Louis Dumont's concept of hierarchy continues to inspire social scientists. Using it as their starting point, the contributors to this volume introduce both fresh empirical material and new theoretical considerations.

Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Hierarchy and Its Alternatives: An Introduction to Movements of Totalization and Detotalization Knut M. Rio and Olaf H. Smedal Chapter 2. Conversion, Hierarchy, and Cultural Change: Value and Syncretism in the Globalization of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity Joel Robbins Chapter 3. Gender and Value: Conceptualizing Social Forms on Ambrym, Vanuatu Annelin Eriksen Chapter 4. Can a Hierarchical Religion Survive without Its Center? Caodaism, Colonialism, and Exile Janet Hoskins Chapter 5. The Headless State in Inner Asia: Reconsidering Kinship Society and the Discourse of Tribalism David Sneath Chapter 6. The Perfect Sovereign: The Sacralized Power of the Ottoman Sultan Kjetil Fosshagen Chapter 7. Marriage, Rank, and Politics in Hawaii Valerio Valeri Chapter 8. Polynesian Conceptions of Sociality: A Dynamic Field of Hierarchical Encompassment Ingjerd Hoëm Chapter 9. On the Value of the Beast or the Limit of Money: Notes on the Meaning of Marriage Prestations among the Ngadha, Central Flores (Indonesia) Olaf H. Smedal Chapter 10. Hierarchy Is not Inequality-in Polynesia, for Instance Serge Tcherkézoff Chapter 11. Hierarchy and Power: A Comparative Attempt under Asymmetrical Lines André Iteanu Afterword: On Dumont's Relentless Comparativism Frederick H. Damon Notes on Contributors Index