Beyond nature and the supernatural. Some reflections on religion, ethnicity and traditions of knowledge

Bibliographic Data

ID2494463
AuthorsF Mura (0000-0003-2840-6355, Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado da Paraíba, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume11
Issue2
Pages407-441
Publication date2014-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueVibrant Virtual Brazilian Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1809-4341 • E-ISSN: 1809-4341
PublisherAssociação Brasileira de Antropologia (PUBLISHER • BR)
DOI10.1590/s1809-43412014000200014
OpenAlexW2024919741
SCIELO_PIDS1809-43412014000200014
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited22

Most studies of religion are founded on the relationship between nature and the supernatural. This dichotomy allows a supposedly mystical dimension to be distinguished from a politically pragmatic dimension of human behaviour. In this view, therefore, religious conduct differs in nature from the political. Taking an opposite tack, this paper proposes to overcome this dichotomy by seeing the connections in this universe as primarily technical-political in kind, a result of the social organization of relations and interactions of individuals, considering religion as an organizational type. Thus, taking as examples the ethnographic Guarani-Kaiowa of Mato Grosso do Sul and Tabajara of Paraíba, I shall try to show how these indigenous people, each in their own way, establish connections in the universe, setting political communities, defining domestic and ethnic identities and drawing traditions of knowledge

Epistemology · Ethnic group · Ethnography · Indigenous · Mysticism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Indigenous Studies in Latin America · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society in Latin America · Urban and sociocultural dynamics

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