Our Insights

This articles showcases major perspectives within the anthropology of religion and other social sciences that study religion.

Traditionally involving the rubbing of ink into deep cuts for reasons such as spirituality or right-of-passage, ‘tattoo’ is derived from the Tahitian word ta-tu, or ‘to strike’. Widely attributed to Australasian, Micronesian and Papuan communities, ancient hand-poked tattooing has been recorded across the world (Deter-Wolf, 2013), from the Romans and Vikings of Europe to the Aztecs and Native tribes of the Americas, representing status and often indicating life achievements.

Across anthropology, the work of philosopher and historian Michel Foucault has been hugely influential in understanding how different systems of power emerge and interact throughout history (Lynch, 2013). Identifying sovereign power, disciplinary power and biopower as ways that dominant powers cause a citizen to yield to the will of the state (Foucault, 1982), Foucault also highlighted how the production of ‘docile bodies’ that positively self-regulate to engage with and repr

"Western" romantic love is not solely based on affection. It is entangled in neoliberal subject-making and economic exchange processes.

Exploring the history and future of kinship through an anthropological perspective.

This article explores the relationship between aging and personhood, particularly among immigrant seniors in North America.