The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters
Title | The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters PDF eBook |
Author | Lilith Mahmud |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Total Pages | 262 |
Release | 2014-03-28 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 022609605X |
This “stupendous ethnography of female Freemasonry in Italy” reveals the fascinating paradox of elitism and exclusion experienced by “female brothers” (Michael Herzfeld, author of Evicted from Eternity). From its cryptic images on the dollar bill to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, the Freemasons have long been one of the most romanticized secret societies in the world. But a simple fact escapes most depictions of this elite brotherhood: there are also female members. In this groundbreaking ethnography, Lilith Mahmud takes readers inside Masonic lodges of contemporary Italy, where she observes the ritualistic and fraternal bonds forged among Freemason women. Offering a tantalizing look behind lodge doors, The Brotherhood of Freemason Sisters unveils a complex culture of discretion in which Freemasons reveal some truths and hide others. Female initiates—one of Freemasonry’s best-kept secrets—are often upper class and highly educated, yet avowedly antifeminist. Their self-cultivation through the Masonic path is an effort to embrace the deeply gendered ideals of fraternity. In this lively investigation, Mahmud unravels the contradictions at the heart of Freemasonry: an organization responsible for many of the egalitarian concepts of the Enlightenment and yet one that has always been, and in Italy still remains, extremely exclusive. The result is not only a thrilling look at a surprisingly influential world, but a reevaluation of the modern values we now take for granted
The Brotherhood
Title | The Brotherhood PDF eBook |
Author | Stephen Knight |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 340 |
Release | 1986 |
Genre | Brotherhoods |
ISBN | 9780880291132 |
The Brotherhood removes the blanket of secrecy over Freemasonary and permits an objective investigation into a topic of considerable public interest. In Italy, recent scandals have toppled the government, and the echoes of that scandal continue to reverberate. In this inclusive book, Stephen Knight goes behind the scenes of a tightly knit, all-male society, many of whose members hold very influential positions, all of whom are bound by fierce oaths of secrecy. Does Freemasonary discriminate in favor of its members when it comes to jobs, career promotions, and business? How compatible is Freemasonary with Christianity and Judaism? A large number of instances in this book show how and where masonic ideas of morality, charity, and fraternity have been abused. The secrecy that surrounds Freemasonary has traditionally been its greatest strength. Today it has become its worst enemy. The revelations in this book will challenge many stronghold beliefs -- Book jacket.
Constructing Brotherhood
Title | Constructing Brotherhood PDF eBook |
Author | Mary Ann Clawson |
Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Total Pages | 281 |
Release | 2014-07-14 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1400860504 |
Despite the persistence of the fraternal form of association in guilds, trade unions, and political associations, as well as in fraternal social organizations, scholars have often ignored its importance as a cultural and social theme. This provocative volume helps to redress that neglect. Tracing the development of fraternalism from early modern western Europe through eighteenth-century Britain to nineteenth-century America, Mary Ann Clawson shows how white males came to use fraternal organizations to resolve troubling questions about relations between the sexes and between classes: American fraternalism in the 1800s created bonds of loyalty across class lines and made gender and race primary categories of collective identity. British men had symbolically become stone masons to express their commitment to the emerging market economy and to the social value of craft labor. Clawson points out that American fraternalism fulfilled similar purposes, as fraternal organizations reconciled individualism and mutuality for many who were discomfited by the conflict of egalitarian principles and capitalist industrial development. Fraternalism's extraordinary appeal rested also on the assertion of masculine solidarity in the face of feminine claims to moral leadership. Nevertheless, visions of solidarity were contradicted when fraternal organizations became increasingly entrepreneurial, seeking to maximize their own growth through systematic marketing of membership. Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Brought to Light
Title | Brought to Light PDF eBook |
Author | J. Scott Kenney |
Publisher | Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press |
Total Pages | 308 |
Release | 2016-04-02 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1771121963 |
Secret societies are becoming increasingly controversial—thrust into public awareness by popular books, films, the Internet, and a host of recent documentaries. In academia, this exposure finds a parallel in the proliferation of research, institutes, and conferences. Yet the media depictions tend to be caricatures, a playing to pervasive stereotypes for public consumption, while the academic stress historical and philological matters. Indeed, to the extent a sociological focus exists, it largely emphasizes the roles these groups played in social history. And for the societies’ members themselves, there has been a paucity of work on the contemporary meaning of these groups—a neglect made mystifying by the vast social changes that have taken place over the past century. In this study, and for the first time by any scholar, Kenney moves beyond history and applies the methods and theoretical tools of contemporary sociology to study the lived world of freemasons in today’s society. To provide a clear portrait of the patterned experiences of contemporary freemasons and the issues faced by “the Craft” today, Kenney draws on qualitative data from three primary sources: (1) extensive interviews with 121 contemporary freemasons in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia; (2) video footage shot for a feature film on contemporary freemasonry; and (3) his observations and experiences in nearly fifteen years as a freemason. Brought to Light provides a highly original contribution to sociology, Masonic scholarship, and the social sciences generally.
The Masonic magazine, suppl. to 'The Freemason'.
Title | The Masonic magazine, suppl. to 'The Freemason'. PDF eBook |
Author | Masonic monthly |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 548 |
Release | 1881 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
United States of Medievalism
Title | United States of Medievalism PDF eBook |
Author | Tison Pugh |
Publisher | University of Toronto Press |
Total Pages | 336 |
Release | 2021 |
Genre | Europe |
ISBN | 1487525087 |
This fascinating collection explores America's appropriations and fabrications of the Middle Ages, revealing the nation's complicated love affair with a past it never had, but has created from history and imagination.
Rome Eternal
Title | Rome Eternal PDF eBook |
Author | Guy Lanoue |
Publisher | Routledge |
Total Pages | 272 |
Release | 2017-07-05 |
Genre | Foreign Language Study |
ISBN | 1351550608 |
What does 'Roman' mean? How does the mythical city touch people's identities, values and attitudes? In the long-established and official imaginary of the West, Rome is the citta dell'arte, the city of faith, an heirloom city inspired by the traces of ancient Empire, by the brooding aura of the Church, by Hollywood fairy-tale romance, and by the spicy tang of veiled decadence. But what of its contemporary residents? Are they now merely guides and waiters servicing throngs of tourists indifferent to the city's contemporary charms? Guy Lanoue, a former resident of Rome, explores how Romans live the modern myth of Rome Eternal. Since the 19th century, it has defined an important community, the fatherland, a home-spun society where the rules of everyday life become 'tradition': ways of eating, dressing, making and keeping friends and acquaintances, 'proper' ways of speaking and a hard to define but nonetheless tangible air of composure. Guy Lanoue is a Professor of Anthropology at the Universite de Montreal.