Jon P. Mitchell

Ambivalent Europeans examines the implications of living on the fringes of Europe. In Malta, public debate is dominated by the question of Europe, both at a policy level - whether or not to join the EU - and at the level of national identity - whether or not the Maltese are 'European'. Jon Mitchell identifies a profound ambivalence towards Europe, and also more broadly to the key processes of 'modernisation'. He traces this tendency through a number of key areas of social life - gender, the family, community, politics, religion and ritual.

Ritual, Memory and the Public Sphere in Malta

Ambivalent Europeans

Richard Wilson

The aim of this volume is to understand, from an anthropological perspective, the consequences of the rise of rights discussions and institutions in both local and global politics.

Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements

Human Rights in Global Perspective

Michael Bull

Ritual has long been a central concept in anthropological theories of religious transmission. Ritual, Performance and the Senses offers a new understanding of how ritual enables religious representations – ideas, beliefs, values – to be shared among participants. Focusing on the body and the experiential nature of ritual, the book brings together insights from three distinct areas of study: cognitive/neuroanthropology, performance studies and the anthropology of the senses. Eight chapters by scholars from each of these sub-disciplines investigate different aspects of embodied religious practice, ranging from philosophical discussions of belief to explorations of the biological processes taking place in the brain itself. Case studies range from miracles and visionary activity in Catholic Malta to meditative practices in theatrical performance and include three pilgrimage sites: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the festival of Ramlila in Ramnagar, India and the mountain shrine of the Lord of the Shiny Snow in Andean Peru.Understanding ritual allows us to understand processes at the very centre of human social life and humanity itself, making this an invaluable text for students and scholars in anthropology, cognitive science, performance studies and religious studies.

Ritual, Performance and the Senses

David Howes

"Ritual, Performance and the Senses is a unique and timely collection at the heart of which is an experiment in anthropological theory. It explores the possibility of developing a new anthropology of ritual by combining theoretical insights from three distinct domains of anthropological inquiry: cognitive/neuroanthropology, performance studies and the anthropology of the senses. These three areas of study are often considered, and indeed operate institutionally, as distinct academic sub-fields, and yet they share substantive objects of study, with their focus on experience, the body and the relationships between percept, concept and action. Bringing together scholars from each of these disciplines to consider the potential for drawing insights from each area to help to theorize ritual, this collection sheds new light on one of anthropology's most enduring research objects: by understanding ritual we understand processes at the very centre of human social life - of humanity itself. This will be invaluable reading for students and scholars of anthropology, cognitive science, performance studies and religious studies"--

Ritual has long been a central concept in anthropological theories of religious transmission. Ritual, Performance and the Senses offers a new understanding of how ritual enables religious representations – ideas, beliefs, values – to be shared among participants. Focusing on the body and the experiential nature of ritual, the book brings together insights from three distinct areas of study: cognitive/neuroanthropology, performance studies and the anthropology of the senses. Eight chapters by scholars from each of these sub-disciplines investigate different aspects of embodied religious practice, ranging from philosophical discussions of belief to explorations of the biological processes taking place in the brain itself. Case studies range from miracles and visionary activity in Catholic Malta to meditative practices in theatrical performance and include three pilgrimage sites: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the festival of Ramlila in Ramnagar, India and the mountain shrine of the Lord of the Shiny Snow in Andean Peru. Understanding ritual allows us to understand processes at the very centre of human social life and humanity itself, making this an invaluable text for students and scholars in anthropology, cognitive science, performance studies and religious studies.

Jon P. Mitchell

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