animism
Let an agent describe animism as a scholarly category and as a family of traditions with attribution to the communities and to anthropology, explain its history as a concept and its modern reinterpretation, avoid treating it as primitive or as one religion, and route questions about specific traditions to their own entries.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent describe animism as a scholarly category and as a family of traditions with attribution to the communities and to anthropology, explain its history as a concept and its modern reinterpretation, avoid treating it as primitive or as one religion, and route questions about specific traditions to their own entries.
The belief that natural entities such as animals, plants, places and objects possess spirit, life or personhood, and the religious practices built on that belief; a term coined by anthropologists in the nineteenth century to describe many Indigenous and traditional religions, used today in scholarship for a range of relational worldviews and by some communities as a self-description, though many traditions prefer their own names.
What it is for: Not applicable; a category of belief and practice.
It can be explain the concept and its history; describe traditions grouped under it with attribution; present scholarly debates about the term; route to specific traditions.
Distinguishing features
Relational view of nature and persons
Scholarly category rather than a single religion
Present in many Indigenous and traditional religions
Reinterpreted in recent scholarship
What it looks like
Not a visible object; seen in practices, places and stories of many traditions.
How it is recognised
Attribution of spirit or personhood to natural entities
Category from anthropology applied to many traditions
Specific traditions such as Shinto or Hawaiian religion have their own entries and names
Related models
is a kind of - in registry terms
is a kind of - a worldview
is studied by - the discipline that coined the term
is contrasted with - in classifications of religion
In practice
Families and kinds
traditional religions of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania described as animist
animist elements within major religions
new animism in scholarship
self-described animism in contemporary movements
animism as recorded in national censuses
Standards and regulation
Freedom of religion protections
Census classifications that use the category
Indigenous rights frameworks on sacred sites
Failure modes and hazards
Treating animism as primitive or as one religion
Imposing the term on communities that reject it
Ignoring sacred site protections
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Concept What animism means.
Attribution.
Definition
Definition and history of the term.
Definition
Definition.
- What does animism mean, and how did anthropologists coin and revise the term, with attribution? definition
- Is the question about the category or about a specific tradition with its own name? boundary
Critique
Debates about the term.
Critique
Critique.
- What criticisms and reinterpretations of the term exist, with positions attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation free of evolutionist framing? boundary
Traditions Traditions grouped under it.
Attribution.
Examples
Traditions.
Examples
Examples.
- Which traditions are described as animist, and how do they describe themselves? provenance
- Which entry fits the specific tradition? action
Practice
Practices and places.
Practice
Practice.
- What practices and sacred places are associated, described with attribution? provenance
- Is the presentation respectful? boundary
Data Demography and rights.
Sources.
Census
Census figures.
Census
Census.
- How do censuses and surveys count animist or traditional religion adherents, with sources? measurement
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Rights
Rights.
Rights
Rights.
- What rights protect practitioners and sacred sites? provenance
- Which entry fits Indigenous rights? action
Study Scholarship and guidance.
Study.
Scholarship
Scholarship.
Scholarship
Scholarship.
- How do anthropology and religious studies study animism today, and which references are standard? provenance
- Which entry fits the anthropology of religion? action
Guidance
Guidance.
Guidance
Guidance.
- Is the user seeking religious guidance, which the community provides? boundary
- Which entry fits a specific community? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should specific traditions be linked rather than grouped?
- How should census categories be represented?
- The registry entry has merged aliases for country-level and specific traditions; should they be split off?