The Political Machine: Assembling Sovereignty in the Bronze Age Caucasus (The Rostovtzeff Lectures, 3)

The Political Machine investigates the essential role that material culture plays in the practices and maintenance of political sovereignty. Through an archaeological exploration of the Bronze Age Caucasus, Adam Smith demonstrates that beyond assemblies of people, polities are just as importantly assemblages of things--from ballots and bullets to crowns, regalia, and licenses. Smith looks at the ways that these assemblages help to forge cohesive publics, separate sovereigns from a wider social mass, and formalize governance--and he considers how these developments continue to shape politics today. Smith shows that the formation of polities is as much about the process of manufacturing assemblages as it is about disciplining subjects, and that these material objects or "machines" sustain communities, orders, and institutions. The sensibilities, senses, and sentiments connecting people to things enabled political authority during the Bronze Age and fortify political power even in the contemporary world. Smith provides a detailed account of the transformation of communities in the Caucasus, from small-scale early Bronze Age villages committed to egalitarianism, to Late Bronze Age polities predicated on radical inequality, organized violence, and a centralized apparatus of rule. From Bronze Age traditions of mortuary ritual and divination to current controversies over flag pins and Predator drones, The Political Machine sheds new light on how material goods authorize and defend political order. This book investigates the essential role that material culture plays in the practices and maintenance of political sovereignty. Through an archaeological exploration of the Bronze Age Caucasus, the book demonstrates that beyond assemblies of people, polities are just as importantly assemblages of things—from ballots and bullets to crowns, regalia, and licenses. The book looks at the ways that these assemblages help to forge cohesive publics, separate sovereigns from a wider social mass, and formalize governance—and it considers how these developments continue to shape politics today. The book shows that the formation of polities is as much about the process of manufacturing assemblages as it is about disciplining subjects, and that these material objects or “machines” sustain communities, orders, and institutions. The sensibilities, senses, and sentiments connecting people to things enabled political authority during the Bronze Age and fortifies political power even in the contemporary world. The book provides a detailed account of the transformation of communities in the Caucasus, from small-scale early Bronze Age villages committed to egalitarianism, to Late Bronze Age polities predicated on radical inequality, organized violence, and a centralized apparatus of rule. From Bronze Age traditions of mortuary ritual and divination to current controversies over flag pins and Predator drones, this book sheds new light on how material goods authorize and defend political order. Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Preface 10 INTRODUCTION: REVERSE ENGINEERING THE POLITY 20 The Conditions of Sovereignty 23 Machine Politics 26 Bodies and Things 30 Into the Caucasus 35 Schematic 39 Part I: The Machinery of Sovereignty 44 CHAPTER 1. ON ASSEMBLAGES AND MACHINES 46 Things and Objects 48 The Exile of Things 52 Nature Morte 59 The Assemblage Assembled 62 The Efficacy of Machines 67 Sense, Sensibility, and Sentiment 73 CHAPTER 2. ON THE MATTER OF SOVEREIGNTY 78 Sovereignty Disassembled 80 Prehistory and the Political 83 Archaeologies of Sovereignty 86 Assembly and Assemblage 91 Origin Myths 92 Wayward Things and the Dual Sovereign 97 Exit Objects 1: Liberal Theory and Things 100 Exit Objects 2: Marx and Matter 102 Sovereign Matter, Governmental Machines 105 The Sovereign Conditions 110 Part II: Assembling Sovereignty 114 CHAPTER 3. THE CIVILIZATION MACHINE IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE 116 The Kura-Araxes 121 Sensibility 124 Sense 129 Sentiment 141 An Early Bronze Age Public 144 CHAPTER 4. THE WAR MACHINE IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE 146 The Caucasus in Transition 149 Sensibility 157 Sense 163 Sentiment 167 Territorialization and Contradiction 170 CHAPTER 5. THE POLITICAL MACHINE IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE 173 The Caucasus at the Beginning of the Late Bronze Age 176 Sensibility 184 Sense 190 Sentiment 197 The Enduring Political Machine 202 CONCLUSION 205 Erebuni-Yerevan 207 Brother Axe 213 References Cited 216 Index 252 Introduction: Reverse Engineering The Polity -- Part I. On Assemblages And Machines -- On The Matter Of Sovereignty -- Part Ii. Assembling Sovereignty -- The Civilization Machine In The Early Bronze Age -- The War Machine In The Middle Bronze Age -- The Political Machine In The Late Bronze Age -- Conclusion. Adam T. Smith. Incudes Bibliographical References (pages 197-232) And Index.