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    The Firm and the Formless: Religion and Identity in Aboriginal Australia
    The Fixed and the Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand
    Ebook series2 titles

    Religion and Identity Series

    By Hans Mol

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    About this series

    This volume is woven around the idea that wholeness (the firm) and fragmentation (risking formlessness) alternate in human affairs. This theme is applied to the history and the present condition of Australian Aboriginals. Their religion is seen as a way to bolster a precarious identity and to affirm order in an existence which would otherwise become formless. It deals with totemism as a form of ordering a variety of often conflicting identities. The author describes the modern predicament of Aborigines in Australian society and concludes that their revitalization will occur only when they manage to make economic self-sufficiency subordinate to a viable and firm view of existence. He critically integrates into his analyses and interpretations the positions of such well-known scholars as Frazer, Durkheim, Freud, Lévi-Strauss, Radcliffe-Brown, Eliade, and Stanner. The volume will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology, and religion.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilfrid Laurier University Press
    Release dateJan 1, 2006
    The Firm and the Formless: Religion and Identity in Aboriginal Australia
    The Fixed and the Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand

    Titles in the series (2)

    • 1

      The Fixed and the Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand
      The Fixed and the Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand

      The Fixed and the Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand

      Hans Mol
      0 ratings
      0 ratings

      This volume describes the effect of religion on the identity of the native Maoris and Pakehas (white settlers in New Zealand. The description is woven around the idea that the fixed (identity) is constantly "unglued" by the fickle (change). The Maori charismatic movements are seen as attempts to absorb the devastating effects of Pakeha incursion into a viable system of meaning. Yet the white white settlers, too, had to tame the discontinuities with the past and the ravages of cultural change. Religion is seen to be at the forefront of the struggle to defend and reinforce the boundaries around the variety of identities. In presenting his thesis, the author has brought together a wide range of information—other anthropological and sociological studies, historical accounts, official statements, and religious census data. The volume will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology, and religion.

      This volume describes the effect of religion on the identity of the native Maoris and Pakehas (white settlers in New Zealand. The description is woven around the idea that the fixed (identity) is constantly "unglued" by the fickle (change). The Maori charismatic movements are seen as attempts to absorb the devastating effects of Pakeha incursion into a viable system of meaning. Yet the white white settlers, too, had to tame the discontinuities with the past and the ravages of cultural change. Religion is seen to be at the forefront of the struggle to defend and reinforce the boundaries around the variety of identities. In presenting his thesis, the author has brought together a wide range of information—other anthropological and sociological studies, historical accounts, official statements, and religious census data. The volume will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology, and religion.

    • 2

      The Firm and the Formless: Religion and Identity in Aboriginal Australia
      The Firm and the Formless: Religion and Identity in Aboriginal Australia

      The Firm and the Formless: Religion and Identity in Aboriginal Australia

      Hans Mol
      5/5 - 1 rating
      5/5 - 1 rating

      This volume is woven around the idea that wholeness (the firm) and fragmentation (risking formlessness) alternate in human affairs. This theme is applied to the history and the present condition of Australian Aboriginals. Their religion is seen as a way to bolster a precarious identity and to affirm order in an existence which would otherwise become formless. It deals with totemism as a form of ordering a variety of often conflicting identities. The author describes the modern predicament of Aborigines in Australian society and concludes that their revitalization will occur only when they manage to make economic self-sufficiency subordinate to a viable and firm view of existence. He critically integrates into his analyses and interpretations the positions of such well-known scholars as Frazer, Durkheim, Freud, Lévi-Strauss, Radcliffe-Brown, Eliade, and Stanner. The volume will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology, and religion.

      This volume is woven around the idea that wholeness (the firm) and fragmentation (risking formlessness) alternate in human affairs. This theme is applied to the history and the present condition of Australian Aboriginals. Their religion is seen as a way to bolster a precarious identity and to affirm order in an existence which would otherwise become formless. It deals with totemism as a form of ordering a variety of often conflicting identities. The author describes the modern predicament of Aborigines in Australian society and concludes that their revitalization will occur only when they manage to make economic self-sufficiency subordinate to a viable and firm view of existence. He critically integrates into his analyses and interpretations the positions of such well-known scholars as Frazer, Durkheim, Freud, Lévi-Strauss, Radcliffe-Brown, Eliade, and Stanner. The volume will be of interest to students of sociology, anthropology, and religion.

    Author

    Hans Mol

    Hans J. Mol holds the Ph.D. degree in sociology from Columbia University, New York. He has held academic positions in New Zealand and Australia and is now professor in the Religious Studies Department of McMaster University. His best–known books are Religion in Australia, Western Religion, and Identity and the Sacred.

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