The Chief Rabbinate and Israel's Independence Day Religio‐National Rituals During the 1950s†

This article investigates the place of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate in the formation of Israel's national symbolic language during the country's first Independence Days. My main argument is that, like other state churches, the Rabbinate act as an important agent of memory that imparts collective myths and authenticate them. However, the Rabbinate was not willing to fully integrate the new national stance into the traditional ritual language and was therefore criticised accordingly. This criticism, and the alternative rituals it gave rise to, shows that certain circles of Israeli society were willing to go much further with the integration of national components into the traditional Jewish world. In addition, it demonstrates the necessity of the public's “approval” of the ritual, and therefore reveals the limits of memory agents. The first section of the article presents the background for the religious observance of the national holiday, the second section illustrates the nature of the first Independence Day synagogue services, the third section describes the criticism they had provoked, and the fourth section analyses the alternative rituals held on Mount Zion and the radical religious‐national integration they created. Finally, the conclusion seeks to place this case within the wider context of nation‐building and its religious aspects.     

Ritual performances and collective violence in divided cities – The riots in Belfast (1886) and Jerusalem (1929)

This article explores the interrelation of violence, space, and public rituals in Belfast and Jerusalem. With the image of being cities of violence, contested by two groups that compete for political and spatial hegemony, Belfast and Jerusalem are also characterised as divided, both on a material and symbolic level. The roots of this division can be traced back to the era of the British Empire, especially to the riots in Belfast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the uprisings in Jerusalem during the British Mandate of Palestine. In the wider context of British imperial policies of differentiation along religious lines and urban separation, communal identities were strengthened, and processes of residential segregation were accelerated, thereby creating urban frontiers. On the basis of historical sources, particularly reports by Royal Commissions of Inquiry that were set up to investigate the riots in Belfast and Jerusalem, this paper analyses how violent urban geographies were created in both cities in different but also remarkably similar ways. Down to the present day, public religious and political rituals, often combined with nationalist and militarist elements, are a crucial part of periodic manifestations of collective violence in these cities. Practices of appropriation of space and a temporary redrawing of borders and boundaries are dominant features of these rituals. Religious ceremonies, street parades, funeral processions or political demonstrations take place at contested sites or are led through areas “belonging” to the “other” group. The analysis shows that these ritual practices contributed greatly in transforming parts of the cities into urban spaces characterised by exclusion and imbued with memories of violence. This paper concludes that ritual performances in public space have a strong impact on the production and shaping of collective violence during riots.     

‘Waiting for Jardiwanpa’: History and Mediation in Warlpiri Fire Ceremonies

Warlpiri fire ceremonies, including Jardiwanpa, have been documented in various ethnographies and films for over 100 years. Focused on the documented history of these rituals in Yuendumu, and through ethnographic observations from recent decades, I analyse the transforming meanings of fire ceremonies in contemporary Warlpiri lives. I demonstrate that there have been post‐settlement shifts in ritual purpose due to sedentarisation and the increased connections that Warlpiri people have made to a broader world. I note in particular that, when monetary payment for performing Jardiwanpa for filmic representation became standard practice in the 1990s, the intricacies of the Dreaming were no longer central, nor were the original purposes of conflict resolution and the opening up of marriage restrictions. Several films have been made of fire ceremonies, resulting in fixed representations of what otherwise are emergent practices. This has impacted the ways in which these rituals can be held today, and Warlpiri people have had to creatively re‐negotiate a space for Jardiwanpa and similar fire ceremonies.     

Ritual,Continuity and Change: Greek Reflections

This article examines the tangled question of continuity and change from the point of view of ritual. It brings together in dialogue recent theoretical approaches to ritual in anthropology with several examples of diachronic studies of Greek death practices. It points to the importance of focusing on questions of “form” in ritual practices—that is, “how” rituals work and are transmitted, more or less completely, from one generation to the next. It also considers the importance of historical consciousness, in particular the notion of “changing continuities”, in understanding some of the existential ways that ritual addresses common human experiences of temporality.     

Informality Materialised: Long‐term Temporariness as a Mode of Informal Urbanism

This paper establishes an important link between the architectural strategies and long‐term sustenance of “ordinary” informal spaces in the planned modernist city of Islamabad. By focusing on the modalities of street hawking in Islamabad, this paper demonstrates that the architecture of ordinary informality follows an aesthetic and materiality of temporariness, and invokes design criteria based on the rituals of daily assembly and disassembly, and shared customs involving “temporary” claims to immediate public space. The paper uses the concept of “long‐term temporariness” to argue that the sustained existence of street hawking depends upon the routine maintenance of the relationship between its temporality and materiality, evident in both the everyday spatial practices and official procedures concerning informal street commerce. The paper thus situates street hawking within the realms of both formal and informal processes, and highlights the role of provisionality in urban transformations in the global South.     

Chronotope,Story, and Historical Geography: Mikhail Bakhtin and the Space‐Time of Narratives

Abstract: This article studies space‐time as revealed in narrative, especially narrative intended to validate truth claims. Narrative plot is uniquely suited to capturing truths about time, causal complexity, and space. Bakhtin's “chronotope” (space‐time), which bridges plot, narrated events, and the real world, is critical to understanding this capacity, whether in fiction, in histories, or in didactic stories, myths, and parables. The chronotope is underutilized in the social sciences, but disputes over indigenous land in Canada exemplify its potential applications. To fully capture these heteroglot (“many‐voiced”) conflicts, factual verification should not be the only test of a narrative's truthfulness.     

Māori “Conversion” to the Rule of Law and Nineteenth‐Century Imperial Loyalties

Missionaries were among the first Europeans to interact with the New Zealand Māori, bringing an evangelical message with a strict set of “laws” for Māori to follow. Māori, whose own religious beliefs required rigid observance to ritual, took time to convert to missionary Christianity but, like many Oceanic peoples, did so with fervour, regulating their daily lives according to the Laws of the missionaries’ God. With the advent of British rule in New Zealand in 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi gave Māori the same rights as British subjects, but also (in the Māori‐language version) guaranteed tribal autonomy. As the British administration established itself, it slowly attempted to bring Māori under the authority of the Queen's Laws, using persuasion rather than force. This article, using Māori‐language newspapers of the mid‐nineteenth century, discusses how some Māori approached the question of Law in a similar way to how they had converted to Christianity. This was partly due to their own, now Christianised, worldview, but it was also due to how the colonial authorities presented the principles of Law to them.     

Date,Rituals and Socio‐Cultural Identity in the North‐Western Roman Provinces

This article explores issues of socio‐cultural identity in the north‐western Roman provinces, using all the available archaeobotanical evidence of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.). This fruit does not conform to the general social distribution pattern of other Roman exotic food plant imports in this area, but instead indicates a strong ceremonial connection. Through an in‐depth contextual approach the role of date in both domestic and ceremonial sites is investigated to reach beyond the simple ‘date‐Roman‐ritual’ association. The results suggest strong temporal, spatial and contextual patterning and an overall rare occurrence and selective use of the fruit in certain rituals and mystic cults. Date may have been employed not necessarily as a food, and was probably an affordable luxury for some in their ritual pursuits. As such, date can now be regarded as part of specific ceremonial expressions rather than a standard ingredient of a normative ceremonial or ‘Roman’ identity.     

Being and ‘Non-Being’ in Ambonwari (Papua New Guinea) Ritual

By focusing on children involved in the ritual practices in Ambonwari village, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, this essay compares two types of ritual: that of healing and that of male initiation. Like other life crisis rituals both deal with two dimensions of the Ambonwari life-world, that is with the living and the dead and, in a broader sense, with people and spirits. Though both are based upon the same cosmology there are fundamental differences between them. First, healers in healing ceremonies treat uninitiated children as ‘non-beings’. From the perspective of Ambonwari ‘selves’ or ‘beings’, children belong to this domain. They exist as extensions of their parents or carers, from whom they cannot be separated conceptually. Second, by examining the Ambonwari concepts of negation I show that healers do not approach the domain of cosmological non-existence: they are not concerned with the cosmogony of the Ambonwari life-world. The male initiation rituals do just the opposite, however. It is only in the male initiation ritual, seen as a cosmogonic event, that young boys are cut off from their parents and ‘thrown’ abruptly into a state of becoming. Unlike the healing rites, these rituals treat young boys as both Ambonwari beginnings and Ambonwari beings. I argue that Ambonwari initiation rituals are not concerned with symbolic death followed by rebirth, but with states of being. Initiation means that death becomes possible for a child. The initiated boy will now be able to die as an Ambonwari being.     

CIRCLE DANCE FESTIVAL “GORKA”: TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS*

The circle dance festival “gorka” is one of the oldest Russian rituals of the spring and summer cycle, preserved by the Priestless Old Believers (Pomortsy) living in the Ust-Tsilma Region of the Komi Republic. This ritual activity requires the performance of seven dance fi gures or moves. Particular songs that are called “gorka songs,” correspond to each of the fi gures. In the past, the symbolism of the circle dance was linked to the renewal of life. The transition of adolescents to adulthood was arranged in ritual form; dramatized songs helped young people to fi nd potential marriage partners and to approve couples that had been formed earlier. The modern festival is held as a tribute to the ancestors. A recent innovation can be seen in the children's “gorka” and the inclusion of children into a single circle dance.     

Beyond the beyond(s): On the (many) third way(s) beyond primordialism and instrumentalism in the study of sectarianism

This meta‐study examines the nature of past and current theoretically informed debates on sectarian politics in the Middle East and identifies the biggest challenges and possible directions for the future study of sectarianism. Contrary to the conventional narrative about a “sectarian journey” torn between a flawed primordialist and instrumentalist approach in between which a new superior “third way” is needed, the article shows that both primordialism and instrumentalism are rare in the academic debate on sectarianism, quite similar to the broader ethnicity/nationalism debate. However, this has not resulted in a “new conventional wisdom” about how to proceed. Thus, the article identifies a cacophony of suggestions for how the much aspired‐to third way should look like. Against this background, the article suggests that it is time to go beyond the ritual calls to “get beyond primordialism and instrumentalism.” Instead, it is time to devote more attention to examining the multiple already existing suggestions for “third ways”. Rather than highlighting a single third way as superior, the article contributes to this move in two ways: it shows how the various third ways can be grouped into three “beyond strategies” (the New Saviour, the Baby and the Bathwater, and the LEGO eclectic strategies) and outlines a number of meta‐theoretical issues to consider in order to move the debate forward.     

Blood from the Moon: Gender Ideology and the Rise of Ancient Maya Social Complexity

Archaeological data suggests that there is a direct link between the rise of social complexity and the erosion of women's status. Through a look at the ways in which gendered practices and symbols may shift as men and women (and males and females) negotiate their relationships and interactions within shifting social contexts, this article sets out to explore this linkage between social complexity and gender equality in the ancient Maya region. Building from the notion that ‘gender’ is produced and reproduced through practice and symbol as a culture constitutes and bounds gender roles and expectations by symbolically associating certain activities and materials with each gender as iconic representations and ritual enactments of those normative gender roles then serve to naturalise a gender ideology, this article argues that the rising ancient Maya elite attempted to legitimise increasing social inequalities through the manipulation, ritualisation and abstraction of female symbols of power associated with pregnancy, menstruation and childbirth. This appropriation and contestation of symbols and performances of gender identity can be observed in wide variety of powerful representations and practices within the Maya cosmology such as genital piercing, the 260‐day calendar and the neutering of female sexuality in monumental art.     

Hume,Bishop Butler,and the Revival of Ritual in Anglophone Protestantism

A sweeping reassessment of the role of ritual, ceremony, and aesthetics took place in anglophone Protestantism between the late eighteenth and the late nineteenth centuries. While the nineteenth‐century developments themselves have been extensively studied, little scholarly attention has been paid to the importance of the earlier emergence of philosophical language capable of explaining and justifying, in a Protestant context, the ritual and aesthetic dimensions of religious practice. I argue that this language, paradoxically, grew out of a symbiosis of sceptical modernity, traditional religious apologetics, and the religious “enthusiasm” of the early eighteenth century. I approach the topic through the interconnected oeuvres (and careers) of David Hume and Joseph Butler, presenting the first synoptic account of their ideas about the psychological underpinnings of religious worship, and the use made of their ideas by later generations of anglophone Protestants. As mainstream Anglicans, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians confronted the challenges presented by Methodism and Evangelicalism, they found support in a synthesis of Butler's and Hume's ideas. Eventually, the beneficial role of ritual and aesthetics in religious worship came to be widely accepted throughout the anglophone Protestant world.     

On the impossibility of invariant repetition: ritual,tradition and creativity among Sri Lankan ritual specialists

This article sets out to explore the strategic creativity that underlies supposedly invariant ritual performance. The ethnographic focus is on a group of Sri Lankan ritual specialists and the way they present the past in terms of mythical, historical and genealogical relationships that give power and legitimacy to their performances of healing rituals in the present. The analysis brings together local notions of “tradition” with ideas of performance and embodiment. The conclusion takes up the idea that, far from being the dead weight of tradition, invariance is a performative illusion of considerable ingenuity and persuasive power. Indeed, it is a fundamental means whereby the authority and power of ritual is maximized in performance.     

Jihadism au rebours: Orientalism and Occidentalism for a Counter‐Hegemonic Liberation Theology

Following its colonial project, Western Europe imposed a political and cultural understanding of state nationalism and religious homogeneity on the entire world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In parallel with this twofold process, “Religious Nationalism” emerged during the Cold War, affecting the Middle East and framing an updated Abrahamic version of religious supremacism: Wahhabi Islam, the Iranian Revolution, and Israeli Orthodox Judaism were politically backed, becoming the frontrunners of a new Global‐Religious narrative of conflict. This article aims to critically analyse the Western‐Islamic manipulation of “Jihadism” as an artificial and fabricated product, starting from the “deconstruction” of Jihad–Jihadism as an anti‐hegemonic narrative. The anti‐colonial “Islamic” framework of resistance to the Empire (United States) has effectively adopted the same colonial methodology: using violence and sectarianism in trying to reach its goals. Is the Islamic Supremacist “narrative” more influenced by Western thought than by a real understanding of Islam? At the same time, this article aims to stress the historical reasons why the Arab world has been artificially affected by a peculiar form of “Religious Revanchism” which can be understood only if O. Roy's Holy Ignorance dialogues with Steve Biko's Consciousness in emphasising the need for an updated Islamic Liberation Theology.     

景颇族传统宗教仪式空间生产的现代性困境研究

少数民族传统宗教与族群历史、文化认同一脉相通，其仪式的强化实践素来为众人认可，透过仪式表象触及深层次的意识结构已成学界共识。研究传统宗教仪式的空间生产不仅对解析其背后的意识形态运动具有指导价值，也能为有关宗教、文化部门提供管控参考。文章从列斐伏尔的空间生产理论入手，探究地处边疆山区的景颇族传统宗教仪式在面对外来宗教的空间解构、现代性引发的空间变迁、族群内部的话语争夺及旅游空间介入调控等背景下，其相应的主体实践及力量博弈，厘清空间生产的主次困境和作用机理，以传统宗教有益价值为导向，引导仪式空间生产朝凝聚族群、强化团结的目标靠拢。     

Interpreting Ritual as Performance and Theory Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania 2010 Distinguished Lecture

ABSTRACT The paper looks at specific rituals and their relationships with dance in Hawaii, Tonga, Bulgaria, and India. These four short case studies explore the relationship between dance and ritual, in particular how dance is presented as representing the ritual past. I bring ‘structured movement,’ as one of ritual's distinguishing marks, to center stage to explore how ritual movement and dance are related.     

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND THE TERRITORIAL‐ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLEX

Detractors of European integration and many of its protagonists invoke state territoriality where the social and the spatial come together in a “Territorial‐Administrative Complex”. Like the military‐industrial complex claiming once to procure security, protagonists claim to guarantee democratic legitimacy. At the same time, the interests of the territorial constituencies prevail over others. The underlying notion of space is absolute and of territory that of a container. Costs and benefits are calculated in terms pertaining to it. The underlying “meta‐geography” is one of boxes‐in‐boxes, but rather than viewing space as a container, based on academic literature in the matter, planners now pursue soft planning for soft spaces. In the face of the apparently incontestable claim of the Territorial‐Administrative Complex to a monopoly on the production of democratic legitimacy, the article points out, albeit rare examples of constitutional theorists challenge this monopoly. Voting in territorial constituencies, they claim, has never been properly argued for, making it an arbitrary institution.     

Participatory and community‐based research,Indigenous geographies,and the spaces of friendship: A critical engagement

Geographic engagement with Indigenous peoples remains inextricably linked to colonialism. Consequently, studying Indigenous geographies is fraught with ethical and political dilemmas. Participatory and community‐based research methods have recently been offered as one solution to address concerns about the politics of gathering, framing, producing, disseminating, and controlling knowledge about Indigenous peoples. In this article, we critically engage with the emergence of participatory and community‐based research methods as “best practice” for undertaking research into Indigenous geographies. We articulate four concerns with this form of research: a) dissent may be stifled by non‐Indigenous researchers’ investments in being “good”; b) claims to overcome difference and distance may actually retrench colonial research relations; c) the framing of particular methods as “best practices” risks closing down necessary and ongoing critique; and d) institutional pressures work against the development and maintenance of meaningful, accountable, and non‐extractive relations with Indigenous communities. We then contemplate the spatiality of the critique itself. We consider the ways in which our longstanding friendship, as researchers invested at multiple scales with Indigenous geographies and identities, provides its own distinct space of practice within which to confront the political and ethical challenges posed by research with/about/upon Indigenous geographies and peoples. While not arriving at any concrete template for undertaking research about Indigenous geographies, we suggest that certain friendships, established and situated outside research relationships, may be productive spaces within and through which research methods may be decolonized.