The Anthropology of Religious ConversionAndrew Buckser, Stephen D. Glazier Rowman & Littlefield, 2003 - 236 pages The Anthropology of Religious Conversion paints a picture of conversion far more complex than its customary image in anthropology and religious studies. Conversion is very seldom simply a sudden moment of insight or inspiration; it is a change both of individual consciousness and of social belonging, of mental attitude and of physical experience, whose unfolding depends both on its cultural setting and on the distinct individuals who undergo it. The book explores religious conversion in a variety of cultural settings and considers how anthropological approaches can help us understand the phenomenon. Fourteen case studies span historical and geographical contexts, including the contemporary United States, modern and medieval Europe, and non-western societies in South Asia, Melanesia, and South America. They discuss conversion to Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Spiritualism. Combining ethnographic description with theoretical analysis, authors consider the nature and meaning of conversion, its social and political dimensions, and its relationship to individual religious experience. |
Contents
The Anthropology of Conversion An Introduction | 1 |
Conversion and Social Processes | 13 |
Continuous Conversion? The Rhetoric Practice and Rhetorical Practice of Charismatic Protestant Conversion | 15 |
Agency Bureaucracy and Religious Conversion Ethiopian Felashmura Immigrants in Israel | 29 |
Converted Innocents and Their Trickster Heroes The Politics of Proselytizing in India | 43 |
Comparing Conversions among the Dani of Irian Jaya | 55 |
Social Conversion and Group Definition in Jewish Copenhagen | 69 |
Conversion and Marginality in Southern Italy | 85 |
Mystical Experiences American Culture and Conversion to Christian Spiritualism | 133 |
Conversion and Individual Experience | 147 |
Limin wid Jah Spiritual Baptists Who Become Rastafarians and Then Become Spiritual Baptists Again | 149 |
Converting to What? Embodied Culture and the Adoption of New Beliefs | 171 |
From Jehovahs Witness to Benedictine Nun The Roles of Experience and Context in a Double Conversion | 183 |
Converted Christians Shamans and the House of God The Reasons for Conversion Given by the Western Toba of the Argentine Chaco | 199 |
Afterword | 209 |
Anthropology and the Study of Conversion | 211 |
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African Aguaruna American anthropology Apajui argued Asabano Austin-Broos become belly Benedictine Beta Israel Bianchi Buckser Caribbean Catholic chapter charismatic Chicago congregation constraint context conversion experience conversion narratives Conversion to Christianity Copenhagen culture Dani Danish describe discourse edited ethnographic evangelical event example faith feel Felashmura fieldwork focus ganja Glazier glossolalia Hefner Hindu Hinduism Hindutva Holy Spirit human Iceland immigrants India individual Indonesia involved Irian Jaya Islam Jayapura Jehovah's Witness Jesus Jewish Jews lives meaning mission missionaries modern moral movement nationalist Ogun Orisha Papuan participants Pentecostal Pentecostalist perspective political practice question rabbi Rambo Rasta Rastafarians Reidhead relationships religious conversion religious experience Return to Judaism ritual sense shamans shift in beliefs sion social Sociology Spiritual Baptists Spiritualist Church story study of conversion Sufism supernatural Sylvia theology tion told tradition transformation Trinidad understanding University Press volition Western Toba world religions York