A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion presents a collection of original, ethnographically-informed essays that explore the variety of beliefs, practices, and religious experiences in the contemporary world and asks how to think about religion as a subject of anthropological inquiry.

List of Figures viii Notes on Contributors ix Preface and Acknowledgments xiv What Is “Religion” for Anthropology? And What Has Anthropology Brought to “Religion”? 1Michael Lambek Part I Worlds and Intersections 33 1 Presence, Attachment, Origin: Ontologies of “Incarnates” 35Philippe Descola 2 The Dynamic Reproduction of Hunter-Gatherers’ Ontologies and Values 50Sylvie Poirier 3 Cohabiting an Interreligious Milieu: Reflections on Religious Diversity 69Veena Das 4 Religious and Legal Particularism and Universality 85 Winnifred Fallers Sullivan Part II Epistemologies 101 5 Are Ancestors Dead? 103Rita Astuti and Maurice Bloch 6 Coping with Religious Diversity: Incommensurability and Other Perspectives 118Eva Spies 7 Varieties of Semiotic Ideology in the Interpretation of Religion 137Michael Lambek 8 Religion and the Truth of Being 154Paul Stoller Part III Time and Ethics 169 9 Ethics 171James Laidlaw 10 The Social and Political Theory of the Soul 189Heonik Kwon 11 Ghosts and Ancestors in the Modern West 202Fenella Cannell 12 The Work of Memory: Ritual Laments of the Dead and Korea’s Cheju Massacre 223Seong-nae Kim 13 The Globalization of Pentecostalism and the Limits of Globalization 239Girish Daswani Part IV Practices and Mediations 255 14 Food, Life, and Material Religion in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity 257Tom Boylston 15 Trading with God: Islam, Calculation, Excess 274Amira Mittermaier 16 Ritual Remains: Studying Contemporary Pilgrimage 294Simon Coleman 17 Mediation and Immediacy: Sensational Forms, Semiotic Ideologies, and the Question of the Medium 309Birgit Meyer Part V Languages and Conversions 327 18 Translating God’s Words 329Wendy James 19 Christianity as a Polemical Concept 344Pamela E. Klassen 20 Reconfiguring Humanity in Amazonia: Christianity and Change 363Aparecida Vilaça 21 Language in Christian Conversion 387William F. Hanks Part VI Persons and Histories 407 22 Canonizing Soviet Pasts in Contemporary Russia: The Case of Saint Matrona of Moscow 409Jeanne Kormina 23 Reflections on Death, Religion, Identity, and the Anthropology of Religion 425Ellen Badone 24 S pirits and Selves Revisited: Zār and Islam in Northern Sudan 444Janice Boddy Part VII Powers 469 25 The Political Landscape of Early State Religions 471Edward Swenson 26 A Syariah Judiciary as a Global Assemblage: Islamization and Beyond in a Southeast Asian Context 489Michael G. Peletz 27 The Catholicization of Neoliberalism 507Andrea Muehlebach 28 The Sacred and the City: Modernity, Religion, and the Urban Form in Central Africa 528Filip De Boeck Index 549

A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion presents a collection of original, ethnographically-informed essays that explore the wide variety of beliefs, practices, and religious experience in the contemporary world and how to think about religion as an object of inquiry. Leading scholars in the field engage deeply with the concept of religion and its myriad social entailments, and reveal the most up-to-date research and critical thinking in the field. Amongst the broad range of topics addressed are the latest thoughts on the perspectivism debate, reflections on religion and the new media; issues of religion relating to person, self, and gender; how ordinary life transcends religious differences; and many others. Original, thought-provoking, and provocative, A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion adds immeasurable insights into our understanding of the complex relationships between religion, culture, society, and the individual in today’s world.