The Mystery and the Social: From an Anthropology of Confidence2 to a Sociology of Secrecy
EDN: JOEKJG
Abstract
The main theoretical goal of the paper is to develop a new framework for the study of social functions of secret knowledge by establishing the relationship between types of social structure and the way of establishing asymmetry of information. The paper reconstructs the history of the confrontation between different sociological traditions regarding the understanding of secrecy and the formation of the concept of “mystery” during the course of this confrontation. By summarizing the results of empirical studies of different secret societies, we can now more explicitly trace the relationship between social morphology and the corresponding transfer mechanism of secret knowledge. Using material from anthropological research, I will demonstrate how the Durkheimian tradition of the theoretical understanding of the origin and functions of primitive religious secret societies limited our understanding of secrecy to a necessarily emotional collective experience of the ritual. Georg Simmel’s sociology of secrecy, by employing the distinction between formal and substantive secrets, offers a more fruitful theoretical frame. This theory allows us to understand and empirically investigate secrecy as a special social form, visible in a number of specific practices of the transfer of knowledge, regardless of its hidden content.
About the Authors
Алексей Бойко
University of Manchester, РАНХиГС
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Alexey K. Boyko
RANEPA
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
MA in Sociology, PhD student
References
1. Boltanski L. (2019) Mysteries and Conspiracies: Detective Stories, Spy Novels and the
2. Making of Modern Societies, SPb.: EU Press.—in Russ.
3. Van Gennep A. (1989) The Rites of Passage, M.: Vostochnaya literature.—in Russ.
4. Vakhshtayn V.S. (2020) From hermeneutics of suspicion to sociology of suspiciousness:
5. between Ricoeur and Luhmann. Logos.—in press; in Russ.
6. Weber M. (2017) Economy and Society. Vol. 2, M.: HSE.—in Russ.
7. Volkov V.V. (2012). Violent entrepreneurship in XXI century: economical and
8. sociological analysis, SPb.: EU Press.—in Russ.
9. Geertz K. (2009) The Bazaar Economy: Information and Search in Peasant Marketing.
10. Journal of Economic Sociology, 10 (2).—in Russ.
11. Goffman E. (2019) Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other
12. Inmates, M.: Elementary Forms Press.—in Russ.
13. Durkheim E. (2018) Elementary Forms of Religious Life, M.: Elementary Forms Press.
14. —in Russ.
15. Luhmann N. (1991) Tautology and Paradox in the Self-Descriptions of Modern Society.
16. Socio-Logos, M.: Progress: 194-215.—in Russ
17. Mauss M. (2000) A General Theory of Magic. Mauss M. The Social Functions of the
18. Sacred, SPb.: Eurasia: 107-233.—in Russ.
19. Scheler M. (2011) Problems of a Sociology of Knowledge, M.: Institute of General
20. Humanities Research.—in Russ.
21. Schelling T. (2007) Strategy of Conflict, M.: IRISEN.—in Russ.
22. Eliade M. (1999) Secret Societies. Rites and Symbols of Initiation, SPb.: University
23. Book.—in Russ.
24. Balmer B. (2006) A Secret Formula, a Rogue Patent and Public Knowledge about Nerve
25. Gas: Secrecy as a Spatial–Epistemic Tool. Social Studies of Science, 36 (5): 691– 722
26. Becker H.S. (1963) Outsiders; studies in the sociology of deviance, London: Free Press
27. of Glencoe.
28. Bellman B. (1981) The Paradox of Secrecy. Human Studies, 4 (1): 1-24.
29. Bellman B. (1984) The Language of Secrecy. Symbols and Metaphors in Poro Ritual.
30. Rutgers University Press.
31. Bernstein B. (2005) Theoretical Studies towards a Sociology of Language. Class, Codes
32. And Control vol. 1 Routledge.
33. Bloor D. (1978) Polyhedra and the Abominations of Leviticus. The British journal for the
34. history of science, 11 (3): 245-272.
35. Bloor D. (1991) Knowledge and Social Imagery, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
36. Boas F. (1897) The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians.
37. Smithsonian Institution. United States National Museum. With 51 Plates. US
38. Government Printing Office.
39. Codrington R.H. (1891) The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folklore.
40. Clarendon Press.
41. Dorsey J.O. (1894) A Study of Siouan Cults. 11 BAE: 351-544.
42. Douglas M. (1982) Cultural bias. In the Active Voice, London: Routledge.
43. Douglas M. (2003) Natural Symbols, London: Routledge.
44. Durkheim E., Mauss M. (2010) Primitive Classification, London: Routledge.
45. Erickson B. (1981) Secret Societies and Social Structure. Social Forces, 60 (1).
46. Ericson R. (1989) Patrolling the Facts: Secrecy and Publicity in Police Work. The British
47. Journal of Sociology, 4 (2): 205-226.
48. Evans-Pritchard E. (1931) Mani, a Zande Secret Society. Sudan Notes and Records, 14
49. (2): 105-148.
50. Fine G.A., Holyfield L. (1996) Secrecy, trust, and dangerous leisure: Generating group
51. cohesion in voluntary organizations. Social psychology quarterly, 22-38.
52. Fitzgerald Marriott H.P. (1899) The Secret Societies of West Africa. The Journal of the
53. Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 29 (1/2): 21-27.
54. Gambetta D. (2011) Codes of the underworld: How criminals communicate, Princeton:
55. Princeton University Press.
56. Giddens A. (1986) The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration,
57. Cambridge: Polity.
58. Goffman E. (1956) The presentation of self in everyday life (Monograph no. 2).
59. Edinburgh, UK: University of Edinburgh Social Sciences Research Center.
60. Goffman E. (1970) Strategic interaction (Vol. 1), University of Pennsylvania Press.
61. Hawthorn H. (1956) A Test of Simmel on the Secret Society: The Doukhobors of British
62. Columbia. American Journal of Sociology, 62 (1): 1-7.
63. Hazelrigg L. (1969) A Reexamination of Simmel’s «The Secret and the Secret Society»:
64. Nine Propositions. Social Forces, 47 (3): 323-330.
65. Heckethorn C.W. (1875) The Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries, London:
66. Richard Bentley and Son.
67. Howitt A.W. (1904) The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, Macmillan and Co.,
68. limited.
69. Jutte D. (2015) The Age of Secrecy: Jews, Christians, and the Economy of Secrets,
70. –1800. Yale University Press.
71. Lakatos I. (2015) Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery,
72. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
73. Lyman S. M. (1964) Chinese secret societies in the Occident: Notes and suggestions for
74. research in the sociology of secrecy. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne
75. de sociologie, 1(2): 79-102.
76. Nassau R. H. (1904) Fetichism in West Africa: Forty Years’ Observation of Native
77. Customs and Superstitions (No. 4). Young People’s Missionary Movement.
78. Redlinger L.J. (1975) Marketing and distributing heroin: Some sociological observations.
79. Journal of Psychedelic Drugs, 7 (4): 331-353.
80. Schermer H., Jary D. (2013) Form and dialectic in Georg Simmel’s sociology: A new
81. interpretation. Springer.
82. Simmel G. (1906) The sociology of secrecy and of secret societies. American journal of
83. sociology, 11 (4): 441-498.
84. Simmel G. (1908) Soziologie, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot.
85. Simmel G. (1950) The sociology of Georg Simmel, Glencoe, Illinois: Free Press.
86. Simmel G. (2009) Sociology: Inquiries into the construction of social forms (2 Vols.),
87. Brill.
88. Simmel G. (2011) The philosophy of money, London: Routledge Classics.
89. Spencer B., Gillen F. J. (1898) The Native Tribes of Central Australia. Macmillan and
90. Company, limited.
91. Steiner P. (2017) Secrecy and frontiers in illegal organ transplantation. The Architecture
92. of Illegal Markets: Towards an Economic Sociology of Illegality in the Economy, 51
93. Webster H. (1908) Primitive secret societies: A study in early politics and religion.
94. Macmillan.
Review
For citations:
, Boyko A.K. The Mystery and the Social: From an Anthropology of Confidence2 to a Sociology of Secrecy. Sociology of Power. 2019;31(4):112-138. (In Russ.) EDN: JOEKJG
Views:
1
Email this article 