The history of the anthropology of rituals has been dominated by concerns for elucidating ways in which rituals provide some sort of security and certainty. They have thus been approached as forms of ordering devices providing solutions to problems of various kinds. However, rituals are also often fraught with ambiguities, insecurities, risks, and doubts, and are in many ways deeply problematic. While we acknowledge that rituals may operate as such ordering Devices, we want in this workshop to rethink 'the problem of rituals' by asking how rituals also pose problems in themselves. We therefore invite ethnographic Explorations of the 'problems of rituals' and contributions that address how rituals are both potentially efficacious in various ways and at the same time thrive on insecurity, potential failures, and enduring conundrums. We ask then not solely what problems rituals aim to solve, but also what problems rituals pose to people involved in them.
For more, read Call for Papers.
Participants: Maya Mayblin, Matt Tomlinson, Joe Webster, Tom Bratrud, Signe Howell, Tone Høgblad, Thorgeir Kolshus, Benedikte V. Lindskog, Keir Martin, Jon Henrik Z. Remme, Jone Salomonsen, Mikkel Vindegg.