The anthropological study of religion is at a crossroads. While fewer textbooks on the anthropology of religion are published each year and much of what is available is decades old, religion is playing an increasingly prominent role in society. Scholars from many fields are reading anthropological works on religion with great interest, and such works are cited frequently in books and articles in a range of disciplines. Religion has been found in all societies studied by anthropologists and is one of the hallmarks of human creativity.
This reference book provides a much-needed overview of the most important topics and trends in the anthropology of religion. Chapters by expert contributors examine the varied manifestations of religion in diverse cultural contexts. Among the topics surveyed are shamanism, snake handling, rituals in particular cultural traditions, religion and altered states of consciousness, and the role of science in religion and anthropology. Chapters contain extensive documentation, and a bibliography concludes the volume.
Introduction by Stephen D. Glazier Looking at Religion Anthropologically Reading "Snake Handling": Critical Reflections by Jim Birckhead The Study of Religion in American Society by Melinda Bollar Wagner Science, Religion, and Anthropology by James Lett Thinking About Magic by Michael F. Brown The Study of Ritual Ritual and Current Studies of Ritual: Overview by Bobby C. Alexander African Ritual by Mathias Guenther Ritual Performance in India by Peter J. Claus Ritual in East Asia: Japan by Mary Evelyn Tucker Rituals Among Native North Americans by John A. Grim Ritual in the United States by Madeline Duntley Little and Great Traditions The Anthropology of Islam by Gregory Starrett Hinduism in Context: Approaching a Religious Tradition Through External Sources by Cynthia Keppley Mahmood Buddhist Communities: Historical Precedents and Ethnographic Paradigms by Todd T. Lewis The Pilgrimage to Magdalena by Mary I. O'Connor Shamanism and Religious Consciousness Altered States of Consciousness and Religious Behavior by Michael Winkelman Shamanism by Joan B. Townsend The Cycle of Meaning: Some Methodological Implications of Biogenetic Structural Theory by Charles D. Laughlin The Origin of an Illusion by Stewart Guthrie The Sacred Integration of the Cultural Self: An Anthropological Approach to the Study of Religion by Jacob Pandian Select Bibliography Index
