Bücher veröffentlicht von Equinox Publishing Ltd

This transdisciplinary and theoretically innovative edited volume contains seven original, research-led chapters that explore complex intersections of ritual and democracy in a wide range of contemporary, cultural and geographic contexts.

This book will guide students and general readers through many aspects of Shinto both today and in its history.

"This book surveys Sangharakshita's most important and original ideas with an eye that combines appreciation and critical awareness in equal measure. It celebrates Sangharakshita's pioneering syntheses of Buddhist and Western ideas, but warns against the inconsistencies and dogmas that are also found in Sangharakshita's work - dogmas whose negativ

An international team of scholars addresses this theme of books as sacred beings in this volume through an impressively diverse range of primary material and perspectives.

An international team of scholars addresses this theme of books as sacred beings in this volume through an impressively diverse range of primary material and perspectives.

This volume features contributions from long-standing colleagues, scholars whose own work has built on Ernst's contributions, and former students. It looks at themes in Islamic studies which Ernst has addressed and expands on his major contributions.

This book focuses on the Canaanite-Phoenician economic systems that predominated in and determined Mediterranean history.

Sight is both celebrated and denigrated in religion. In some contexts it is extolled as a source of knowledge and revelation. In others it is demonized as the road to illusion and idolatry. There is no single way that sight functions in religion, nor indeed a single way to study it. This edited volume brings together scholars from a wide range of disciplines—religious studies, anthropology, art history, film, and philosophy— to shed light on how the sense of sight shapes, and is shaped by, religion. Case studies range across both place and time, from narratives about Medusa in ancient Greek religion to spiritual explanations of sleepwalking in the Enlightenment to rituals of spirit possession in contemporary Brazil.In order to shed light on interconnected issues, the essays are grouped into three sections, moving thematically from darkness into light: 1) Obscurity 2) Altered States 3) Illumination. The contributors seek to avoid some of the historical pitfalls of Western discourses that hierarchize the senses, and in particular privilege and separate sight from the other senses, imagining it as an unimpeachable source of empirical knowledge. They present the ways in which sight transgresses such constructions, whether by being creatively misleading or taking on tactile qualities. Viewed in the context of lived religious experience, sight surfaces in multiple, unbounded ways. In a theoretically rich and self-reflective introduction, the volume editors set the stage by asking questions at the core of our discipline: What do we see, and—just as importantly—how do we see, when we study religion?

Sight is both celebrated and denigrated in religion. In some contexts it is extolled as a source of knowledge and revelation. In others it is demonized as the road to illusion and idolatry. There is no single way that sight functions in religion, nor indeed a single way to study it. This edited volume brings together scholars from a wide range of disciplines—religious studies, anthropology, art history, film, and philosophy— to shed light on how the sense of sight shapes, and is shaped by, religion. Case studies range across both place and time, from narratives about Medusa in ancient Greek religion to spiritual explanations of sleepwalking in the Enlightenment to rituals of spirit possession in contemporary Brazil.In order to shed light on interconnected issues, the essays are grouped into three sections, moving thematically from darkness into light: 1) Obscurity 2) Altered States 3) Illumination. The contributors seek to avoid some of the historical pitfalls of Western discourses that hierarchize the senses, and in particular privilege and separate sight from the other senses, imagining it as an unimpeachable source of empirical knowledge. They present the ways in which sight transgresses such constructions, whether by being creatively misleading or taking on tactile qualities. Viewed in the context of lived religious experience, sight surfaces in multiple, unbounded ways. In a theoretically rich and self-reflective introduction, the volume editors set the stage by asking questions at the core of our discipline: What do we see, and—just as importantly—how do we see, when we study religion?

This volume argues that public inquiry into religion is guided by unspoken value judgments, which are themselves the products of rarely-discussed political interests.

This volume argues that public inquiry into religion is guided by unspoken value judgments, which are themselves the products of rarely-discussed political interests.

Rock art is a global phenomenon with enormous variation in its shapes and figures, and research interests that are wide and inclusive. This volume explores the differences observed in rock art through time and space, synchronically and diachronically. These differences can, for example, be in form, content or space (macro and micro), where explanations might relate to a variety of factors such as political or societal beliefs and rituals. This volume also discusses the many-sided and complex issues connected with authenticity and presentation, and the efforts and choices that are taken to preserve and present rock art.The wide-ranging papers presented here have been written by scholars from across the globe, from a variety of perspectives on differences in rock art. This volume will be of interest to students and archaeologists, and to researchers from related disciplines.

The book addresses the complexity of conversion, using a range of cases, texts and theories, and initiates a dialogue between ancient sources and present concepts or practices. Close readings of ancient texts play a central role in the project. Y

The book addresses the complexity of conversion, using a range of cases, texts and theories, and initiates a dialogue between ancient sources and present concepts or practices. Close readings of ancient texts play a central role in the project.

Introduces a broader group of scholars, students, and clergy to the relevance of social scientific and cognitive studies for interpretation of the Bible, by applying these approaches to what is possibly the most read and discussed text in the Bible.

Introduces a broader group of scholars, students, and clergy to the relevance of social scientific and cognitive studies for interpretation of the Bible, by applying these approaches to what is possibly the most read and discussed text in the Bible.

Elvis Presley remains the single most important figure in twentieth century popular music. To many commentators, however, he has simply embodied the benefits and problems of uncritically embracing capitalism. By 2005 the ‘Memphis Flash’ sold over a billion records worldwide, yet his cultural significance cannot be measured by these extraordinary sales figures alone. He cannot quite be reduced to a placeholder for the contradictions of commerce. As the most prominent performer of the rock’n’roll era, then as a charismatic global superstar, Elvis fundamentally challenged the established relationship between White and Black culture, drew attention to the social needs of women and young people, and promoted the value of Southern creativity. He functioned as a bridge figure between folk roots and high modernity, and in the process became a controversial symbol of American unity.Elvis interprets the image and music of Elvis Presley to reveal how they have evolved to construct a particularly appealing and powerful myth. Following broad contours of Presley’s rollercoaster career, the book uses a range of analytical frames to challenge established perspectives on an icon. Its shows that the controversy around Elvis has effectively tested how far a concern for social equality could be articulated through the marketplace, and ultimately challenged how popular music itself should be assessed.

This book seeks to elucidate the concept of justice, not so much as it is expressed in law courts (retributive and procedural justice) or in state budgets (distributive justice), but as primary justice - what it means and how it can be grounded in the inalienable rights that each human being possesses qua human being.

Many Buddhas, One Buddha introduces a significant section of the important early Indian Buddhist text known as the Avadanasataka, or "One Hundred Stories", and explores some of its perspectives on buddhahood.

This book focuses on the sociopolitical development and the organisa-tional differences between societies in northwestern Scandinavia in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (2350-1100 BCE).

This book introduces and summarises the Building Block Approach to Religious Studies that has been developed and proposed by professor Ann Taves (University of California, Santa Barbara) and associate professor Egil Asprem (Stockholm University).

This book introduces and summarises the Building Block Approach to Religious Studies that has been developed and proposed by professor Ann Taves (University of California, Santa Barbara) and associate professor Egil Asprem (Stockholm University).