Re-enchanting Modernity: ritual economy and society in Wenzhou, China

In Re-enchanting Modernity Mayfair Yang examines the resurgence of religious and ritual life after decades of enforced secularization in the coastal area of Wenzhou, China. Drawing on twenty-five years of ethnographic fieldwork, Yang shows how the local practices of popular religion, Daoism, and Bud...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Yang, Mei-hui 1957- (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Durham Duke University Press [2020]
Subjects:
Online Access:DE-12
DE-1043
DE-1046
DE-858
DE-859
DE-860
DE-473
DE-703
DE-739
Volltext
Summary:In Re-enchanting Modernity Mayfair Yang examines the resurgence of religious and ritual life after decades of enforced secularization in the coastal area of Wenzhou, China. Drawing on twenty-five years of ethnographic fieldwork, Yang shows how the local practices of popular religion, Daoism, and Buddhism are based in community-oriented grassroots organizations that create spaces for relative local autonomy and self-governance. Central to Wenzhou's religious civil society is what Yang calls a "ritual economy," in which an ethos of generosity is expressed through donations to temples, clerics, ritual events, and charities in exchange for spiritual gain. With these investments in transcendent realms, Yang adopts Georges Bataille's notion of "ritual expenditures" to challenge the idea that rural Wenzhou's economic development can be described in terms of Max Weber's notion of a "Protestant Ethic". Instead, Yang suggests that Wenzhou's ritual economy forges an alternate path to capitalist modernity
Physical Description:1 Online-Ressource (x, 374 Seiten)
ISBN:9781478009245
DOI:10.1515/9781478009245

There is no print copy available.

Interlibrary loan Place Request Caution: Not in THWS collection! Get full text