Toward a post‐secular anthropology

Abstract

The discipline of anthropology is dominated by a secular analytical approach which requires the bounding of religion and its exclusion from anthropological ways‐of‐knowing. This is premised on a historical understanding of the discipline as scientific, rational, objective and modern. While these norms are now routinely critiqued, theology remains peculiarly marginalised. This article probes the contours of an anthropology beyond the secular which involves both critical reflection on the secularity of the discipline and a willingness to experiment with new ways of doing anthropology with/in theology.

Occupying the Ontological Penumbra: Towards a Postsecular and Theologically Minded Anthropology

“…In spite of this, theology, even in its secular academic orientation, retained a religious and often Christian flavor and was thus largely ignored or frowned upon by secular anthropology. Since the postsecular turn brings the religious back to the secular, both Christian and secular anthropologists have become interested again in turning toward Christian theology, albeit with different objectives [2,5,13,48,51]. While in principle such a move may be valuable, we believe that it is important to engage with theology critically, since the discipline also shares the same Judeo-Christian heritage as anthropology, and thus has a distinctly Western and Christian intellectual and epistemological tradition.…”

“…Fountain [2] proposes that engaging in and with theology could help anthropologists move towards a postsecular anthropology. This may not be as easy as it sounds, since anthropology's relationship with theology has, at best, been "awkward," with the result that theology's contributions to anthropology hardly goes beyond providing data [5].…”

“…As a space of encounter and dialogue, as well as reflexivity and creativity, the penumbra has a strong epistemological component, since it is where ethnographic knowledge takes shape as a basis for anthropology as an academic discipline. For Fountain, "critical reflection on the ways secularity shapes the production of knowledge within the discipline" ( [2], p. 311) could constitute "[t]he starting point for a post-secular anthropology" ( [2], p. 311). By extending this idea to an epistemological space of ethnography, the penumbra becomes the locus in which, and from which, we can reflect on the formation of a postsecular anthropology.…”

“…Secularism has been so strong in anthropology that at times those within the discipline exhibit manifestly anti-religious traits and have largely distanced themselves from other disciplines that deal more explicitly with the religious ( [1], p. 267; [2,4,12,13]). When faced with anthropologists who admit to religious interests, some secular anthropologists have expressed their contempt and have frowned upon their colleagues' religious orientations or conversion, as Larsen ([14], see also [15]) has documented for E. E. Evans-Pritchard and Victor and Edith Turner, who were all established anthropologists when they converted to Catholicism.…”

“…Coming from British Baptist and Swiss Reformed backgrounds, our "Christian" bias is sometimes seen by default as imposing, prescriptive, and intolerant, especially due to its perceived genealogical links with the modern project of Western Christendom and its colonial past. Several of our colleagues who are anthropologists with religious or spiritual interests, most notably American Christians, have either had to keep quiet about their religious life, certainly in writing, or face opposition to the extent that some feel part of "a persecuted minority within the discipline" ( [1], p. 268; see also [2], pp. 12-13; [3], p. 262).…”