From Primitive to Indigenous

In his recent book, From Primitive to Indigenous: The Academic Study of Indigenous Religions, James Cox traces the history of indigenous religions from its anthropological origins, where it was often labeled as “Primitive Religion,” to its incorporation into the field of religious studies. He focuses on the way that scholars in the field of religious studies have developed and defined the category and its relationship to the dominant category of “world religions.” He embraces the label of “indigenous religions” and offers readers a definition that is neither theological nor reflective of evolutionary assumptions. To lessen the daunting task of treating thousands of religious traditions, he limits himself to two case studies he has written about, the Yupiit of Alaska and the Shona of Zimbabwe. In this book, Cox responds to the challenge made by Jacob Olupona that indigenous religions are “speciously cut off from religious studies” (1), by analyzing the assumptions that have shaped the creation of the field

Biology · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · History of religions · Indigenous · Linguistics · Shona · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Ecology · History · Mathematics · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Studies