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 Palmie
• Includes indexed bibliography arranged according to both ethnographic region and religious topics and practices

About the Author
Michael Lambek is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is author of The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar (2002), Knowledge and Practice in Mayotte (1993), and Human Spirits (1981), and co-editor of Tense Past: Cultural Essays in Trauma and Memory (1996) and Illness and Irony: On the Ambiguity of Suffering in Culture (2004) (both with Paul Antze).

Reviews

"Michael Lambek has succeeded in putting together an impressive collection of key texts and essays." (Culture and Religion, July 2009)

"The most comprehensive anthology on its subject, this is a splendid tool for teaching and a matchless scholarly resource." (International Review of Biblical Studies, 2008)

Praise for the first edition:

"[A] reader that ambitiously attempts to represent the full breadth, depth, and complexity of anthropology's investigations into religion.... The masterly general introduction situates this anthology within the long and often difficult anthropological engagement with this most mystified and powerful realm of social action.... [A]n excellent text." (International Social Science Review)

"A major guide to both the history of the anthropology of religion and new trends in research.... Lambek has compiled an excellent anthology." (Journal of Empirical Theology)

Book Information
ISBN 9781405136143
Author Michael Lambek
Format Paperback
Page Count 704
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 1179g
Dimensions(mm) 241mm * 173mm * 38mm