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<p>List of Figures viii</p> <p>Notes on Contributors ix</p> <p>Preface and Acknowledgments xiv</p> <p>What Is “Religion” for Anthropology?</p> <p>And What Has Anthropology Brought to “Religion”? 1<br /><i>Michael Lambek</i></p> <p><b>Part I Worlds and Intersections 33</b></p> <p>1 Presence, Attachment, Origin: Ontologies of “Incarnates” 35<br /><i>Philippe Descola</i></p> <p>2 The Dynamic Reproduction of Hunter-Gatherers’ Ontologies and Values 50<br /><i>Sylvie Poirier</i></p> <p>3 Cohabiting an Interreligious Milieu: Reflections on Religious Diversity 69<br /><i>Veena Das</i></p> <p>4 Religious and Legal Particularism and Universality 85 <br /><i>Winnifred Fallers Sullivan</i></p> <p><b>Part II Epistemologies 101</b></p> <p>5 Are Ancestors Dead? 103<br /><i>Rita Astuti and Maurice Bloch</i></p> <p>6 Coping with Religious Diversity: Incommensurability and Other Perspectives 118<br /><i>Eva Spies</i></p> <p>7 Varieties of Semiotic Ideology in the Interpretation of Religion 137<br /><i>Michael Lambek</i></p> <p>8 Religion and the Truth of Being 154<br /><i>Paul Stoller</i></p> <p><b>Part III Time and Ethics 169</b></p> <p>9 Ethics 171<br /><i>James Laidlaw</i></p> <p>10 The Social and Political Theory of the Soul 189<br /><i>Heonik Kwon</i></p> <p>11 Ghosts and Ancestors in the Modern West 202<br /><i>Fenella Cannell</i></p> <p>12 The Work of Memory: Ritual Laments of the Dead and Korea’s Cheju Massacre 223<br /><i>Seong-nae Kim</i></p> <p>13 The Globalization of Pentecostalism and the Limits of Globalization 239<br /><i>Girish Daswani</i></p> <p><b>Part IV Practices and Mediations 255</b></p> <p>14 Food, Life, and Material Religion in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity 257<br /><i>Tom Boylston</i></p> <p>15 Trading with God: Islam, Calculation, Excess 274<br /><i>Amira Mittermaier</i></p> <p>16 Ritual Remains: Studying Contemporary Pilgrimage 294<br /><i>Simon Coleman</i></p> <p>17 Mediation and Immediacy: Sensational Forms, Semiotic Ideologies, and the Question of the Medium 309<br /><i>Birgit Meyer</i></p> <p><b>Part V Languages and Conversions 327</b></p> <p>18 Translating God’s Words 329<br /><i>Wendy James</i></p> <p>19 Christianity as a Polemical Concept 344<br /><i>Pamela E. Klassen</i></p> <p>20 Reconfiguring Humanity in Amazonia: Christianity and Change 363<br /><i>Aparecida Vilaça</i></p> <p>21 Language in Christian Conversion 387<br /><i>William F. Hanks</i></p> <p><b>Part VI Persons and Histories 407</b></p> <p>22 Canonizing Soviet Pasts in Contemporary Russia: The Case of Saint Matrona of Moscow 409<br /><i>Jeanne Kormina</i></p> <p>23 Reflections on Death, Religion, Identity, and the Anthropology of Religion 425<br /><i>Ellen Badone</i></p> <p>24 S pirits and Selves Revisited: Zār and Islam in Northern Sudan 444<br /><i>Janice Boddy</i></p> <p><b>Part VII Powers 469</b></p> <p>25 The Political Landscape of Early State Religions 471<br /><i>Edward Swenson</i></p> <p>26 A Syariah Judiciary as a Global Assemblage: Islamization and Beyond in a Southeast Asian Context 489<br /><i>Michael G. Peletz</i></p> <p>27 The Catholicization of Neoliberalism 507<br /><i>Andrea Muehlebach</i></p> <p>28 The Sacred and the City: Modernity, Religion, and the Urban Form in Central Africa 528<br /><i>Filip De Boeck</i></p> <p>Index 549</p>

<p><b>Janice Boddy</b> is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Her books include <i>Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan</i> (1989); <i>Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl</i> (1994); and <i>Civilizing Women: British Crusades in Colonial Sudan</i> (2007).</p> <b>Michael Lambek</b> is Professor of Anthropology and Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto Scarborough. His books include <i>Human Spirits</i> (1981, 2009); <i>Knowledge and Practice in Mayotte: Local Discourses of Islam, Sorcery, and Spirit Possession</i> (1993); <i>The Weight of the Past</i> (2002); and <i>Ordinary Ethics</i> (2010). He is also the editor of <i>A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion</i> (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008).

<p><i>A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion</i> presents a collection of original, ethnographically-informed essays that explore the wide variety of beliefs, practices, and religious experience in the contemporary world and how to think about religion as an object of inquiry. Leading scholars in the field engage deeply with the concept of religion and its myriad social entailments, and reveal the most up-to-date research and critical thinking in the field.</p> <p>Amongst the broad range of topics addressed are the latest thoughts on the perspectivism debate, reflections on religion and the new media; issues of religion relating to person, self, and gender; how ordinary life transcends religious differences; and many others. Original, thought-provoking, and provocative, <i>A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion</i> adds immeasurable insights into our understanding of the complex relationships between religion, culture, society, and the individual in today’s world.</p>

<p>"Striking a balance between theoretical exploration, state of the art topical synthesis, and vivid case studies, Boddy and Lambek’s remarkable volume proves that the anthropology of religion remains one of the discipline’s most vibrant fields of inquiry." – <i>Stephan Palmié, University of Chicago</i></p> <p>“After a period of relative quiescence, the anthropology of religion is once again thriving and playing a central role in some of the most important theoretical and empirical debates in contemporary anthropology.  With a first rate selection of authors both junior and senior, this volume will serve as a solid reference for what has been accomplished so far.  More than that, the wide range and originality of the entries will surely stimulate further developments in the field as well.” – <i>Webb Keane, University of Michigan</i></p> <p>“Can we re-invent the anthropology of religion? These essays suggest ways to do so, ranging from perspectivism to morality, and from epistemology to practice, which entice us with innovations and inspirations for new ways to proceed.” – <i>Janet Hoskins, University of Southern California</i></p>

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