Anthropological workshop Politicization, Heritigization and Sensualization in Contemporary Catholicism
Zapraszamy nas spotkanie poświęcone antropologicznej refleksji nad współczesnym katolicyzmem
Anthropological reflection on modern Catholicism explores a growing range of aspects that reflect the internal complexity and dynamics of the denomination, and illustrate the way in which Catholicism becomes enmeshed with ongoing social and cultural processes. Academic explorations of Catholicism reveal a multiplicity of forms and rites, and an intense theoretical and practical engagement in political and economic life. Catholicism today is perceived as more than a religious denomination. It also functions as a source of political capital and cultural heritage. In this respect it is a highly polarised phenomenon containing liberal and inclusive varieties on the one hand, and exclusivist, nationalist-leaning forms on the other, where the nation and its religion are perceived as an organic whole. Those two tendencies are locked in a state of unpredictable cultural war, with a spectrum of possible ideas and configurations situated between the two extremes.
Our one-day workshop devoted to anthropological reflection on modern Catholicism will broaden discussion on the transformations of Catholicism, its cultural and social roles, and the analytical instruments and concepts that we can bring to bear on the phenomenon to make it easier to grasp. Starting with the concept of religious imaginaries proposed by Thomas Csordas, we will describe the way the religious sphere gets formed and filled with the content of daily life. The workshop is an invitation to reflect on the things that become part of religion, and on the ways in which this process takes place. In doing so we wish to encourage explorations of the connections between embodied religiosity and its political and cultural dimensions.
Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska, Magdalena Lubańska
This workshop is a part of the project “Multisensory Religious Imageries in Selected Catholic Shrines in South-Eastern Poland” funded by the National Science Centre (DEC- 2013/11/B/HS3/01443).
