A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion [Hardcover]

A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion is a collection of some of the most significant classic and contemporary writings in the field. Updated in its second edition, this volume examines numerous aspects of religion in a diversity of cultures and expands upon the idea of what we mean by ‘religion’, linking it to some of the broader questions of culture and politics.

• Collects classic and contemporary articles from the major thinkers in both North American and British anthropology
• Emphasizes the ongoing conversation among anthropologists with respect to central questions of religious behavior
• Presents comprehensive coverage of theory and religious practice, through time and ethnographic regions, integrated by editorial commentary
• Includes additional classic pieces by Pouillon, Burridge, and Meyerhoff, as well as more contemporary work by Harding, De Boeck, and Palmié
• Includes indexed bibliography arranged according to both ethnographic region and religious topics and practices

Preface to Second Edition xi

General Introduction 1

Part I The Context of Understanding and Debate 19

Opening Frameworks 21

Introduction 21

1 Religion in Primitive Culture 23
Edward Burnett Tylor

2 The Elementary Forms of Religious Life 34
Emile Durkheim

3 The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 48
Max Weber

4 Religion as a Cultural System 57
Clifford Geertz

Skeptical Rejoinders 77

Introduction 77

5 Remarks on Frazer’s Gol£+