The Anthropology of Christianity: Unity, Diversity, New Directions

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Next article FreeThe Anthropology of Christianity: Unity, Diversity, New Directions Wenner-Gren Symposium Supplement 10Leslie C. AielloLeslie C. AielloPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThe Anthropology of Christianity: Unity, Diversity, New Directions is the 147th symposium in the Wenner-Gren symposium series and the tenth symposium to be published as an open-access supplementary issue of the Foundation's journal, Current Anthropology. The symposium was organized by Joel Robbins (University of Cambridge) and held March 8–15, 2013, at Tivoli Palácio de Seteais, Sintra, Portugal (fig. 1). We are pleased to welcome Naomi Haynes (University of Edinburgh) as coeditor of the supplementary issue. Haynes was the rapporteur for the symposium and authored the afterword for the supplementary issue (Haynes 2014).Figure 1. Participants in the symposium "The Anthropology of Christianity." Front row, from left to right: Chris Hann, Leslie Aiello, Simon Coleman, Maya Mayblin, Bambi Schieffelin, Joel Robbins, Caroline Humphrey, Webb Keane, Laurie Obbink. Middle row: Annelin Eriksen, Naomi Haynes, Tanya Luhrmann, Courtney Handman, Aparecida Vilaça, Janet Hoskins, Ruth Marshall. Back row: Matthew Engelke, Jon Bialecki, Andreas Bandak, John Barker.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointThe subfield known as the anthropology of Christianity has leapt to prominence over the last 15 years, to the degree that Robbins (2014) describes it as a child of the new millennium. Some anthropologists debate the claimed novelty of the subfield, but Robbins defends it, and the timeliness of this symposium, on three grounds. First, there has been an exponential increase in the number of anthropological publications dealing with Christianity over this time period. Second, anthropologists studying Christianity have become "self-conscious" about the field, particularly in that they are using ethnographic work on Christianity to push anthropological theory in new directions. And third, the role of religion in the world has changed dramatically over this period.Against this background, the goals of both the symposium and this CA issue are twofold: to assess the accomplishments of the anthropology of Christianity as it begins to mature as a field and to chart its future through the development of new approaches and ideas. This is accomplished by bringing some of the founders of the young subfield together with (1) representatives of the new generation of anthropologists interested in Christianity as a discipline and (2) anthropologists familiar with the advances in the anthropology of Christianity but whose research lies in other and perhaps complementary areas. This mixture of generations and interests resulted in lively discussions throughout the five meeting days, both around the conference table and during free time, including an apropos afternoon trip to the well-known Catholic pilgrimage site of Fátima.The "Anthropology of Christianity" symposium resulted in a total of 18 contributions, including an extensive introduction by Robbins (2014) that provides insightful reflections on the development of the subfield as well as on its future direction and potential. The contributions are divided into five sections covering the following topics: (1) Christian institutions, (2) Christianity, space, and place, (3) Christianity and gender, (4) the boundaries of Christianity, and (5) key topics in the anthropology of Christianity and their continued relevance. Drawing on these articles, as well as on her own work, Haynes in her afterword (2014) outlines a new comparative framework to address how the subfield defines Christianity as an object of study in view of its highly diverse forms. This is a major concern as the field moves forward.In looking through the archives of the Wenner-Gren Foundation, I find it surprising that the Foundation has not sponsored previous symposia that specifically address religion, although both religion in general and Christianity in particular have undoubtedly been important to broader discussions at Foundation-sponsored meetings. The closest the Foundation has come has been a series of symposia focusing on various aspects of ritual (e.g., MacAloon 1984; Moore and Myerhoff 1977; Schechner and Appel 1990; Senft and Basso 2009). From the Foundation's point of view, the "Anthropology of Christianity" symposium provided an ideal opportunity to bring attention to an exciting area in modern anthropology, to aid in its continued growth and development, and to meet our major goal of encouraging work on timely, significant, and innovative anthropological issues and trends.We are always looking for new ideas from all areas of anthropology for future Foundation-sponsored and Foundation-organized symposia and eventual CA publication. We encourage anthropologists to contact us with their proposals for future meetings. Information about the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the symposium program, application procedures and deadlines, and what constitutes a good symposium topic can be found on the Foundation's website (http://wennergren.org/programs/international-symposia).References CitedHaynes, Naomi. 2014. Affordances and audiences: finding the difference Christianity makes. Current Anthropology 55(suppl. 10):S357–S365.First citation in articleLinkGoogle ScholarMacAloon, John J., ed. 1984. Rite, drama, festival, spectacle: rehearsals toward a theory of cultural performance. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarMoore, Sally Falk, and Barbara G. Myerhoff, eds. 1977. Secular ritual. Assen, Netherlands: Van Gorcum.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarRobbins, Joel. 2014. The anthropology of Christianity: unity, diversity, new directions: an introduction to supplement 10. Current Anthropology 55(suppl. 10):S157–S171.First citation in articleLinkGoogle ScholarSchechner, Richard, and Willa Appel, eds. 1990. By means of performance: intercultural studies of theatre and ritual. New York: Cambridge University Press.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarSenft, Gunter, and Ellen B. Basso, eds. 2009. Ritual communication. Oxford: Berg.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarNotesLeslie C. Aiello is President of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (470 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor North, New York, New York 10016, U.S.A.). Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 55, Number S10December 2014The Anthropology of Christianity: Unity, Diversity, New Directions Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/678287 Views: 713Total views on this site © 2014 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

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