@article{1380685,
      note = {Spine title: Sharmanism, history & the state.},
      author = {Thomas, Nicholas, and Humphrey, Caroline.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1380685},
      title = {Shamanism, history, and the state /},
      publisher = {University of Michigan Press,},
      abstract = {The ecstatic and inspirational religious practices  referred to as shamanism have long fascinated European  intellectuals, theorists of religion, and anthropologists.  Yet, despite an extensive literature on curing and trances,  the political and historical significance of shamanic  activities has been largely neglected. Shamanism, History,  and the State offers a major reappraisal of the topic,  drawing together nine essays that explore the contexts of  shamanic practice in ancient Rome, south Asia, Siberia,  Polynesia, and elsewhere. The contributors to the volume -  distinguished anthropologists, classicists, and historians  from England, Australia, and France - present new ways of  thinking about social and historical connections and show  that shamanism is not static and stable but always changing  as a result of political dynamics and historical processes.  They ask - and answer - important questions: What  relationship have shamanic practices had with other  indigenous forms of ritual authority? With state power? To  what extent have these activities provided a focus for  anticolonial protest? How have magic and cult activities  been appropriated and internalized by states? This  fascinating series of case studies exemplifies a new style  of comparative anthropology. Shamanism, History, and the  State will be essential reading for students and teachers  of anthropology, classics, and comparative religion.  Contributors are Tamsyn Barton, Susan Bayly, Mary Beard,  Maurice Bloch, Peter Gow, Roberte N. Hamayon, Stephen  Hugh-Jones, Caroline Humphrey, and Nicholas Thomas.},
      recid = {1380685},
      pages = {viii, 232 pages :},
      address = {Ann Arbor :},
      year = {1994},
}