01556 a2200253 4500 0367717174 20250317100416.0 250312042021GB eng 9780367717179 Taylor & Francis GBP 36.99 BB 01 eng JHM thema JHM bic SOC002000 bisac SOC042000 bisac 302.35 bisac Michael Herzfeld Social Production of Indifference Exploring the Symbolic Roots of Western Bureaucracy 1 Oxford Routledge 20210331 220 p In this fascinating book, Michael Herzfeld argues that 'modern' bureaucratically regulated societies are no more 'rational' or less 'symbolic' than the societies traditionally studied by anthropologists. Drawing primarily on the example of modern Greece and utilizing other European materials, he suggests that we cannot understand national bureaucracies divorced from local-level ideas about chance, personal character, social relationships and responsibility. He points out that both formal regulations and day-to-day bureaucratic practices rely heavily on the symbols and language of the moral boundaries between insiders and outsiders; a ready means of expressing prejudice and of justifying neglect. It therefore happens that societies with proud traditions of generous hospitality may paradoxically produce at the official level some of the most calculated indifference one can find anywhere. 2929 2929