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Time-space Appropriation in the Inka Empire : A Study of Imperial Metabolism

BOGADÓTTIR, RAGNHEIDUR LU (2016) In Lund Studies in Human Ecology
Abstract
This thesis analyzes some aspects of the appropriation of labor time and natural space in the Inka Empire (ca. AD 1400 – 1532) in order to illuminate the cultural organization of Inka imperial metabolism. Rather than understanding Inka imperialism simply as a political process with socioecological consequences, it is investigated as an ecological process organized through specific cultural categories. The Inka imperial economy is conceptualized in terms of transfers of time and space between different categories of people.
The thesis thus addresses long-standing questions regarding the economic operation of the Inka Empire as well as central issues in general social theory. It demonstrates how imperial power is based on biophysical... (More)
This thesis analyzes some aspects of the appropriation of labor time and natural space in the Inka Empire (ca. AD 1400 – 1532) in order to illuminate the cultural organization of Inka imperial metabolism. Rather than understanding Inka imperialism simply as a political process with socioecological consequences, it is investigated as an ecological process organized through specific cultural categories. The Inka imperial economy is conceptualized in terms of transfers of time and space between different categories of people.
The thesis thus addresses long-standing questions regarding the economic operation of the Inka Empire as well as central issues in general social theory. It demonstrates how imperial power is based on biophysical flows of embodied labor and land, organized by specific cultural permutations of reciprocity and redistribution. The thesis focuses on estimating these flows through analyses of time-space appropriation. This is done by reconstructing, on the basis of archaeological, historical and ethnographic data, the production processes of three emblematic Inka artifacts: textiles, chicha (maize beer), and stone walls. (Less)
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author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Costin, Cathy L., California State University
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Inka Empire, time-space appropriation, ecologically unequal exchange, historical political ecology, human ecology, imperial metabolism, economic anthropology
in
Lund Studies in Human Ecology
issue
15
pages
198 pages
publisher
Lund University
defense location
Flygeln, Geocentrum I, Sölvegatan 10, Lund
defense date
2016-09-16 10:00:00
ISSN
1403-5022
ISBN
978-91-7623-898-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
75d61f39-2777-4470-bed4-50a97d37c372
date added to LUP
2016-08-23 11:44:23
date last changed
2025-04-04 13:57:30
@phdthesis{75d61f39-2777-4470-bed4-50a97d37c372,
  abstract     = {{This thesis analyzes some aspects of the appropriation of labor time and natural space in the Inka Empire (ca. AD 1400 – 1532) in order to illuminate the cultural organization of Inka imperial metabolism. Rather than understanding Inka imperialism simply as a political process with socioecological consequences, it is investigated as an ecological process organized through specific cultural categories. The Inka imperial economy is conceptualized in terms of transfers of time and space between different categories of people. <br/>The thesis thus addresses long-standing questions regarding the economic operation of the Inka Empire as well as central issues in general social theory. It demonstrates how imperial power is based on biophysical flows of embodied labor and land, organized by specific cultural permutations of reciprocity and redistribution. The thesis focuses on  estimating these flows through analyses of time-space appropriation. This is done by reconstructing,  on the basis of archaeological, historical and ethnographic data, the production processes of three emblematic Inka artifacts: textiles, chicha (maize beer), and stone walls.}},
  author       = {{BOGADÓTTIR, RAGNHEIDUR}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7623-898-1}},
  issn         = {{1403-5022}},
  keywords     = {{Inka Empire; time-space appropriation; ecologically unequal exchange; historical political ecology; human ecology; imperial metabolism; economic anthropology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{15}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Studies in Human Ecology}},
  title        = {{Time-space Appropriation in the Inka Empire : A Study of Imperial Metabolism}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/11288191/Time_space_Appropriation_in_the_Inka_Empire.pdf}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}