John Eade
I am a professor in sociology and anthropology at the University of Roehampton, London, and Visiting Professor, University of Toronto. I work on pilgrimage, urban ethnicity, identity politics and global migration.
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In conceptual terms, the paper seeks to compare the three European case studies in order to develop an understanding of “layered resilience”. By this we mean the intersection of local political strategies and public administration practices, on the one hand, and the different ways in which members from ethnic minority backgrounds seek to come to terms with the “new normal” of pandemic life, on the other. We focus particularly on the role played here by migrant religious associations, civic self-help groups and charismatic gatekeepers.
In our analysis, we will provide a better understanding of what Fukuyama has described as “state capacity” in contrast to conventional state power. We will also draw on what Appadurai has aptly termed the ‘capacity to aspire’ in order to capture the everyday skills that people deploy to actively navigate the near and distant future.
The contemporary proliferation of pilgrimage routes across northern Europe is remarkable given the destruction of shrines during the Protestant Reformation and the concomitant rapid decline in those walking to those shrines, except in Ireland and in one of Baltic States studied here, Lithuania. While pilgrimage revived as a religious practice in England during the early twentieth century , contemporary pilgrimage has become more inclusive, being bound up with the increasing popularity of walking as a leisure activity in Europe after the Second World War, the increasing degree of individual choice, the reinterpretation of pilgrimage as a "spiritual" journey and increasing interest in heritage. In both the Baltic States and England the camino to Santiago de Compostela serves as an influential model but national factors (political, cultural and social) are also important.
Beyond the Representational Approach: Lived and Material Religion and Landscape
In conceptual terms, the paper seeks to compare the three European case studies in order to develop an understanding of “layered resilience”. By this we mean the intersection of local political strategies and public administration practices, on the one hand, and the different ways in which members from ethnic minority backgrounds seek to come to terms with the “new normal” of pandemic life, on the other. We focus particularly on the role played here by migrant religious associations, civic self-help groups and charismatic gatekeepers. In our analysis, we will provide a better understanding of what Fukuyama has described as “state capacity” in contrast to conventional state power. We will also draw on what Appadurai has aptly termed the ‘capacity to aspire’ in order to capture the everyday skills that people deploy to actively navigate the near and distant future.
In this collection of three articles that draw on ethnographic
research and a more theoretical afterword, we seek to stimulate
debate and substantive analysis by looking beyond the dominant
approaches towards religion, state, and society through a focus on
pilgrimage from a relational perspective. Rather than draw on
explanations that concentrate on human actions, meanings, and
interpretations, such as those informed by representational, interpretive, and hermeneutic approaches to human thought and practice, we explore the relationship between humans and those who
could be defined as ‘other-than-humans’ or ‘non-humans’, such as
animals, plants, and things, and who are seen as possessing their
own being and immanent agency where they affect humans rather
than just being the object of our affections or control. We begin by
introducing the dominant approaches towards religion and pilgrimage and then outline the ways in which alternative avenues
have been explored through a relational approach towards the links
between people, places, and materialities. The four contributions
are then introduced and the key points drawn out before discussing
how this collection can encourage the exploration of avenues
beyond the dominant approach, not only in pilgrimage research
but also in the study of religion, state, and society more generally.