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. Contents Preface INTRODUCTION: REVERSE ENGINEERING THE POLITY The Conditions of Sovereignty Machine Politics Bodies and Things Into the Caucasus Schematic Part I: The Machinery of Sovereignty CHAPTER 1. ON ASSEMBLAGES AND MACHINES Things and Objects The Exile of Things Nature Morte The Assemblage Assembled The Efficacy of Machines Sense, Sensibility, and Sentiment CHAPTER 2. ON THE MATTER OF SOVEREIGNTY Sovereignty Disassembled Prehistory and the Political Archaeologies of Sovereignty Assembly and Assemblage Origin Myths Wayward Things and the Dual Sovereign Exit Objects 1: Liberal Theory and Things Exit Objects 2: Marx and Matter Sovereign Matter, Governmental Machines The Sovereign Conditions Part II: Assembling Sovereignty CHAPTER 3. THE CIVILIZATION MACHINE IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE The Kura-Araxes Sensibility Sense Sentiment An Early Bronze Age Public CHAPTER 4. THE WAR MACHINE IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE The Caucasus in Transition Sensibility Sense Sentiment Territorialization and Contradiction CHAPTER 5. THE POLITICAL MACHINE IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE The Caucasus at the Beginning of the Late Bronze Age Sensibility Sense Sentiment The Enduring Political Machine CONCLUSION Erebuni-Yerevan Brother Axe References Cited Index 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.