Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on some specific aspects of Westermarck's oeuvre. It describes Westermarck's relations and disagreements with the psychoanalytic movement, including an outline of Malinowski's role in the debate. The main conflict between Westermarck and psychoanalysis concerned the Oedipus complex and the incest taboo. The book focuses on Westermarck's response to Durkheim's functionalist theory of religion on the basis of his Moroccan field results. It argues that Westermarck's work on Moroccan folk religion includes an analysis of holiness, or baraka, which implicitly identifies it as an aspect of politically contested power relations. The book addresses applications of Westermarck's theory of incest avoidance in modern research. It traces the development of Westermarck's theory of morality during his early career. Modern criticism of evolutionary approaches to morality is often reminiscent of the critique directed at Westermarck by his contemporaries.