Contemporary Religiosities: Emergent Socialities and the Post-Nation-State

Anthropologists cast light on possible links between emerging religious devotion and political and social changes associated with the decline of states around the world. Among their perspectives are faith on the neo-liberal frontier, in search of unity through the Holy Spirit in Vanuatu, sacred money and Islamic freedom in a global Sufi order, Sri Lankan civil society and its fanatics, an ancient case of interrogation and torture, the terrorist as humanitarian, and the rise of legal theology. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Annelin Eriksen is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen. She has worked since 1995 in Vanuatu, first on Ambrym island and later in the capital Port Vila. Her work deals with social and cultural change, Christianity, and gender relations. Her most recent book is Gender, Christianity and Change (2008).