Papers by Michael Stausberg
1 INTRODUCTION Research methods in the study of religion\s
Defining Magic: A Reader
General Introduction Part I: Historical Sources Introduction 1. Alcibades I and Laws, Plato 2. Hi... more General Introduction Part I: Historical Sources Introduction 1. Alcibades I and Laws, Plato 2. Historia Naturalis, Pliny the Elder 3. Enneads, Plotinus 4. City of God and On Christian Doctrine, Augustine of Hippo 5. Etymologiae, Isidore of Seville 6. Suda, Anonymous 7. Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas 8. Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Agrippa of Nettesheim 9. Encyclopedie, Denis Diderot 10. Theosophical Glossary, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Part II: Foundational Works of the Academic Debate Introduction 11. Primitive Culture, Edward B. Tylor 12. The Golden Bough, James George Frazer 13. "A General Theory of Magic", Marcel Mauss and Henri Hubert 14. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Emile Durkheim Part III: Mid-Twentieth-Century Approaches to Magic Introduction 15. Religion in Essence and Manifestation, Gerardus van der Leeuw 16. Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande, Edward E. Evans-Pritchard 17. "Magic, Science and Religion", Bronislaw Malinowski 18. "African Traditional Thought and Western Science", Robin Horton 19. "Form and Meaning of Magical Acts: A Point of View", Stanley J. Tambiah 20. Culture and Communication, Edmund R. Leach Part IV: Contemporary Voices Introduction 21. "Magical Consciousness: A Legitimate Form of Knowledge", Susan Greenwood 22. "Magic in Theoretical Practice", Christopher I. Lehrich 23. "Magic Reconsidered: Towards a Scientifically Valid Concept of Magic", Jesper Sorensen 24 "Magic Discourse in the Ancient World", Kimberly B. Stratton 25. "Magic and the Play of Power", Randall Styers
International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 2018
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Religion, 2013
Monographs and, increasingly, articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Religion are the preferr... more Monographs and, increasingly, articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Religion are the preferred genre of writing up research and advancing scholarship in our discipline. Further genres of scholarly publication include edited volumes on a variety of topics (often based on conferences), reference works such as lexica and encyclopedias, and multi-author field guides such as companions or handbooks (see Engler 2008 for review essays). 2 While these rank as high-prestige ventures, this is generally not the case with another important genre of academic writing, the textbook. Textbooks are often regarded as not really worthy of the attention of serious research scholars. Yet we will argue that textbooks are important for the discipline. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a textbook as a 'book used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject; now usually one written specially for this purpose.' The two words 'study' and 'standard' point toward the distinctive goals of textbooks: they are pedagogically oriented and, as such, they aim for a degree of completeness and consistency that implicitly offers a normative standard of what students at a given level should know about the area. In the study of religion\s one finds relatively few advanced textbooks as compared to other disciplines, such as economics, history, psychology, sociology, etc. 3 In our discipline, however, there is no sharp line between textbooks and introductory overviews. The latter provide basic information on a given topic (i.e., what the respective authors consider most relevant). 4
How Religions End: Terms and Types
The Demise of Religion, 2020
There is a paucity of studies on how religions disband, dissolve or die. Most of the research app... more There is a paucity of studies on how religions disband, dissolve or die. Most of the research appears to be directed towards religious sustainability, growth, or cultural continuity (Robbins 2014; Stark 2012; Stark and Bainbridge 1985), or in the case of secularization theory, how religion in general has had a declining influence on institutions of power and authority in modern societies (Berger et al 2011; Bruce 2011; Chaves 1994; Wilson 1982). Regarding the latter, how a particular religion declines or dissolves is analytically independent of secularization or modernization; one doesn’t necessitate the other.
Religions minorities: conceptual perspectives, 2023
This essay proposes definitions of key terms such as 'minoritization', 'majoritization', and 'rel... more This essay proposes definitions of key terms such as 'minoritization', 'majoritization', and 'religious minority', and problematizes standard criteria of identification of religious minorities while also advocating for an understanding of religious minorities as dynamic, processual, relational, contextual, situational, and intersectional. By doing this, it also warns against homogenizing representations of religious minorities and addresses minorities within minorities. It presents several important distinctions among and within religious minorities in terms of size, location, origin, legitimacy, recognition, social position, and self-perceptions. The essay discusses the mechanisms that turn assemblages of people into minorities and di erent criteria and strategies that establish such social formations as 'religious minorities.' This includes processes of recognition and nonrecognition by societies and di erent forms of minorities ('wild' and 'tame' ones). The essay historicizes the emergence of the category and the problem of 'religious minorities' in the context of colonialism, modern conceptions of the nation-state, democracy, and international politics. Last but not least, it reflects on the importance of religious minorities as a theme for research, and as a lens for understanding the dynamics of religion in society.
So far, the expanding research landscape on the terrorist attacks of July 22nd has ignored the cr... more So far, the expanding research landscape on the terrorist attacks of July 22nd has ignored the crucial question that this project squarely addresses, namely how different groups of Norwegians have dealt with the traumatic events in terms of religious/spiritual and/or secular reappraisals and meaning-focused coping. The events shattered beliefs and values of many Norwegians and induced the exigency to make sense of the unfathomable mass killings. Commentators said: Norway will never be the same; it has changed forever. But in what way? From a psychology of religion perspective, our project makes a contribution to answering this question. We explore how Norwegians made sense of July 22nd during the years after the attacks. Major research questions are: How do Norwegians reappraise the meaning of the events? What role do subsequent events (e. g., Breivik’s trial), media discourses, and religious/spiritual or anti-religious/atheist beliefs and values play in these reappraisals? Which re...
Culture and Religion, 2013
This paper distinguishes between the (ontological) creation, (historical) emergence and (legal) '... more This paper distinguishes between the (ontological) creation, (historical) emergence and (legal) 'making' of religion. Many religions claim plausibility by invoking long chains of (invented) traditions, while some post-modern religions positively affirm their invented character. The case of Zoroastrianism in contemporary Russia is discussed as an example of a crosscultural 'appropriation' of religion, rather than a transfer of an extant religion through, for example, migration. This means that inventors, recipients and practitioners mimetically reconstruct 'Zoroastrianism', by adapting it to the (new) legal framework that regulates religion in Russia. Once Zoroastrianism had affirmed its presence in Russia, Zoroastrians from other parts of the world established contacts. In the course of events, Russian Zoroastrianism diversified into different tendencies (esoteric, charismatic and nativistic vs modernistic, Internet-based and international). In addition to functioning as a separate religion, Zoroastrianism in Russia has become part of Neopagan and New Age complexes and is appropriated inter-discursively in the academy, the mass media and in different genres of fiction.
Introductory essay. Crisis and creativity: opportunities and threats in the global study of religion\ s
Religion, 2011
This article introduces the themes and articles of a special symposium on new directions in the o... more This article introduces the themes and articles of a special symposium on new directions in the organizational structures and pedagogical emphases of religious studies programs around the world. The thematic focus of this symposium is the range of ways that specific ...
Introductory essay. Crisis and creativity: opportunities and threats in the global study of religion\ s
Religion, 2011
This article introduces the themes and articles of a special symposium on new directions in the o... more This article introduces the themes and articles of a special symposium on new directions in the organizational structures and pedagogical emphases of religious studies programs around the world. The thematic focus of this symposium is the range of ways that specific ...
Opening keynote by Michael Stausberg [email protected] EASR conference, Tartu, June 25, 2019
This introductory essay explores some of the commonalities and differences that emerge from this ... more This introductory essay explores some of the commonalities and differences that emerge from this thematic issue on religion and tourism in China and India. Economic growth has led to an explosion in domestic tourism activity in both countries, and the respective states are deeply involved in this development. The Indian state sees tourism as a means to create jobs, revenue and regional development. While this is also true for the Chinese state, the latter further treats tourism as a means to control and manage religion. In both countries, official tourism development can lead to complete makeovers of particular sites as beautification projects and tight regulation drives out informal economies and change the religious dynamics on the ground. The local management, be it formal or informal, affects not only where the money flows, but also how temples are visited and gods worshiped.
Buddhism related tourism plays a peculiar role in India, where the government employs it as a vehicle for articulating pan-Asian and even global aspirations. Asian Buddhists visit Indian Buddhist destinations in growing numbers. At the same time, Buddhist sites attract a steady stream of Western tourists who are most comfortable labelling themselves as spiritual travellers. For these travellers, the notion of ‘tourism’ threatens sources of authentic spirituality.
In China, tourism is contributing to a revival of religion, sometimes providing means for temple institutions to legitimate their religious activities. Self-professed secular domestic tourists in China routinely engage in short acts of veneration at Buddhist places of pilgrimage. In this respect, Han Chinese tourists appear not so different from their Hindu counterpart in India. Increasingly, Hindu visitors at sites of pilgrimage opt for short acts of worship, rather than long rituals. Travel guidebooks, however, paint different pictures: Chinese tourists are given practical advice and encouragement on the performance of rituals, and their representation of religion recalls orientalist tropes of Western guidebooks. Indian guidebooks, on their part, retain elements of traditional Hindu pilgrimage literature assuming that the reader has the required know-how of religious practices. The tourist imaginaries of the Global North, as expressed in English language guidebooks, still rest on Orientalist underpinnings when it comes to both India and China.
Key Words: India and China, Asia, religion and tourism, heritage, guidebooks
Culture and Religion, 2013
This paper distinguishes between the (ontological) creation, (historical) emergence and (legal) '... more This paper distinguishes between the (ontological) creation, (historical) emergence and (legal) 'making' of religion. Many religions claim plausibility by invoking long chains of (invented) traditions, while some post-modern religions positively affirm their invented character. The case of Zoroastrianism in contemporary Russia is discussed as an example of a crosscultural 'appropriation' of religion, rather than a transfer of an extant religion through, for example, migration. This means that inventors, recipients and practitioners mimetically reconstruct 'Zoroastrianism', by adapting it to the (new) legal framework that regulates religion in Russia. Once Zoroastrianism had affirmed its presence in Russia, Zoroastrians from other parts of the world established contacts. In the course of events, Russian Zoroastrianism diversified into different tendencies (esoteric, charismatic and nativistic vs modernistic, Internet-based and international). In addition to functioning as a separate religion, Zoroastrianism in Russia has become part of Neopagan and New Age complexes and is appropriated inter-discursively in the academy, the mass media and in different genres of fiction.
Rituals
Stausberg/The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, 2015
The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Tourism, 2014
International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2014
Book review
The Invention of Sacred Tradition, 2007
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Papers by Michael Stausberg
Buddhism related tourism plays a peculiar role in India, where the government employs it as a vehicle for articulating pan-Asian and even global aspirations. Asian Buddhists visit Indian Buddhist destinations in growing numbers. At the same time, Buddhist sites attract a steady stream of Western tourists who are most comfortable labelling themselves as spiritual travellers. For these travellers, the notion of ‘tourism’ threatens sources of authentic spirituality.
In China, tourism is contributing to a revival of religion, sometimes providing means for temple institutions to legitimate their religious activities. Self-professed secular domestic tourists in China routinely engage in short acts of veneration at Buddhist places of pilgrimage. In this respect, Han Chinese tourists appear not so different from their Hindu counterpart in India. Increasingly, Hindu visitors at sites of pilgrimage opt for short acts of worship, rather than long rituals. Travel guidebooks, however, paint different pictures: Chinese tourists are given practical advice and encouragement on the performance of rituals, and their representation of religion recalls orientalist tropes of Western guidebooks. Indian guidebooks, on their part, retain elements of traditional Hindu pilgrimage literature assuming that the reader has the required know-how of religious practices. The tourist imaginaries of the Global North, as expressed in English language guidebooks, still rest on Orientalist underpinnings when it comes to both India and China.
Key Words: India and China, Asia, religion and tourism, heritage, guidebooks