Category and Practice as Two Aspects of Religion

The Case of Nepalis in Britain

Bibliographic Data

ID8200280
AuthorsSondra L Hausner, D N Gellner (0000-0001-5152-1680, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume80
Issue4
Pages971-997
Publication date2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Academy of Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7189 • E-ISSN: 1477-4585
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jaarel/lfs083
OpenAlexW2118030323
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited10

This article suggests that religion is best understood as comprising at least two features of human life: category and practice. Religious category and religious practice may or may not overlap in a given population's religious identification or ascription, but such a differentiation is highly significant and should be made in the social, political, and cognitive study of religion. Three examples are offered whereby religious category and religious practice need to be distinguished in order to understand the ethnographic data. Rather than seeing religion as an undifferentiated or singular phenomenon classified by type, category and practice should be considered fundamental elements of religiosity that are both connected to and distinct from one another. The cases are drawn from Nepalis in the UK: The example of Nepali religion, in Nepal and in the diaspora, forms a complex set of categories and practices that testify to their distinctiveness and to their interaction.

History of religions · Sociology · Theology · Philosophy · Religious studies · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nepal · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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