Popular Religion

2020 ◽  
pp. 228-250
Author(s):  
Neil Macmaster
Keyword(s):  
Annual Cycle ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Peasant Communities ◽  
Peasant Movements ◽  
Conservative Nature

As communist and nationalist militants made direct contact with rural society they faced the difficulty of potential confrontation with the conservative nature of peasant ‘marabout’ culture, including rituals surrounding holy shrines, magic, and pilgrimages. The Native Affairs department made instrumental use of such traditional practices as a way of reinforcing popular support for the caids, the charismatic and patrimonial authority of chiefs like the bachaga Boualam in the Ouarsenis. However, such manipulation by the colonial state was contested in a number of ways. The annual cycle of pilgrimages, often involving thousands of peasants, was also used as an occasion by communist and nationalist leaders to address the crowds, as seen during a communist intervention during the pilgrimage to Miliana in May 1950 and 1951. Some pilgrimages, like that to the shrine of Sidi Maamar, were harnessed by anti-colonial peasant movements led by the djemâas. The reformist Ulema movement of Ben Badis, usually interpreted by historians as an urban-based movement, penetrated into the peasant communities of the Chelif region and students trained in the medersas and the great Islamic centres of Constantine, Tunisia, and Morocco returned to inject nationalism through Koranic schools that became a later support base of the FLN.

Anthropologists and Viceroys: Colonial knowledge and policy making in India, 1871–1911

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. FULLER
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
Land Policy ◽  
British India ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
British Rule ◽  
Agrarian Policy ◽  
Indian Nationalism ◽  
Late Nineteenth

AbstractThe anthropology of caste was a pivotal part of colonial knowledge in British India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Denzil Ibbetson and Herbert Risley, then the two leading official anthropologists, both made major contributions to the study of caste, which this article discusses. Ibbetson and Risley assumed high office in the imperial government in 1902 and played important roles in policy making during the partition of Bengal (1903–5) and the Morley-Minto legislative councils reforms (1906–9); Ibbetson was also influential in deciding Punjab land policy in the 1890s. Contemporary policy documents, which this article examines, show that the two men's anthropological knowledge had limited influence on their deliberations. Moreover, caste was irrelevant to their thinking about agrarian policy, the promotion of Muslim interests, and the urban, educated middle class, whose growing nationalism was challenging British rule. No ethnographic information was collected about this class, because the scope of anthropology was restricted to ‘traditional’ rural society. At the turn of the twentieth century, colonial anthropological knowledge, especially about caste, had little value for the imperial government confronting Indian nationalism, and was less critical in constituting the Indian colonial state than it previously had been.

scholarly journals THE EGYPTIAN LABOR CORPS: WORKERS, PEASANTS, AND THE STATE IN WORLD WAR I

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle J. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
Resource Mobilization ◽  
World War ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dialectical Relationship ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn this article, I detail the British imperial system of human resource mobilization that recruited workers and peasants from Egypt to serve in the Egyptian Labor Corps in World War I (1914–18). By reconstructing multiple iterations of this network and analyzing the ways that workers and peasants acted within its constraints, this article provides a case study in the relationship between the Anglo-Egyptian colonial state and rural society in Egypt. Rather than seeing these as two separate, autonomous, and mutually antagonistic entities, this history of Egyptian Labor Corps recruitment demonstrates their mutual interdependence, emphasizing the dialectical relationship between state power and political subjectivity.

The Merging of Spiritualities: Jane Eyre as Missionary of Love

1995 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 456-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jeffrey Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
Jane Eyre ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Human Relationship ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Christian Discourse

This essay analyzes the discourses of spirituality represented in Jane Eyre within the context of the Evangelical upheaval in the Britain of Charlotte Brontë's childhood and the mixing of supernatural with Christian elements in the "popular religion" of early-nineteenth-century British rural society. In addition to a dominant Christian spiritualism and a supernatural spiritualism, however, a third discrete discourse is identified in the text-the discourse of spiritual love. The novel stages a contest between these three competing discourses. Christianity is itself conflictually represented, being torn between the repressive, masculine Evangelicalism of Mr. Brocklehurst and the healing communion (among women) represented by Helen Burns and the figure of "sympathy." The supernatural is equally conflicted: it is shown to empower Jane and to be a necessary vehicle for bringing Christian discourse in contact with the discourse of spiritual love, but then it is denied and left, like the madwoman in the attic, as the excluded term. Finally, spiritual love is offered by the text as that which solves these contradictions, revising and merging Christianity and the supernatural to produce a rejuvenated spirituality, one that fosters what is conceived of as the "whole" person, her need for mutual human relationship, her spiritual needs, and her desire.

scholarly journals Risk practices for bovine tuberculosis transmission to cattle and livestock farming communities living at wildlife-livestock-human interface in northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petronillah Rudo Sichewo ◽  
Catiane Vander Kelen ◽  
Séverine Thys ◽  
Anita Luise Michel
Keyword(s):  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
One Health ◽  
Infected Animal ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Contaminated Food ◽  
Risk Practices

AbstractBovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a disease of cattle that is transmitted through direct contact with an infected animal or ingestion of contaminated food or water. This study seeks to explore the local knowledge on the disease and establish the risk practices that lead to its transmission to cattle and humans (zoonotic TB) in a traditional livestock farming community with a history of bTB diagnosis in cattle and wildlife. Information was collected using a qualitative approach of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) targeting household members of livestock farmers that owned either bTB infected or uninfected herds. We conducted fourteen FGDs (150 individuals) across four dip tanks that included the following categories of participants from cattle owning households: heads of households, cattle keepers, dip tank committee members and women. The qualitative data was managed using NVivo Version 12 Pro®software. Social and cultural practices were identified as major risky practices for bTB transmission to people, such as the consumption of undercooked meat, consumption of soured /raw milk and lack of protective measures during slaughtering of cattle. The acceptance of animals into a herd without bTB pre-movement testing following traditional practices (e.g. lobola, ‘bride price’, the temporary introduction of a bull for ‘breeding’), the sharing of grazing and watering points amongst the herds and with wildlife were identified as risky practices for bTB transmission to cattle. Overall, knowledge of bTB in cattle and modes of transmission to people and livestock was found to be high. However, the community was still involved in risky practices that expose people and cattle to bovine TB. An inter-disciplinary ‘One Health’ approach that engages the community is recommended, to provide locally relevant interventions that allows the community to keep their traditional practices and socio-economic systems whilst avoiding disease transmission to cattle and people.Author summaryBovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a respiratory disease of cattle that is transmitted to other animals as well as humans (zoonotic TB) through direct contact with infected animals, and consumption of contaminated food (animal products) or water. The study explains the complexities of human-animal relations, reflects on how people understand and conceptualize risk of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in an endemic area considering the economic value of livestock keeping as well as social and cultural practices of importance to the community. The results of this study identified socio-cultural practices that involved consumption of raw or undercooked animal products and handling of infected animal products during animal slaughter as major risky practices for bTB transmission to people. Introduction of animals into a herd without bTB testing for socio-cultural purposes and sharing of resources amongst the communal herd and with wildlife were identified as risky practices for bTB transmission to cattle. The findings of this study illustrate the need for a One Health strategy that develops appropriate public health policy and related education campaigns for the community as control of zoonotic TB in people depends on the successful control of bovine TB in cattle.

Colonial Anthropology and the Decline of the Raj: Caste, Religion and Political Change in India in the Early Twentieth Century

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. FULLER
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Caste System ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Scheduled Castes ◽  
Ethnographic Data

AbstractIn the colonial anthropology of India developed in connection with the decennial censuses in the late nineteenth century, caste and religion were major topics of enquiry, although caste was particularly important. Official anthropologists, mostly members of the Indian Civil Service, reified castes and religious communities as separate ‘things’ to be counted and classified. In the 1911 and later censuses, less attention was paid to caste, but three officials – E. A. Gait, E. A. H. Blunt and L. S. S. O'Malley – made significant progress in understanding the caste system by recognising and partly overcoming the problems of reification. In this period, however, there was less progress in understanding popular religion. The Morley-Minto reforms established separate Muslim electorates in 1909; communal representation was extended in 1921 by the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms and again by the 1935 Government of India Act, which also introduced reservations for the Untouchable Scheduled Castes. Gait and Blunt were involved in the Montagu-Chelmsford debates, and Blunt in those preceding the 1935 Act. In the twentieth century, the imperial government's most serious problems were the nationalist movement, mainly supported by the middle class, and religious communalism. But there were no ethnographic data on the middle class, while the data on popular religion showed that Hindus and Muslims generally did not belong to separate communities; anthropological enquiry also failed to identify the Untouchable castes satisfactorily. Thus, official anthropology became increasingly irrelevant to policy making and could no longer strengthen the colonial state.

scholarly journals Rural Society

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beat Kümin
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
Holy Roman Empire ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Religious Reform ◽  
Swiss Confederation

This essay surveys the long-term negotiation of religious reform in European villages. Following an account of institutional developments and popular religion in late medieval parishes, it traces the—selective—reception of the Lutheran, Zwinglian, and Calvinist messages, especially in the Holy Roman Empire, Scandinavia, the British Isles, Eastern Europe, and the Swiss Confederation, including the latter’s bi-confessional areas. Alongside personal piety, princely interests, and clerical leadership, the argument stresses the importance of political, socioeconomic, and cultural factors in determining whether peasants experienced substantial religious change. In the rare cases where rural communities could take their own decisions, some opted for Catholicism (Swiss Forest Cantons) and others for Protestantism (German imperial villages). The most thoroughly “reformed” regime emerged in early modern Scotland.

Canaries in the Mines of Citizenship: Indian Women in Canada

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Green
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Indian Women ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Aboriginal Women ◽  
Indian Act ◽  
Canadian Citizenship

This article explores the concept of citizenship in relation to certain Aboriginal women, whose membership in First Nations is subject to Canadian federal legislation and First Nations constitutions and membership codes. In the struggle for decolonization, Aboriginal peoples use the language of rights - rights to self-determination, and claims of fundamental human rights. The state has injected its limited policy of ''self-government'' into this conversation, characterized by the federal government's preference for delegating administrative powers to Indian Act bands. Since the 1985 Indian Act revisions, bands have been able to control their membership. Where prior to 1985 the federal government implemented sexist, racist legislation determining band membership, now some bands have racist, sexist membership codes. In both cases, the full citizenship capacity of affected Aboriginal women, in either the colonial state or in First Nations, is impaired. The bands in question resist criticism by invoking rights claims and traditional practices; the federal government washes its hands in deference to self-government. The rights claims of affected women are scarcely acknowledged, much less addressed. Meanwhile, their citizenship in both dominant and Aboriginal communities is negotiated with the realities of colonialism, racism and sexism. Their experience demonstrates the limitations of citizenship theory and of Canadian citizenship guarantees.

Peasant Movements in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Mançano Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Peasant Communities ◽  
Peasant Movements ◽  
The World ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
High Level

The peasantry has always acted in the production of food as a condition of maintaining its existence. Threatened continuously by large landowners, governments, national and multinational corporations, peasants organize themselves in movements or other institutions to resist the expropriation processes. The peasant movements of Latin America are the most active in the world. One of the reasons for their high level of organization is their history. Formed in territories dominated by colonizers, enslaved and subordinates, they fought for independence and freedom. Since the 1960s, agribusiness has become territorialized on the ruins of peasant communities; again, the perseverance of the peasantry promotes persistent resistance in the continuous struggle for land and agrarian reform. Knowing the realities of the peasant movements in Latin America makes it possible to understand the reason for their existence—not for the development of capitalist agriculture but by the continuous process the formation of family agriculture that distinguishes more and more conventional agriculture. Since the 1970s, the peasantry has built an agroecological path against agribusiness that increasingly develops commodities with pesticides for the production of ultraprocessed foods. These realities are permanently in people’s daily lives and make them pay attention to the types of food that are on their tables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Few people understand the importance of the peasantry in their daily lives.

scholarly journals The Sesame Seed Cash Injection

2021 ◽  
pp. 177-193
Author(s):  
Dan Brockington
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Longitudinal Studies ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
Sesame Seed ◽  
Peasant Communities ◽  
Over Time

Tracking change in rural communities over time is difficult. It is also important. If one is to understand what forms of peasant poverty persist, or how and in what ways peasant communities can become richer, then one requires longitudinal studies. These are however few. It is difficult to access the data required for them. The chapter presents one case using assets to track growing prosperity that was built on a boom of sesame production in Rukwa Region in Tanzania. It traces the growth of prosperity that the boom caused and the limits of its spread in rural society.

'Healing of Bodies, Salvation of Souls': Missionary Medicine in Colonial Tanganyika, 1870s-1939

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jennings
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Rural Society ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
State Hospitals ◽  
Mission Hospital ◽  
Early Colonial ◽  
Missionary Medicine

AbstractThis paper re-examines missionary medicine in Tanganyika, considering its relationship with the colonial state, the impulses that led it to evolve in the way that it did, and the nature of the medical services it offered. The paper suggests that, contrary to traditional depictions, missionary medicine was not entirely curative in focus, small in scale, nor inappropriate to the health needs of the communities in which it was based. Rather, missionary medicine should be considered as a vital aspect of early colonial health services, serving those excluded by the colonial state. Missionary medicine before 1945 was fragmented, small-scale, lacking in resources and overstretched. Its services could not necessarily compete in quality with the best of the state hospitals. But it succeeded, within the local context, in providing a network of health services that stretched into the rural society, and ensured that, where there was a mission hospital, there was an option for the local people to make western biomedicine a choice for healing.

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