Missionary impositions : conversion, resistance, and other challenges to objectivity in religious ethnography / edited by Hillary K. Crane and Deana L. Weibel.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Crane, Hillary K., 1969-

Weibel, Deana L., 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anthropology of religion--Research.

Anthropology of religion.

Ethnology--Fieldwork.

Ethnology.

Research.

Physical Description:

vii, 112 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Lexington Books, [2013]

Summary:

In this collection of essays, anthropologists of religion examine the special challenges they face when studying populations that proselytize. Conducting fieldwork among these groups may involve attending services, meditating, praying, and making pilgrimages. Anthropologists participating in such research may unwittingly give the impression that their interest is more personal than professional, and inadvertently encourage missionaries to impose conversion upon them. Moreover, anthropologists' attitudes about religion, belief, and faith, as well as their response to conversion pressures, may interfere with their objectivity and cause them to impose their own understandings on the missionaries. Although anthropologists have extensively and fruitfully examined the role of identity in research-particularly gender and ethnic identity-religious identity, which is more fluid and changeable, has been relatively neglected. This volume explores the role of religious identity in fieldwork by examining how researchers respond to participation in religious activities and to the ministrations of missionaries, both academically and personally. Including essays by anthropologists studying the proselytizing religions of Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, as well as other religions, this volume provides a range of responses to the question of how anthropologists should approach the gap between belief and disbelief when missionary zeal imposes its interpretations on anthropological curiosity. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Flirting with Conversion: Negotiating Researcher Non-Belief with Missionaries / Hillary K. Crane Crane, Hillary K. 11

2 Chasing the Wind: The Challenges of Studying Spirit Possession / Susan M. Kenyon Kenyon, Susan M. 25

3 How "They" Construct "Us": Reflections on the Politics of Identity in the Field / Jennifer A. Selby Selby, Jennifer A. 41

4 Revisiting The Inner Life: Self-Reflexive Ethnography and Emotional Enculturation / Daniel Washburn Washburn, Daniel 57

5 I'm Just a Soul Whose Intentions are Good: Observations from the Back Pew / Lisa DiCarlo DiCarlo, Lisa 75

6 On Being a Participant and an Observer in Religious Ethnography: Silence, Betrayal, and Becoming / Katharine L. Wiegele Wiegele, Katharine L. 83

7 Blind in a Land of Visionaries: When a Non-Pilgrim Studies Pilgrimage / Deana L. Weibel Weibel, Deana L. 93.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739177884

0739177885

9780739177891

0739177893

OCLC:

809611913