groups i n which he married males of the matrilineage live together in one place and apart from the females of the matrilineage, and so on. In this procedure each class preceding it is a sub-type of the class immediately in the tabulation. its uses, but it has very serious has no logical limits. Ultimately discriminated in this way as a sub-type Now I every just agree that analysis of this kind has is limitations. One major defect known society can be that it from any other, and since anthropologists are notably vague about what they mean by ‘a society', this will lead them to distinguish more and more ocieties, almost ad infinitum. This is not just hypothesis. My colleague Dr Goody has gone to great pains to distinguish as types two adjacent societies in the Northern Gold Coast which he calls LoWiili and LoDagaba. A careful reader of Dr Goody's works will discover, however, that these two ‘societies' are distinct simply the way that field Dr Goody notes from two has chosen to de scribe the fact that his neighbouring communities show some curious discrepancies. If limit Dr Goody's methods of analysis were pushed to the we should be able to show that every village community throughout is he world constitutes a distinct society which distinguishable as a type from any other (Goody, 1956b). Another serious objection is that the typology makers never explain why they choose one frame of reference rather than another. RadcliffeBrovsTi's instructions were simply that ‘it is necessary to compare societies the economic system, the with reference to one particular aspect . . . political system, or the kinship system' . . . this is equivalent to saying that you can arrange your butterflies according to their colour, or their size, or the shape of their wings according to the him of the moment, but no matter what you do this will be science. Well perhaps, in a sense, it is; but you must realize that your prior arrangement creates an initial bias from which it is later extremely difficult to escape (Radcliffe-Brown, 1940, p. xii). Social anthropology is packed with frustrations of it this kind. An obvious Ever since example is the category opposition patrilineal/matrilineal. has been customary for anthropologists to distinguish unilineal from non-unilineal descent systems, and writing of the Iroquois, Morgan began among that it the former to distinguish patrilineal societies from atrilineal societies. is These categories now seem to us so rudimentary and obvious extremely difficult to break out of the straitjacket of thought which the categories themselves impose. 4 RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY Yet if our approach is to be genuinely unbiased we must be prepared to consider the possibihty that these type categories have no sociological significance whatsoever. It may be that to create a class labelled matrtis as irrelevant for our understanding of social structure as the creation of a class blue butterflies is irrelevant for the understanding of t he anatomical structure of lepidoptera.I don't say it is so, but it may be; it is lineal societies time that we considered the possibility. J I warn you, the rethinking of basic category assumptions can be very disconcerting. But Let me cite a case. Dr Audrey Richards's well-known contribution to African Systems of Kinship and Marriage is an essay in Radcliffe-Brownian typology making which is rightly regarded as one of the ‘musts' of undergraduate reading (Richards, 1950). In this essay Dr Richards asserts that societies is ‘the problem' of matrilineal the difficulty of combining recognition of descent through the oman with the rule of exogamous marriage, and she classifies a variety of matrilineal societies according to the way this ‘problem' is solved. In effect her classification turns on the fact that a woman's husband the two men. jointly possess rights in the woman's brother and a woman's children but that matrilineal systems differ in the way these rights a re allocated between is the prior category assumptions. Men have kinds of society, so why should it be assumed from the start that brothers-in-law in matrilineal societies have special ‘prob- What I object to in this ll brothers-in-law in lems' which are absent in patrilineal or bilateral structures? really What has lay a matrilineal society, she has decided to restrict her comparative obser-ations to matrilineal systems. Then, having selected a group of societies which have nothing in common except that they are matrilineal, she is naturally led to conclude that matrilineal descent is the major factor to which all the other items of cultural behaviour which she happened here with the Bemba, is that, because Dr Richards's own special knowledge describes are functionally adjusted.Her argument I am afraid is a tautology; her system of classification already implies the truth of what she claims to be demonstrating. This illustrates how Radcliffe-Brown's taxonomic assumptions fit in with the ethnocentric bias which I mentioned earlier. Because the typefinding social anthropologist conducts his whole argument in terms of tempted particular instances rather than of generalized patterns, he is constantly to attach exaggerated significance to those features of social organization which happen to be prominent in the societies of which he himself has first hand experience. The ase of Professor Fortes illustrates this is same point in rather a different way. His quest not so much for types as for prototypes. It so happens that the two societies of which he has made a close study have certain similarities of structural pattern for, while the Tallensi are patri- RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY lineal 5 and the Ashanti matrilineal, both Tallensi and Ashanti come unfiliation', usually close to having a system of double unilineal descent. Professor Fortes has devised a special concept, ‘complementary w^hich helps him to describe this double unilineal element in the Tallen si/Ashanti pattern w^hile rejecting the notion that these societies actually possess double unilineal systems (Fortes, 1953, p. 33; 1959b). It is interesting to note the circumstances which led to the development of this concept. From one point of view ‘complementary filiation' is simply an inverse form of Malinowski's notion of ‘sociological paternity' as applied in the matrilineal context of Trobriand society. But Fortes has done more than invent a new name for an old idea; he has made it the corner stone of a substantial body of theory and this theory arises logically special circumstances of his own field experience.In his earlier writings the Tallensi are often represented as having a somewhat extreme form of patrilineal ideology. Later, in contrast to from the Rattray, Fortes placed an unambiguously matrilineal label upon the Ashanti. view, is The that merit of ‘complementary it is filiation', from Fortes's point of a concept which applies equally well to bot h of these contrasted societies but does not conflict with his thesis that both the Tallensi and the Ashanti have systems of unilineal descent. The concept ecame necessary to him precisely because he had decided at the start that the more familiar and more obvious notion of double unilineal descent was inappropriate. In retrospect Fortes seems to have decided that double unilineal descent is a special development of ‘complementary filiation', the latter being a feature of all unilineal descent structures. That such category distinctions are contrived rather than natural is evident from Goody's additional discrimination. Goody asserts that the LoWiili have ‘complementary descent rather than a dual descent system'.Since the concept of ‘complementary filiation' was first introduced so as to help in the distinction between ‘filiation' and ‘descent' and since the adjective ‘complementary' cannot here be given meaning except by reference to the word â⠂¬Ëœdescent', the total argument is clearly tautologous (Fortes, 1945, pp. 134, 20of; 1950, p. 287; 1953, p. 34; 1959; Goody, 1956b, p. 77). Now I do not claim that Professor Fortes is mistaken, but I think he is misled by his prior suppositions. If making and from enthnocentric science. we are to bias we must let escape both from typology turn to a different kind ofInstead of comparison repeat. Generalization us have generalization; instead of inductive; it butterfly collecting let us have inspired guesswork. Let me is consists in perceiving it is possible general laws in the circumstances of special cases; guesswork, a gamble, you may be wrong or you may be right, but if you happen to be right you have learnt something altogether new. In contrast, arranging butterflies according to their types and sub-types is tautology. It merely reasserts something you know already in a slightly different form. 6 RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY But if you are going is o start guessing, you need I to kno w how to guess. . d this wliat I am getting at when say that the form of thinking should be mathematical. Functional ism in a mathematical sense is not concerned with the interconnections between parts of a whole but with the principles of operation of partial systems. There is a direct conflict here with the dogmas of Malinowski and Malinowski's functionalism required us to think of each Society (or Culture, as Malinowski would have put it) as a totality Radcliffe-Brown. of a made up kinds — number of discrete empirical ‘things', of rather diverse institutions', e. g. groups of people, customs. These ‘things' are functionally interconnected to form a delicately balanced mechanism rather like the various parts of a wrist watch. cliff†e- The functionalism of Rad- Brown was equally mechanical though the focus of interest was different. RadclifTe-Brown was concerned, as it were, to distinguish wrist watches clocks, whereas Malinowski was interested in the gener al attributes of clockwork. But hath masters took as their starting point the notion that a culture or a society is an empirical whole made up rom grandfather of a limited two societies number of readily identifiable parts and that when we compare we are concerned to see whether or not the same kinds of is parts are present in both cases. This approach a mechanic but appropriate for a zoologist or for a botanist or for it is not the approach of a mathematician nor of an engineer and, in gineer. my view, the anthropologist has much in common with the en- But that is my private bias. I was originally trained as an engineer. The entities which we call societies are not naturally existing species, neither re they man-made mechanisms. But the analogy of a mechanism has quite as much relevance as the analogy of an organism. This is not the place to discuss the history of the organic analogy as a model for Society, but its arbitrariness is often forgotten. Hobbes, who developed his notion of a social organism in a very systematic way, discusses in his preface whether a mechanical or an organic analogy might be the more appropriate for his purpose. He opts for an organism only because he wants to include in his model a metaphysical prime mover (i. . God Life Force) (Hobbes, 1957, p. 5). In contrast RadcHffe-Brown employed the organic analogy as a matter of dogma rather than of choice (e. g. Radcliffe-Brown, 1957, pp. 82-86; 1940a, pp. 3, lo) and his butterfly collecting followers have accepted the appropriateness of the phrase ‘social organism' without serious discussion. Against this complacency I — must protest. It is certainly the case that social scientists must often resort all to analogy but eternity. we are not committed to one type of model making for Our task societies s to understand and explain what goes on in society, how work. If an engineer tries to explain to you how a digital computer RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY bolts. 7 works he doesn't spend his time classifying different kinds of nuts and He concerns himself with principles, not with things. He writes out argument as a mathematical equation of the utmost simplicity, somewhat on the lines of o + i = i i + i = 10. No doubt this example is frivolous; such computers embody their information in a code which is transmitted in positive and negative impulses denoted by the digital symbols o and i.The essential point is that although the information which can be embodied in such codes may be enormously complex, the basic principles on which the computing machines work is very simple. Likewise I would maintain that quite simple mechanical models can have relevance for social anthropology despite the acknowledged fact that the detailed empirical facts of social life display the utmost complexity. I don't want to turn anthropology into a branch of mathematics but I believe we can learn a lot by starting to think about society in a mathehis : ; matical way.Considered mathematicall y society is not an assemblage of things but an assemblage of variables. A good analogy would be with that branch of mathematics known as topology, which may crudely be described as the geometry of elastic rubber sheeting. If I have a piece of rubber sheet and draw a series of lines on it to symbolize the functional interconnections of some set of social phenomena and I then start stretching the rubber about, I can change the manifest shape of my original geometrical figure out of all recognition and yet clearly there is a sense in which it is the same figure all the time.The constancy of pattern is not manifest as an objective empirical fact but it is there as a mathematical generalization. By analogy, generalized structural patterns in anthropology are not restricted to societies of any one manifest structural type. you will tell me that topology is one of those which mere sociologists had best avoid, but I am not in fact proposing anything original. A very good simple account of the nature of topology appears in an article under that title in the current edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.The author himself makes the point that because topology is a non-metrical form of mathematics it deserves especial attention from social scientists. I Now know that a lot of alarming scientific mysteries The fundamental Any closed curve is arc of a circle is ‘the variable in topology ‘the is the degree of connectedness. same as' any other regardless of its shape; the same as' a straight line because each is open ended. Contrariwise, a closed curve has a greater degree of connectedness than an arc. If of pattern case if we apply these ideas to sociology particular relationships e cease to be interested in and concern ourselves instead with the regularities relationships. is among neighbouring In the simplest possible there be a relationship p which intimately associated with another relationship q then in a topological study we shall not concern ourselves 8 RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY with the particular characteristics of/) and q but with their mutual characteristics, i. e. with the algebraic ratio p'^q. But it must be understood that the relationships and sets of relationships which are symbolized in this way cannot properly be given specific numerical values.The reader should bear this point in mind when he encounters the specimens of pseudo-mathematics which occur later in this paper. All propositions in topology can also be expressed as propositions in symbolic logic (see Carnap, 1958, chapter G) and it was probably a consideration of this fact which led Nadel to introduce symbolic logic into own view is that while the consideration book (Xadel, 1957). of mathematical and logical models may help the anthropologist to order his last My his theoretical arguments in an all this intelligent way, his actual procedure s should be non-mathematical. The pattern relevance of to my main theme that the saTne structural may turn up in any kind of society patrilineal —a mathematical approach matrilineal makes no prior assumption that from non-unilineal systems or structures. all unilincal systems are basically different structures from the contrary, the principle of parity leads us to discount rigid category distinctions of this kind. On Let me try to illustrate I for the occasion shall take my point with an example. To be my example from Malinowski. Malinowski reported, as a ppropriate Most of you will know that fact of empirical ethnography, that the Trobrianders profess ignorance of the connection between copulation and pregnancy and that this ignorance serves as a rational justification for their system of matrilineal descent. From the Trobriand point of view ‘my father' (tama) is not a blood relative at all but a kind of affine, *my mother's husband' (Malinowski, 1932a, p. 5). However, alongside their dogmatic ignorance of the facts of life, Trobrianders also maintain that every child should resemble its mother's husband (i. . its father) but that no child could ever resemble a member of its own matrilineal kin. Malinowski seems to have thought it paradoxical that Trobrianders should hold both these doctrines at the same time. He was apparently bemused by the same kind of ethnocentric assumptions as later led a Tallensi informant to tell Professor Fortes that ‘both parents transmit their blood to their offspring, as can be seen from the fact that Tallensi children may resemble either parent in looks' (Fortes, 1949, p. 35; my italics). This is mixing up sociology and genetics.We know, and apparently the Tallensi assume, that physical appearance is genetically based, but there is no reason why primitive people in general should associate ideas of genetic inheritance with ideas about physical resemblance between persons. The explanation which the Trobrianders gave to Malinowski was that a father impresses his appearance on his son by cohabiting repeatedly with the mother and ther eby ‘moulding' (kuli) the child in her womb (Malinowski, 1932a, p. 176) which is reminiscent of the Ashanti . RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY view that the father shapes the body of his child as might a potter (Rattray, 1929, p. 9). This Trobriand theory is quite consistent with the view that the father is related to the son only as mother's husband that is, an affine and not as a kinsman. There are other Trobriand doctrines which fall into line with this. The father's sister is ‘the prototype of the lawful woman' (Malinowski, 1932a, p. 450) which seems to be more or less the equivalent of saying that — the father (tama) is much the same sort of relation as a brother-in-law.Again, although, as Powell has shown (Powell, 1956, p. 314), marriage with the father's sister's daughter is rare, the Trobrianders constantly assured Malinowski that this was a very right and proper marriage. Evidently in their view the category tama (which includes both father and father's sister's s on) is very close to that of lubou (brother-in-law) (Mal- inowski, 1932a, pp. 86, 451). The similarity is asserted not only in verbal expression but also in the pattern of economic obligation, for the harvest gift (urignbu) paid by a married man is due both to his mother's husband tama) and to his sister's husband (lubou) (Malinowski, 1935, I, pp. 386, 413-18). From my point of view this cluster of Trobriand beliefs and attitudes is a ‘pattern of organizational ideas'— it specifies a series of categories, in a particular relationship and places them with one another as in an was biased by his down to earth empiricism, by European prejudices and by his interest in psycho-analysis, and he refused to accept tlie Trobriand doctrine at its face value. Instead he refurbished his concept of ‘sociological paternity' which he had originalgebraic equation.But Malinowski ally devised to fit a quite different context, that of patrilineal organization among On to the Australia n Aborigines (Malinowski, 19 13, p. 170-83). this earlier occasion Malinowski had used ‘sociological paternity' relations show how between parents and children and between spouses derive from customary rules and not from any universal facts of biology or psychology, but in the later application of these ideas to Trobriand circumstances he shifts his ground and the argument becomes confused by the introduction of naive psychological considerations. On the face of t ‘sociological paternity', as used in The Sexual Life of attitudes Savages, seems to mean that even in a society which, like the Trobriands, sociological still denies the facts of ‘biological paternity', pertain to paternity, as zve understand it, which far, may be found. So so good. But Malinowski goes further than this. Instead of arguing, as in the Australian case, that kinship attitudes have a purely social origin, he now insists that social attitudes to kinship arc facts. rooted in universal psycholog ical The paternal relationship contains elements which are necessarily resent in the father/child relationship of all societies, no matter what the circumstances of custom and social structure confusing. may be. This is all very On the one hand the reader is is told quite plainly that the Trobriand child taught to think of his father as a non-relative, as an lO RETHINKING ANTHROPOLOGY individual with the special non-kinship status of mother's husband. But on the other hand the reader is forced to conclude that this ‘IVobriand mother's husband is related to the mother's child ‘as a sociological father', that is to say by ties of kinship as well as by tics of affinity.The argument, as a whole, is self-contradictory. is You may about. well think that this a yery hairsplitting point to make a fuss How can it possibly make any difference whether I think of a parti- cular male as my father or as is my mother's husband? Well, all I can say that anthropologists do Professor Fort es, Dr Goody and Dr Kathleen Gough on this subject that worry about such things. are so disturbed by my heretical yiews oflF time to try to bruise my owski's argument (Fortes, 1959)-