A Matter of Belief

Joshi (social and cultural anthropology, Oxford U.) has been studying the Naga people of northeastern India since 1985. Over the past two or three generations, she says, many have converted from their animist beliefs to Christianity. She examines that process and its significance, especially in matters of sickness and health. Her topics are a mountainous state, classifying spirit and sickness, religion of practice, traditional healers, a brief history of Christian evangelization in the Naga Hills, contemporary Christianity and the healing spirit, and church and healing. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Vibha Joshi was a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Gottingen, Germany, from 2009–11 and is presently a research associate at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford University, where she gained her doctorate in social anthropology. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Nagaland, northeastern India, since 1985.