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“Animism” Revisited: Personhood, Environment, and Relational Epistemology

Bird‐David, Nurit·1999·Current Anthropology

Abstract

“Animism” is projected in the literature as simple religion and a failed epistemology, to a large extent because it has hitherto been viewed from modernist perspectives. In this paper previous theories, from classical to recent, are critiqued. An ethnographic example of a hunter‐gatherer people is given to explore how animistic ideas operate within the context of social practices, with attention to local constructions of a relational personhood and to its relationship with ecological perceptions of the environment. A reformulation of their animism as a relational epistemology is offered.

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Metadata

Authors
Bird‐David, N.
Venue
Current Anthropology
Published
1999-02
Volume
40
Issue
S1
Pages
S67-S91
ISSN
  • 0011-3204 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5382
OpenAlex
W2319082423
Cited by
1,078
References
16
FWCI
152.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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Bird‐David, N. (1999). “Animism” Revisited: Personhood, Environment, and Relational Epistemology. Current Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1086/200061

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