RSS - PostsThe Calligraphic State: Textual Domination And History In A Muslim Society
The Calligraphic State: Textual Domination And History In A Muslim Society
Brinkley Messick 
In this innovative combination of anthropology, history, and postmodern theory, Brinkley Messick examines the changing relation of writing and authority in a Muslim society from the late nineteenth century to the present. The creation and interpretation of texts, from sacred scriptures to administrative and legal contracts, are among the fundamental ways that authority is established and maintained in a complex state. Yet few scholars have explored this process and the ways in which it changes, especially outside the Western world.
Messick brings together intensive ethnography and textual analysis from a wealth of material: Islamic jurisprudence, Yemeni histories, local documents. In exploring the structure and transformation of literacy, law, and statecraft in Yemen, he raises important issues that are of comparative significance for understanding political life in other Muslim and non-western states as well.
From the Inside Flap
“Throws completely fresh light on non-colonial yet modern systems of legality and moral power. . . . The picture given of Islamic legal education and practice is one of the best available . . . a compelling read and a fine book for teaching.”–Paul Dresch, Oxford University
About the Author
Brinkley Messick is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan.
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Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate
Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate
by Michael Hammer
Business Process Reengineering
Despite many years of restructuring and downsizing through process rationalization and automation, US companies have not obtained the 
improvements that she needed. This can be attributed to companies leaving the existing processes intact and using computers simply to speed them up! But speeding up those processes cannot address their fundamental performance deficiencies. Many of the job designs, work flows, control mechanisms, and organizational structures came of age in a different competitive environment and before the advent of the computer. Instead of computerizing outdated processes, we should “reengineer” the business processes, that is, to use the power of the computer to radically redesign the business the processes. Only through such a radical approach can companies achieve great improvement in their performances.
The process of “reengineering” involves the breaking of old, traditional ways of doing business and finding new and innovative ways. And from the redesigned processes, new rules will emerge that will determine how the processes will operate. The reengineering process is an all-or-nothing proposition, the results of which are often unknown until the completion of its course. Continue reading
