ABSTRACT

This clear and engaging guide introduces students to key areas of the field and shows how to apply an anthropological approach to the study of religion in the contemporary world. Written by an experienced teacher, it covers major traditional topics including definitions, theories, and beliefs, as well as symbols, myth, and ritual. The book also explores important but often overlooked issues such as morality, violence, fundamentalism, secularization, and new religious movements. The chapters all contain lively case studies of religions practiced around the world.

The third edition of Introducing Anthropology of Religion is fully updated and contains additional content on material religion, visual religion, and affect theory, and a new chapter takes a closer look at medical and health topics. The author encourages the reader to engage throughout with the unifying themes of race, gender, and power, and how these themes are intertwined with anthropology of religion. Images, a glossary, and questions for discussion are included and additional resources are provided via a companion website.

chapter 1|25 pages

Studying religion anthropologically

Definitions and theories

chapter 2|24 pages

Beliefs, beings, and bodies

chapter 3|27 pages

Symbols, specialists, and substance

chapter 4|25 pages

Religious language

Words of truth, words of power

chapter 5|24 pages

Ritual

Religion in action

chapter 6|24 pages

Religion and morality

Forming society, transforming self

chapter 7|25 pages

Religion, medicine, and wellness

chapter 9|27 pages

Translocal or “world” religions

chapter 10|26 pages

Religious fundamentalism

chapter 11|25 pages

Religious violence

chapter 12|25 pages

Secularism and irreligion

chapter |8 pages

Glossary