The Hidden Powers of Ritual by Bradd Shore

The Hidden Powers of Ritual by Bradd Shore

An illuminating overview of the development, benefits, and importance of ritual in everyday life, written by a leading cognitive anthropologist.

The Hidden Powers of Ritual is an engaging introduction to ritual studies that presents ritual as an evolved form of human behavior of almost unimaginable significance to our species. Every day across the globe, people gather to share meals, brew caffeinated beverages, or honor their ancestors. In this book, Bradd Shore, a respected anthropologist, reaches beyond familiar "big-R" rituals to present life's humbler, overshadowed moments, exploring everything from the Balinese pelebon to baseball to family Zoom sessions in the age of Covid to the sobering reenactment rituals surrounding the Moore's Ford lynchings. In each ritual, Shore shows how our capacity to ritualize behavior is a remarkable part of the human story.

Encompassing both the commonly unlabeled "interaction rituals" studied by sociologists and the symbolically elaborated sacred rituals of religious studies, Shore organizes his conception around detailed case studies drawn from international research and personal experience, weaving scholarship with a memoir of a life encompassed by ritual. A probing exploration that matches breadth with accessibility, The Hidden Powers of Ritual is a provocative contribution to ritual theory that will appeal to a wide range of readers curious about why these unique repetitive acts matter in our lives.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780262546584
ISBN 10	0262546582
Title	The Hidden Powers of Ritual
Author	Bradd Shore
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	MIT Press Ltd
Year published	2023-12-12
Number of pages	348
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.