“Uncertainty and Disquiet” 12th European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) Paris-Nanterre, 10th – 13th July 2012
CALL FOR PAPERS (workshop 68):
“Multi-religious rituals: Performativity, Ambivalence and the Need to Cope with Uncertainty”
While multi-religious rituals and ecumenical events are subject to strong regulation in the West, they form an integral part of the ritual repertoire in other parts of the world. In South and Southeast Asia in particular, but also in many parts of Africa, members of different denominations go on pilgrimages to graves and shrines in order to sacrifice and pray, and sometimes they even maintain common places of worship. For a long time this multi-religious practice was widely ignored by social anthropologists, who tend to reduce this practice to a convergence between different religious communities (“syncretism”) or consider it to be an expression of a handed down nature and ancestor cult (“archaism”). It is obvious, however, that a ritual practice that incorporates members of different denominations into the same activities is not compatible with a fundamentalist reading of religion.
We are interested in the following questions:
- What do multi-religious rituals actually do, and how do they do it?
- How do social conflicts and uncertainty interrelate with the assumed integrative function and the ambivalence of multi-religious rituals?
- How can we explain the historical genesis, the social implications and the current persistence of multi-religious rituals?
- We intend to discuss this workshop to outline an innovative theoretical framework for multi-religious rituals in diverse cultural and social settings.
Volker Gottowik, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Raphaela von Weichs, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland
We are looking forward to your submission of abstracts, due November 28, 2012, and to a stimulating discussion in Paris! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. The workshop will take part in English. Abstracts must be submitted through the EASA website: http://www.easaonline.org/conferences.htm.
Raphaela von Weichs (Dr. des.)
Maison d' Analyse des Processus Sociaux (MAPS)
Université de Neuchâtel
Fbg de l'Hôpital 27
CH - 2000 Neuchâtel
Tél. +41 32 718 1480 (Secrétariat d'institut)
Fax. +41 32 718 1421
www.unine.ch/maps Email: firstname.lastname@example.org Visit the website at http://www.unine.ch/maps
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