Universität Wien
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240519 SE MM3 Animism revisited (2025S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work
Th 06.03. 13:15-14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 13.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 20.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 27.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 03.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 10.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 08.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 15.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 22.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 05.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 12.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 26.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal C, NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Animism revisited
Throughout the 20th century, the concept of animism was critiqued and often marginalised within anthropology due to its association with outdated and ethnocentric ideas of cultural evolution and hierarchy. However, it was reconceptualised and regained relevance from the end of the 20th century. It was particularly suggested that animism could better be understood as a relational ontology, where the focus is on the dynamic relationships between people and the world around them, rather than a belief in spirits per se.
This course will introduce the conceptual framework that enabled the recent revisiting of animism, such as the concepts of perspectivism, totemism, analogism, and naturalism, which emphasise the interconnectedness and agency of all entities. It will also explore various contexts from which this reconceptualisation emerged, and, in particular, the re-evaluation of 'shamanism', 'indigeneity', 'culture', and the relations of humans with non-humans. This will shed light on the growing concerns with environmental ethics and ecology, as well as their politicisation.
Teaching objectives
Provide an understanding of the conceptualisation of animism in anthropology, and the history of this concept, it recent use, as well as its relevance in debated related to environmental ethics. The course will also provide the students with the possibility to improve their experience in academic writing.
Methods
Lectures and study of academic written sources during the sessions. Learning academic writing will be integrated into the course through exercises.

Assessment and permitted materials

1) Participation in text interpretation: before each class, each student will write a short text summarising and reflecting upon one of the texts assigned for that week. This exercise will start from the second week of the seminar: 30%
2) Participation to the discussions during the courses: 10%
3) Each student will make one detailed presentation of one text or topic of her/his choice during the semester (presentation of the author[s], topic of the text, step-by-step presentation of the arguments, and debate discussed in the text[s]); this presentation can also be a preliminary version of the seminar paper: 20%
4) Seminar paper: 40%

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

100-90% (1)
89-76% (2)
75-63% (3)
62-50% (4)
49-0% (5)

Examination topics

Texts studied during the seminar.

Reading list

• Århem, K., 2016. “Southeast Asian animism: A dialogue with Amerindian perspectivism.” In K. Århem and G. Sprenger (eds), Animism in Southeast Asia, pp. 279–301. London: Routledge.
• Astor-Aguilera, M. and Harvey, G. (eds), 2018. Rethinking Relations and Animism: Personhood and Materiality. London and New York: Routledge.
• Bird-David, N., 1999. “Animism revisited: Personhood, environment, and relational epistemology.” Current Anthropology, 40, pp. S67–S91.
• Descola, P., 2013. Beyond Nature and Culture. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Swancutt, K., (2019) 2023. “Animism.” In F. Stein (ed.), The Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Facsimile of the first edition in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Online: http://doi.org/10.29164/19anim
• Ingold, T., 2006. “Rethinking the animate, re-animating thought.” Ethnos, 71(1), pp. 9–20.
• Allerton, C.L., 2009. “Introduction: Spiritual landscapes of Southeast Asia.” In C. Allerton (ed.), Spiritual Landscapes in Southeast Asia: Changing Geographies of Potency and the Sacred, Special Edition of Anthropological Forum, 13(9), pp. 235–251.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: We 22.01.2025 13:26