9,562 research outputs found
Book review: think like an anthropologist by Matthew Engelke
No full textIn Think Like an Anthropologist, Matthew Engelke offers a concise history of anthropology, drawing on a variety of ethnographic works and theoretical tools to dissect nine key concepts and their changing meanings for anthropologists. While the book’s perspective is limited by its focus on European and North American schools of thought, this is an engaging primer particularly suited for those newly encountering anthropology as a discipline, writes Dick Powis
Renowned Zimbabwe Writer Chenjerai Hove Remembered
No full textLSE’s Matthew Engelke paints a personal and professional portrait of one of Zimbabwe’s foremost storytellers, Chenjerai Hove
Clarity and charisma: on the uses of ambiguity in ritual life
No full textIn this chapter, I argue that a focus on charisma can help us understand the extent to which clarity in religious ritual generates a meaningful attitude. The focus is upon two examples from the Johane Masowe church, an apostolic Christian Church with congregations found throughout most of Zimbabwe
Matthew Henry: The Bible, Prayer, and Piety – A Tercentenary Celebration
No full textThe summer of 2014 marked the tercentenary of the death of Matthew Henry (1662–1714), a leading figure among early eighteenth-century Dissenters and author of the six-volume Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (1707–1714/25). This monumental work, which by 1855 had already been published in twenty-five different editions, attempted a peculiarly practical approach to the biblical text and continues to be widely used and readily accessible even today in both print and online versions. The theme of foreign (or ‘strange’) wives and Israelite intermarriage is one which occurs throughout the Hebrew Bible and, accordingly, throughout Matthew Henry’s commentary upon it. Where it appears, the practice of intermarriage is characterized by Henry as (at best) unwise and (at worst) a very real threat to both social and religious cohesion. This essay explores how Henry deals with the issue of ‘strange wives’, why he believes they continue to pose a threat, and (in view of the overall intention of his commentary) what ‘practical observations’ he offers to his reader as a result. In doing so it is argued that Henry’s commentary traces a thematic thread from the ante-diluvian age to the post-exilic period of calamities resulting from mixed marriages between ‘professors of religion’ and their ‘strange wives’
A problem of presence : beyond scripture in an African Christian church
No full textThe Friday Masowe apostolics of Zimbabwe refer to themselves as “the Christians who don’t read the Bible.” They claim they do not need the Bible because they receive the Word of God “live and direct” from the Holy Spirit. In this insightful and sensitive historical ethnography, Matthew Engelke documents how this rejection of scripture speaks to longstanding concerns within Christianity over mediation and authority. The Bible, of course, has been a key medium through which Christians have recognized God’s presence. But the apostolics perceive scripture as an unnecessary, even dangerous, mediator. For them, the materiality of the Bible marks a distance from the divine and prohibits the realization of a live and direct faith. Situating the Masowe case within a broad comparative framework, Engelke shows how their rejection of textual authority poses a problem of presence—which is to say, how the religious subject defines, and claims to construct, a relationship with the spiritual world through the semiotic potentials of language, actions, and objects. Written in a lively and accessible style, A Problem of Presence makes important contributions to the anthropology of Christianity, the history of religions in Africa, semiotics, and material culture studies
God's agents: Biblical publicity in contemporary England
No full textThe British and Foreign Bible Society is one of the most illustrious Christian charities in the United Kingdom. Founded by evangelicals in the early nineteenth century and inspired by developments in printing technology, its goal has always been to make Bibles universally available. Over the past several decades, though, Bible Society has faced a radically different world, especially in its work in England. Where the Society once had a grateful and engaged reading public, it now faces apathy—even antipathy—for its cause. These days, it seems, no one in England wants a Bible, and no one wants other people telling them they should: religion is supposed to be a private matter. Undeterred, the Society staff attempt to spark a renewed interest in the Word of God. They’ve turned away from publishing and toward publicity to “make the Bible heard.” God’s Agents is a study of how religion goes public in today’s world. Based on over three years of anthropological research, Matthew Engelke traces how a small group of socially committed Christians tackle the challenge of publicity within (what they understand to be) a largely secular culture. In the process of telling their story, Engelke offers an insightful new way to think about the relationships between secular and religious formations: our current understanding of religion needs to be complemented by greater attention to the process of generating publicity. Engelke argues that we are witnessing the dynamics of religious publicity, which allows us to see the ways in which conceptual divides such as public/private, religious/secular, faith/knowledge, are challenged and redefined by social actors
Citation expectations: are they realized? Study of the Matthew index for Russian papers published abroad
No full textWe consider the "Matthew effect" in the citation process which leads to reallocation (or misallocation) of the citations received by scientific papers within the same journals. The case when such reallocation correlates with a country where an author works is investigated. Russian papers in chemistry and physics published abroad were examined. We found that in both disciplines in about 60% of journals Russian papers are cited less than average ones. However, if we consider each discipline as a whole, citedness of a Russian paper in physics will be on the average level, while chemistry publications receive about 16% citations less than one may expect from the citedness of the journals where they appear. Moreover, Russian chemistry papers mostly become undercited in the leading journals of the field. Characteristics of a "Matthew index" indicator and its significance for scientometric studies are also discussed
An Interview with Matthew Kaiser on Competition and Play
No full textAn Interview with Matthew Kaiser on Competition and Play, by Sean Scanlan. Matthew Kaiser, the author of The World in Play: Portraits of a Victorian Concept (Stanford UP, 2012) says that “[c]ompetition is the disease from which modern life suffers,” and that “[c]ompetition is the only cure” for this suffering. This contradictory pairing seems to get at the heart of his thesis: play, as a totalizing, umbrella-like concept, emanates from a host of philosophical, political, and scientific work produced by Victorians who posed many of their ideas of play in sports metaphors, competitive logics, and narratives of struggle. Kaiser goes beyond the dichotomy of competition and play/competition or play, by stating “I’m interested in the totalizing potential of both concepts, the way that play, or competition for that matter, swallows the world whole, becomes in the minds of so many people, the organizing principle of reality, whether of culture or nature or consciousness, or of all three.
Cardozo AELJ Author Interview Series: Matthew Goldman, Class of 2022
No full textThe Cardozo AELJ Author Interview Series seeks to give our readers further insight into the Articles and Notes published in the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal. In this interview, Matthew Goldman discusses his Note, Fragmented Music Copyright Protection: A Better Arrangement, which was published in Volume 40, Issue 3.
This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on November 7, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above
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Cardozo AELJ Author Interview Series: Matthew Goldman, Class of 2022
No full textThe Cardozo AELJ Author Interview Series seeks to give our readers further insight into the Articles and Notes published in the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal. In this interview, Matthew Goldman discusses his Note, Fragmented Music Copyright Protection: A Better Arrangement, which was published in Volume 40, Issue 3.
This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on November 7, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above
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