The Oxford Handbook of the Anthropology of Religion

Anthropologists of religion study themes central to the understanding of humanity, such as the power of ritual, the authority of language, and the exemplary character of myth. This Handbook brings together leading specialists to explain the historical and intellectual background to how anthropologists approach religion, and to show why its study remains a dynamic means of reflecting on contemporary life around the globe. Each chapter combines overviews of a given topic with original observations, and the Handbook is structured for ease of teaching. Five sections guide the reader on different routes through the field, helping to provoke further questions on historical and intellectual approaches; 'Indigenous' religions; 'World' religions; enduring themes; and emergent themes. The aim is to help students and researchers recognize how and why the field has been organized in certain ways, but also to make them feel confident enough to challenge its assumptions and to consider directions it might go in the future. This Handbook provides an excellent introduction to some of the most important elements of anthropology, including the discipline's emphases on comparison, embodied experience, and scepticism toward taken-for-granted categories. It also shows how religious practices remain entangled with some of the pressing themes and questions of our time, including how we perceive and treat our environment, ways in which we deal with religious and cultural differences, and the religious dimensions of virtual and mediated means of communication.