A Phenomenology of Indigenous Religions: Theory and Practice

Description

This book compiles James L. Cox’s most important writings on a phenomenology of Indigenous Religions into one volume, with a new introduction and conclusion by the author. Cox has consistently exemplified phenomenological methods by applying them to his own field studies among Indigenous Religions, principally in Zimbabwe and Alaska, but also in Australia and New Zealand. Included in this collection are his articles in which he defines what he means by the category ‘religion’ and how this informs his precise meaning of the classification ‘Indigenous Religions’. These theoretical considerations are always illustrated clearly and concisely by specific studies of Indigenous Religions and their dynamic interaction with contemporary political and social circumstances. This collection demonstrates the continued relevance of the phenomenological method in the study of religions by presenting the method as dynamic and adaptable to contemporary social contexts and as responsive to intellectual critiques of the method. Cover Contents Foreword Acknowledgements Permissions Introduction. Background, context and clarifications Part I
Phenomenology Of Religion:
Theory, Method And Application Chapter 1 Methodological views on African religions Chapter 2 The contribution of T. G. H. Strehlow to the contemporary global study of Indigenous Religions Chapter 3 Missionaries, the phenomenology of religion and ‘re-presenting’ nineteenth-century African religion: A case study of Peter McKenzie’s Hail Orisha! Part II The Phenomenological Subject And Object Of Study Chapter 4 Religious typologies and the postmodern critique Chapter 5 African identities as the projection of Western alterity Chapter 6 Phenomenological perspectives on the social responsibility of the scholar of religion Part III
Classifications And Definitions: On Delimiting The Field
Of Indigenous Religions Chapter 7 The transmission of an authoritative tradition: That without which religion is not religion Chapter 8 Reflecting critically on Indigenous Religions Chapter 9 Kinship and location: In defence of a narrow definition of Indigenous Religions Part IV
Indigenous Religions In Global Contexts Chapter 10 Secularizing the land: The impact of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act on Indigenous understandings of land Chapter 11 The study of religion and non-religion in the emerging field of ‘Non-Religion Studies’: Its significance for interpreting Australian Aboriginal religions Chapter 12 Global intentions and local conflicts: The rise and fall of Ambuya Juliana in Zimbabwe Part V
Affirming Indigenous Agency Chapter 13 The debate between E. B. Tylor and Andrew Lang over the theory of primitive monotheism: Implications for contemporary studies of Indigenous Religions Chapter 14 T. G. H. Strehlow and the repatriation of knowledge Conclusion. Phenomenology at the Cutting Edge: Affirming Local Agency Notes References Index