Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. The anthropology of religion, as a field, overlaps with but is distinct from the field of Religious Studies. The history of anthropology of religion is a history of striving to understand how other people view and navigate the world. This history involves deciding what religion is, what it does, and how it functions. Today, one of the main concerns of anthropologists of religion is defining religion, which is a theoretical undertaking in and of itself. Scholars such as Edward Tylor, Emile Durkheim, E.E. Evans Pritchard, Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, Clifford Geertz, and Talal Asad have all grappled with defining and characterizing religion anthropologically.

History

In the 19th century cultural anthropology was dominated by an interest in cultural evolution; most anthropologists assumed a simple distinction between "primitive" and "modern" religion and tried to provide accounts of how the former evolved into the latter.

Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917), sometimes called the “father of anthropology,” took an evolutionary approach to religion. Tylor defined religion as a “belief in spiritual beings” but did not believe all religions were equal or equally “true.” His evolutionary perspective is evident in his book (1871) Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Language, Art, and Custom, in which he proposed a taxonomy of religions and believed that “primitive” religions were a result of cognitive errors. In other words, these beliefs explained natural phenomena that the people or culture did not fully understand. He called this “animism,” which included attributing a spirit to inanimate objects.

James George Frazer (1854-1941), most well-known for his book The Golden Bough, also approached the study of religion from an evolutionist perspective. Frazer's hierarchy of religions included different stages: first magic, then religious, and ending in scientific. Frazer argues that magic becomes an increasingly futile practice as religious systems develop.

Towards the end of the 19th century, anthropologists of religion began to question the distinctions between magic and religion made by Tylor and Frazer. William Robertson Smith (1846-1894) in Lectures of the Religion of the Semites (1899) proposed the idea of the totem. For Smith, social groups worshiped totems which represented their ancestors and worshipping totemic items accounted for the emergence of religions. Thus, Smith's theory of totemism rose in prominence within the field of anthropology of religion, challenging and in some instances fully replacing Tylor's theory of animism.

Durkheim (1858-1917) expanded on the concept of the totem, viewing religion as a collective societal force. For him, religious forces are essentially collective societal forces, embodied in the totem. The society imparts the totem with its power, meaning, and existence, which in turn gives the god or the religion its significance. In “Origins of Belief,” Durkheim argues that a totem symbolizes society, or as he calls it, the clan, and the god. As he puts it, “the totem is the visible body of God.” The totem itself might be an inconsequential object, like an animal, or a wooden cross. Despite its physical insignificance, Durkheim contends that the totem represents the clan. However, individuals do not consciously recognize that their reverence for the totem is, in fact, reverence for society itself. Instead, they perceive the totem as something external to their consciousness. In Durkheim's view, “society gives the sensation of a perpetual dependence.”

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) moved away from the inquiry into the origins of the religion shifting the theory of religion to focus on religion as a function of the social world. In his essay, “Magic, Science, and Religion,” Malinowski argues that religion in its social and psychological functions promotes social integration and community. Malinowski separates the categories of religion and magic in specifying that magic is used for functional ends: to solve problems or achieve objectives where other methods have failed.

  1. Individualistic: most basic; simplest. Example: vision quest.
  2. Shamanistic: part-time religious practitioner, uses religion to heal, to divine, usually on the behalf of a client. The Tillamook have four categories of shaman. Examples of shamans: spiritualists, faith healers, palm readers. Religious authority acquired through one's own means.
  3. Communal: elaborate set of beliefs and practices; group of people arranged in clans by lineage, age group, or some religious societies; people take on roles based on knowledge, and ancestral worship.
  4. Ecclesiastical: dominant in agricultural societies and states; are centrally organized and hierarchical in structure, paralleling the organization of states. Typically deprecates competing individualistic and shamanistic cults.

Specific religious practices and beliefs

  • Principle of contagion

See also

<!-- alphabetical order please WP:SEEALSO -->

<!-- please add a short description WP:SEEALSO, via or -->

<!-- alphabetical order please WP:SEEALSO -->

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

  • Bowen, John R. Religions in Practice: An Approach to the Anthropology of Religion, 7th edn. Abingdon: Routledge, 2018.
  • Moro, Pamela, James E. Myers, & Arthur C. Lehmann. Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural, 7th edn. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
  • Morris, Brian. Religion and Anthropology: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
  • Scupin, Raymond, ed. Religion and culture: an anthropological focus, 2nd edn. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008.
  • Stein, Rebecca L. & Philip Stein et al. Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft, 5th edn. Abingdon: Routledge, 2024.
  • Winzeler, Robert L. Anthropology and Religion: What We Know, Think, and Question, 2nd edn. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012.
  • The Society for the Anthropology of Religion within American Anthropological Association
  • Anthropology of Religion Page M.D. Murphy, University of Alabama
  • Andrew Lang, Anthropology and Religion , The Making of Religion, (Chapter II), Longmans, Green, and C<sup>o</sup>, London, New York and Bombay, 1900, pp.&nbsp;39–64.