Syncretism and Fundamentalism: A Comparison

Abstract

In several ways, syncretism and fundamentalism can be viewed as opposite reactions to the processes of modernization and globalization. Within religious contexts, syncretists and fundamentalists make different choices when confronted with alternatives and with challenges to the accepted practices of daily life. The power dimension is an important aspect for this comparison. But the study of these two modern religious phenomena also points to a similarity with a paradigmatic debate, the contrast between positivist and constructivist approaches. Though the comparison is not the most obvious, there are striking similarities between fundamentalists and positivists, on the one hand, and between constructivists and syncretists, on the other.

From Disease to Holiness: Religious-based health remedies of Italian folk medicine (XIX-XX century)

“…The authors believe that the vast corpus of religious remedies, highlighted in the present work, can be found inside current coping strategies that patients and relatives adopt to affront the crisis that has hit their personal identity and integrity, kick-starting inner energy that can contribute to the healing process. According to Droogers [ 79 ] syncretism seems to occur in an unreflective manner, as a “natural” or better cultural process. As a consequence, people who mix varied religious elements may not do so intentionally and would not necessarily defend or propagate their blended religious practices.…”

Diversity, Conflict and Growth: Theory and Evidence

“…Because of these cultural adaptations and modifications, Syncretism is contested as a legitimate category among scholars of religion [44]. The elusiveness of this concept pertains to the problem that people who mix elements of various religions may not do so deliberately and rarely call themselves -Syncretists‖ [45,46]. In other words, it remains unclear why we should count such cults as a separate religion.…”

Syncretism and Pilgrimage in India

“…Essentially there are aspects of hybridity, constructivism (Droogers, 2005) and 'shrine formation', a real and virtual realm of worship and pilgrimage. On pilgrimage, earlier anthropological work by Wolf (1958), Turner (1973) and Turner and Turner (1978) have emphasised the concept of communitas as an individual pilgrim's temporary transition away from mundane structures and social interdependence into a looser commonality of feeling with fellow visitors, drawing on metaphors of liminality within rites of passage.…”

“…keywords : communitas, devotionalism, India, Hinduisation, living religion, performance, pilgrimage, Saibaba, Shirdi, Sufi leanings, syncretism Introduction: Communitas, Pilgrimage and the Saibaba Phenomenon Syncretism as a theoretical category implies cultural reciprocation, a mode of cultural synthesis (Das, 2003) and emergence of cultures at the cutting edge of translation, negotiation and the in-between space (Boyarin & Burrus, 2005). Essentially there are aspects of hybridity, constructivism (Droogers, 2005) and 'shrine formation', a real and virtual realm of worship and pilgrimage. On pilgrimage, earlier anthropological work by Wolf (1958), Turner (1973) and Turner and Turner (1978) have emphasised the concept of communitas as an individual pilgrim's temporary transition away from mundane structures and social interdependence into a looser commonality of feeling with fellow visitors, drawing on metaphors of liminality within rites of passage.…”