Pluralism and identity
Subtitle: studies in ritual behaviour
By: edited by Jan Platvoet and Karel van der Toorn.
Contributors: Platvoet, Jan.; Toorn, K. van der.
Series: Studies in the history of religions,; v. 67; Studies in the history of religions ;; 67.
Publisher: E.J. Brill
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Leiden; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 376
Subjects: Rites and ceremonies -- Congresses.; Ritual -- Congresses.; Religious pluralism -- Congresses.; Identification (Religion) -- Congresses.
Description: The subject of this book is ritual behaviour, in particular of groups with a distinctive religious, ethnic or other identity which use rituals to pursue strategic ends ad intra and ad extra.

Five essays offer theoretical perspectives on ritual in plural and pluralist societies, on similarity and demarcation, on the negative case of the Australian Aboriginals, on Brazilian religious pluralism, and on Ghanaian churches in the Netherlands. Three essays describe the ritualization of the encounter, or confrontation, between religions in India (between Buddhists and Hindus, and between Hindus and Muslims), and in Yemen between Muslims and Jews.

Four essays study the responses to internal religious plurality, in early Israel, on Java, in Indonesia, and in Spain and North Africa. One essay explores responses to external religious plurality. In the epilogue, the social nature of pluralism and identity is highlighted.

. This book is particularly important for scholars of ritual theory and the study of religions, but also for Islamologists, Indologists, scholars specializing in diaspora religions and religions of ethnic minorities, and in anthropology of religions.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
"Papers presented at an international conference in Leiden Universtiy on 14 and 15 January 1995"--P. 3.