Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780691130668)

For the Balinese, the whole of nature is a perpetual resource: through centuries of carefully directed labor, the engineered landscape of the island's rice terraces has taken shape. According to Stephen Lansing, the need for effective cooperation in water management links thousands of farmers together in hierarchies of productive relationships that span entire watersheds.

Lansing describes the network of water temples that once managed the flow of irrigation water in the name of the Goddess of the Crater Lake. Using the techniques of ecological simulation modeling as well as cultural and historical analysis, Lansing argues that the symbolic system of temple rituals is not merely a reflection of utilitarian constraints but also a basic ingredient in the organization of production.

Author: J. Stephen Lansing
ISBN-10: 0691130663
ISBN-13: 9780691130668
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/29/2007
Pages: 216
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.68lbs
Size: 9.16h x 6.34w x 0.52d