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Accepted Paper:
Paper Short Abstract:
In the past, cross-cultural comparisons were important in systematizing and categorizing culture. Today, however, large-scale cross-cultural comparisons increasingly have come under critique. Do we have to unwrite that tradition or should we learn from the past and use it to rewrite our conceptual tools for the future analysis of religion?
Paper Abstract:
Cross-cultural comparisons have undergone significant transformations in anthropology, from early evolutionary theories to the nuanced, context-sensitive approaches of today. In the heydays of anthropology, cross-cultural comparisons such as the Ethnographic Atlas initiated by George P. Murdoch were fashionable and widespread. They were part of larger attempts to systematize and categorize all expressions of culture. However, they often imposed Western categories onto non-Western societies. Later, thinkers have emphasized the importance of cultural relativism, historical context, and the complex interplay between global and local forces. Nevertheless, such large-scale cross-cultural comparisons increasingly have come under critique and David Gellner argued against “the acid of cross-cultural comparison” (2023: 553).
Therefore, and based on ethnographic research in contemporary Russia, this presentation wants to use the example of religion and reflect on cultural specifics and cross-cultural comparisons. What do people in post-Soviet Russia mean when they are talking about “religion”? Is it possible to compare this with other expressions of religion or does such an attempt necessarily has to fail? Shall we abstain from any comparative perspective or is it unconsciously included in any anthropological approach? What could we learn from the early attempts to categorize and systematize culture or does postmodern approaches make such an approach impossible? What does this mean for the future of cross-cultural comparisons in anthropology? Could cross-cultural comparisons be a tool if applied with greater sensitivity to the dynamics of power, agency, and historical change?
Gellner, D. (2023). The Spaces of Religion: A View from South Asia. JRAI, 29 (3): 553-572.
On the shoulders of giants: the tradition of reading and writing religion ethnologically [WG: Ethnology of Religion]
Session 1