Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Ritual, community, and conflict

Reflections on the science of the social and its practical implications

Bibliographic Data

ID16908994
AuthorsH Whitehouse (0000-0001-6935-6724, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume14
Issue3
Pages330-340
Publication date2024-07-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion Brain & Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2153-5981 • E-ISSN: 2153-599X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/2153599x.2023.2186940
OpenAlexW4381853687
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited46

The Ritual Animalsummarizes the results of over three decades of research on the role of rituals increating cohesion and cooperation within communities and driving conflicts between them. Theprocess has involved various theoretical, methodological, and practical challenges and advances,discussed in this book review forum from a variety of novel angles. Contributors span a broadrange of disciplines, including cognitive and evolutionary anthropology (Atran, Burdett, Lanman,Stanford), history (Larson, Martin), philosophy (McCauley), religious studies (Wood) and compu-ter science (Lane). The range of topics covered by the reviews is similarly broad, addressing many ofthe core questions raised by the book, relating to the nature of ritual, the theory of divergent modes,and the role of ritual in cultural evolution. The reviews also engage with the book’s vision for a newscience of the social and its potential role in tackling practical problems facing humanity today. Thereviewers are generous in their appraisals of the book but also present constructive criticisms andsuggestions for improvements. My response is structured aroundfive main headings, as summar-ized in the following table for ease of reference. In order to provide sufficient background infor-mation for readers unfamiliar with the contents ofThe Ritual Animal, I have prefaced eachsection with a one-paragraph summary of key points from the book to which the reviews discussedin that section are addressed

Conflict of interest · Political science · Social conflict · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Cultural Differences and Values · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Law · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

  • Cultural transmission, networks, and clusters among Austronesian-speaking peoples

    Open Access•Joshua C Macdonald, Javier Blanco-Portillo et al.•Evolutionary Human Sciences•2024

  • The Archetypal Actions Of Ritual

    Caroline Humphrey, James Laidlaw•The archetypal actions of ritual•1994

  • Brazil's football warriors

    Open Access•Martha Newson, Tiago Bortolini et al.•Evolution and Human Behavior•2018

  • Task-specific effects of ostracism on imitative fidelity in early childhood

    Open Access•Rachel E Watson-Jones, Rachel E Watson‐Jones et al.•Evolution and Human Behavior•2014

  • Brothers in arms

    Open Access•H Whitehouse, Brian Mcquinn et al.•Proceedings of the National…•2014

  • Why ritualized behavior? Precaution Systems and action parsing in developmental, pathological and cultural rituals

    Open Access•P Boyer, Pierre Liénard•Behavioral and Brain Sciences•2006

  • Dying for the group

    Open Access•H Whitehouse•Behavioral and Brain Sciences•2018

  • The hidden structure of overimitation

    Open Access•Derek E Lyons, Andrew G Young et al.•Proceedings of the National…•2007

  • The evolution of extreme cooperation via shared dysphoric experiences

    Open Access•H Whitehouse, Jonathan Jong et al.•Scientific Reports•2017

  • An Introduction to Seshat

    Peter Turchin, H Whitehouse et al.•Journal of Cognitive Historiography•2020

  • Ritual Animals also Require Pedagogy, Communication, and Social Reasoning

    Radu Umbres•Journal for the Cognitive Science…•2022

  • The Coexistence Problem in Psychology, Anthropology, and Evolutionary Theory

    H Whitehouse•Human Development•2011

  • The Ritual Animal

    H Whitehouse, Oxford Editor•Ritual Animal•2021

  • Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution

    Jamshid Tehrani, Jamshid ca /21 Jh Tehrani et al.•Oxford Handbook of Cultural…•2023

  • Fusion and Reform

    Open Access•H Whitehouse, Robin Fitzgerald•Anthropology in Action•2020

  • Explaining the rise of moralizing religions

    Open Access•Peter Turchin, H Whitehouse et al.•Religion Brain & Behavior•2023

  • Testing the Big Gods hypothesis with global historical data

    Open Access•H Whitehouse, Pieter François et al.•Religion Brain & Behavior•2023

  • Material Correlates Analysis (MCA)

    Open Access•Michael J Gantley, H Whitehouse et al.•Advances in Archaeological Practice•2018

  • Ritual, fusion, and conflict

    Open Access•Michael D Buhrmester, D Zeitlyn et al.•Group Processes & Intergroup…•2020

  • Who owns 'culture'?1

    E Thomas Lawson, Robert N Mccauley•Method & Theory in the Study of…•1996

  • Keeping Together in Time

    Open Access•William Hardy Mcneill•Keeping Together in Time•1997

  • The Interpretation of Cultures

    Clifford Geertz•The Interpretation of Cultures•2000

  • What makes a group worth dying for? Identity fusion fosters perception of familial ties, promoting self-sacrifice

    William B Swann, Michael D Buhrmester et al.•Journal of Personality and Social…•2014

  • The role for simulations in theory construction for the social sciences

    H Whitehouse, Ken Kahn et al.•Religion Brain & Behavior•2012

  • The cultural morphospace of ritual form

    Open Access•Quentin Atkinson, H Whitehouse•Evolution and Human Behavior•2010

  • Religion and morality

    Open Access•Ryan Mckay, Harvey Whitehouse•Psychological Bulletin•2015

  • A Systematic Assessment of "Axial Age" Proposals Using Global Comparative Historical Evidence

    Open Access•Daniel Austin Mullins, Daniel Hoyer et al.•American Sociological Review•2018

  • Symbols, Song, Dance and Features of Articulation Is religion an extreme form of traditional authority

    Open Access•Maurice Bloch•European Journal of Sociology•1974

  • Arguments and Icons

    H Whitehouse•Arguments and icons•2000

  • Inside the Cult

    Frederick Errington, H Whitehouse•Inside the cult•1995

  • Cultural Rituals and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

    Open Access•Siri Dulaney, Alan Page Fiske•Ethos•1994

  • The Ties That Bind Us

    H Whitehouse, Jonathan A Lanman•Current Anthropology•2014

Unique citing works1
Citations per year0,5
Citation span2024 - 2024 (1)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 1
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae