Pagan Studies: In Defense of Pluralism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v16i2.27312Keywords:
Methodology, Pagan Studies, PluralismAbstract
Pagan studies should allow the inclusion of religionist ideas and concepts within its academic oeuvre. Such concepts and ideas have been, and will probably continue to be, productive empirically and theoretically. Religious language and concepts can provide new and interesting ways of seeing and understanding the world that are empirically insightful. Further, the academic study of religion should practice a “deep pluralism” in which religionist ideas sit beside critical-naturalist atheism. This arises out of a presumptive humility, recognising that one’s own perspective may not be the final and complete way of understanding all things.References
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Arnal, William, and Russell T. McCutcheon. The Sacred Is the Profane: The Political Nature of “Religion.” Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199757114.001.0001
Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.
Bado, Nikki. “Dancing in a Universe of Lights and Shadows.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 15, nos. 1–2 (2014): 122–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.122.
Berger, Helen A. “Routinization of Spontaneity.” Sociology of Religion 56, no. 1 (1995): 49–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3712038.
Berger, Peter. A Rumour of Angels. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970.
——. The Social Reality of Religion. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967.
Connolly, William. Pluralism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822387084
Davidsen, Markus. A. “What Is Wrong with Pagan Studies?” Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 24, no. 2 (2012): 183–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006812X634881
Doyle, Ethan. “In Defense of Pagan Studies: A Response to Davidsen’s Critique.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 14, no. 1 (2013): 5–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v14i1.5.
Engelke, Matthew. “An Interview with Edith Turner.” Current Anthropology 41, no. 5 (2000): 843–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/317412
Ezzy, Douglas. “Reassembling Religious Symbols.” Religion 45, no. 1 (2014): 24–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2014.949898
——. “Religious Ethnography: Practising the Witch’s Craft.” In Researching Paganisms, edited by Jenny Blain, Douglas Ezzy, and Graham Harvey, 113–28. Walnut Creek, Calif.: Alta Mira Press, 2004.
——. Sex, Death and Witchcraft: A Contemporary Pagan Festival. London: Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2014.
Flood, Gavin. Beyond Phenomenology: Rethinking the Study of Religion, London: Cassell, 1999.
Gardell, Mattias. Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003.http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822384502
Garfield, Jay. “Philosophy, Religion, and the Hermeneutic Imperative.” In Gadamer’s Century, edited by Jeff Malpas, Ulrich Arnswald, and Jens Kertscher, 132–54. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002.
Greenwood, Susan. Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld. Oxford: Berg, 2000.
Griffin, Wendy, ed. Daughters of the Goddess: Studies of Identity, Healing, and Empowerment. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 1999.
Hale, Amy. “Navigating Praxis: Pagan Studies vs. Esoteric Studies.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 15, no. 1–2 (2014): 151–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.151
Harding, Sandra. “Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What Is ‘strong Objectivity?’” In Knowledge and Inquiry: Readings in Epistemology, edited by Brad Wray, 352–84.New York: Broadview Press, 2002.
Harvey, Graham. Animism: Respecting the Living World. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.
Hutton, Ronald. “Paganism and Polemic: The Debate over the Origins of Modern Pagan Witchcraft.” Folklore 111, no. 1 (2000): 103–17.
——. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207443.001.0001
Ingold, Tim. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London: Routledge, 2011.
Kirby, Danielle. Fantasy And Belief: Alternative Religions, Popular Narratives, and Digital Cultures. New York: Routledge, 2013.
Latour, Bruno. On the Modern Cult of the Factish Gods. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010.
Latour, Bruno. An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns. Translated by Catherine Porter. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2013.
Lopez, Donald S., ed. Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Luhrmann, Tanya M. Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1989.
McCutcheon, Russell T. Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001.
Orr, Emma. Living with Honour: A Pagan Ethics. Winchester: O Books, 2007.
Pizza, Murph. “Review of Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism by Matthias Gardell.” Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 6, no. 1 (2004): 128–30.
Pizza, Murphy and James R. Lewis, eds. Handbook of Contemporary Paganism. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009.
Turner, Edith. The Hands Feel It: Healing and Spirit Presence Among a Northern Alaskan People, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1996.
White, Robert. Hicks, Micks and Sociologics: A Case Study in the Disciplinarity of Rural and Catholic Sociologies. Unpublished paper, The University of Tasmania, Australia, n.d.
York, Michael. “An Intersubjective Critique of A Critique of Pagan Scholarship.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 15, nos. 1–2 (2013): 136-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.136
——. Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion. New York: New York University Press, 2003.
Arnal, William, and Russell T. McCutcheon. The Sacred Is the Profane: The Political Nature of “Religion.” Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199757114.001.0001
Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.
Bado, Nikki. “Dancing in a Universe of Lights and Shadows.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 15, nos. 1–2 (2014): 122–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.122.
Berger, Helen A. “Routinization of Spontaneity.” Sociology of Religion 56, no. 1 (1995): 49–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3712038.
Berger, Peter. A Rumour of Angels. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970.
——. The Social Reality of Religion. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967.
Connolly, William. Pluralism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822387084
Davidsen, Markus. A. “What Is Wrong with Pagan Studies?” Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 24, no. 2 (2012): 183–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006812X634881
Doyle, Ethan. “In Defense of Pagan Studies: A Response to Davidsen’s Critique.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 14, no. 1 (2013): 5–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v14i1.5.
Engelke, Matthew. “An Interview with Edith Turner.” Current Anthropology 41, no. 5 (2000): 843–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/317412
Ezzy, Douglas. “Reassembling Religious Symbols.” Religion 45, no. 1 (2014): 24–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2014.949898
——. “Religious Ethnography: Practising the Witch’s Craft.” In Researching Paganisms, edited by Jenny Blain, Douglas Ezzy, and Graham Harvey, 113–28. Walnut Creek, Calif.: Alta Mira Press, 2004.
——. Sex, Death and Witchcraft: A Contemporary Pagan Festival. London: Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2014.
Flood, Gavin. Beyond Phenomenology: Rethinking the Study of Religion, London: Cassell, 1999.
Gardell, Mattias. Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003.http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/9780822384502
Garfield, Jay. “Philosophy, Religion, and the Hermeneutic Imperative.” In Gadamer’s Century, edited by Jeff Malpas, Ulrich Arnswald, and Jens Kertscher, 132–54. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002.
Greenwood, Susan. Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld. Oxford: Berg, 2000.
Griffin, Wendy, ed. Daughters of the Goddess: Studies of Identity, Healing, and Empowerment. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 1999.
Hale, Amy. “Navigating Praxis: Pagan Studies vs. Esoteric Studies.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 15, no. 1–2 (2014): 151–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.151
Harding, Sandra. “Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What Is ‘strong Objectivity?’” In Knowledge and Inquiry: Readings in Epistemology, edited by Brad Wray, 352–84.New York: Broadview Press, 2002.
Harvey, Graham. Animism: Respecting the Living World. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.
Hutton, Ronald. “Paganism and Polemic: The Debate over the Origins of Modern Pagan Witchcraft.” Folklore 111, no. 1 (2000): 103–17.
——. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207443.001.0001
Ingold, Tim. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London: Routledge, 2011.
Kirby, Danielle. Fantasy And Belief: Alternative Religions, Popular Narratives, and Digital Cultures. New York: Routledge, 2013.
Latour, Bruno. On the Modern Cult of the Factish Gods. Durham: Duke University Press, 2010.
Latour, Bruno. An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence: An Anthropology of the Moderns. Translated by Catherine Porter. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2013.
Lopez, Donald S., ed. Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Luhrmann, Tanya M. Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic in Contemporary England. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1989.
McCutcheon, Russell T. Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001.
Orr, Emma. Living with Honour: A Pagan Ethics. Winchester: O Books, 2007.
Pizza, Murph. “Review of Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism by Matthias Gardell.” Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 6, no. 1 (2004): 128–30.
Pizza, Murphy and James R. Lewis, eds. Handbook of Contemporary Paganism. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2009.
Turner, Edith. The Hands Feel It: Healing and Spirit Presence Among a Northern Alaskan People, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1996.
White, Robert. Hicks, Micks and Sociologics: A Case Study in the Disciplinarity of Rural and Catholic Sociologies. Unpublished paper, The University of Tasmania, Australia, n.d.
York, Michael. “An Intersubjective Critique of A Critique of Pagan Scholarship.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 15, nos. 1–2 (2013): 136-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.136
——. Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion. New York: New York University Press, 2003.
Published
2015-08-25
Issue
Section
Opinion Piece
How to Cite
Ezzy, D. (2015). Pagan Studies: In Defense of Pluralism. Pomegranate, 16(2), 135-149. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v16i2.27312
