Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
12. Why study Indigenous religious traditions?
Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes - Molly Bassett
Graham Harvey [+]
Open University
Graham Harvey is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at the Open University, UK. His research is concerned with the performance and rhetoric of identities among Jews, Pagans and indigenous peoples. He is particularly interested in the 'new animism', embracing relational and material approaches to interactions between humans and the larger than human world. His recent publications include The Handbook of Contemporary Animism(2013) and Food, Sex and Strangers: Understanding Religion as Everyday Life (2013).
Description
Beyond the simple answer, 'because they exist' (i.e. we should study the whole of life), the study of Indigenous religions challenges and/or enriches understandings of religion. Indigenous knowledges can improve literacy about all religions.