The Social Life of Prayer

Anthropological Engagements with Christian Practice

Andreas Bandak

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English

Routledge
25 September 2023

Religion & beliefs; Religion: general; Christianity; Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church; Anthropology

This book brings the theme of prayer into anthropological discussion. Across diverse significant ethnographic case studies, five anthropologists attend to prayers and how they are performed and seen to intervene in the social world.

The studies include Pentecostals in Zambia, Charismatic Christians in Ghana, Protestants in Scotland, Eastern Orthodox Christians in Romania, and Catholics in Syria. Across these ethnographic cases, the book argues that focusing on the social life of prayer offers a significant way to engage with matters close to people. Prayers are a way to map affect and the affective relationships people hold in what they are oriented towards and care about. Taking its cue from Marcel Mauss, the book invites us to go beyond the individual and see how prayers always point to a broader social landscape of obligation and affective investment. Focusing on the social life of prayers, the book posits, accordingly entices a particular form of situated comparison of diverse Christian traditions that pushes the scholarly conversation on Christianity to consider central questions of agency, responsibility and subjectivity. Taking up prayer as the object of study, this book offers novel anthropological perspectives on Christian life and practice.

The chapters in this book were originally published a special issue of Religion.

Edited by: Andreas Bandak
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 246mm, Width: 174mm,
Weight: 230g
ISBN: 9780367712365
ISBN 10: 0367712369
Pages: 114
Publication Date: 25 September 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Andreas Bandak is associate professor at the Department for Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His research interests include Orthodox and Catholic Christianity in the Levant and Denmark. Currently, he is co-PI of the collective research project The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Global Modernities.