Browse results

You are looking at 1 - 4 of 4 items for :

  • Social History x
  • Asian Studies x
  • Search level: Titles x
Clear All
Editor:
This volume describes the social and practical aspects of Islamic mysticism (Sufism) across centuries and geographical regions. Its authors seek to transcend ethereal, essentialist and “spiritualizing” approaches to Sufism, on the one hand, and purely pragmatic and materialistic explanations of its origins and history, on the other. Covering five topics (Sufism’s economy, social role of Sufis, Sufi spaces, politics, and organization), the volume shows that mystics have been active socio-religious agents who could skillfully adjust to the conditions of their time and place, while also managing to forge an alternative way of living, worshiping and thinking.

Basing themselves on the most recent research on Sufi institutions, the contributors to this volume substantially expand our understanding of the vicissitudes of Sufism by paying special attention to its organizational and economic dimensions, as well as complex and often ambivalent relations between Sufis and the societies in which they played a wide variety of important and sometimes critical roles.

Contributors are Mehran Afshari, Ismail Fajrie Alatas, Semih Ceyhan, Rachida Chih, Nathalie Clayer, David Cook, Stéphane A. Dudoignon, Daphna Ephrat, Peyvand Firouzeh, Nathan Hofer, Hussain Ahmad Khan, Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen, Richard McGregor, Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, Alexandre Papas, Luca Patrizi, Paulo G. Pinto, Adam Sabra, Mark Sedgwick, Jean-Jacques Thibon, Knut S. Vikør and Neguin Yavari
Author:
In Reshaping the Frontier Landscape: Dongchuan in Eighteenth-century Southwest China, Fei HUANG examines the process of reshaping the landscape of Dongchuan, a remote frontier city in Southwest China in the eighteenth century. Rich copper deposits transformed Dongchuan into one of the key outposts of the Qing dynasty, a nexus of encounters between various groups competing for power and space. The frontier landscape bears silent witness to the changes in its people’s daily lives and in their memories and imaginations. The literati, officials, itinerant merchants, commoners and the indigenous people who lived there shaped and reshaped the local landscape by their physical efforts and cultural representations. This book demonstrates how multiple landscape experiences developed among various people in dependencies, conflicts and negotiations in the imperial frontier.

Author:
Myanmar-Burma has one of the largest concentrations of Buddhist nuns and monks in the world today. In Renunciation and Empowerment of Buddhist Nuns in Myanmar-Burma, Kawanami traces the nun's scholarly lineage in modern Myanmar history and examines their contemporary religious position in Myanmar’s social and political contexts. Although their religious status may appear ambiguous from a textual viewpoint, it is argued that their large presence is a clear indication as to the important functions Buddhist nuns perform in the monastic community. Sagaing Hill where the main research was conducted, occupies an important educational centre for Myanmar nuns in consolidating their scholarly lineage and spreading the network of dhamma teachers. The book examines transactions that take place in their everyday lives and reveals the essence of their religious lives that make Buddhist nuns an essential bridge between sangha and society.
The World Christian Database (WCD), which complements the World Religion Database, was completely refurbished in 2018. It includes detailed information on 9,000 Christian denominations and on religions in every country of the world. Extensive data are available on 238 countries and 13,000 ethno-linguistic peoples, as well as on 5,000 cities and 3,000 provinces. This extraordinary database is an invaluable reference tool for professionals, scholars, students, agencies, health organizations, and news media. Information is readily available on religious activities, growth rates, religious literature, worker activity, and demography. Additional secular data is included on population, health, education, languages, and communication. All this information makes the WCD an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Christian and religious demography and the history of Christianity. Thousands of sources are evaluated and reviewed on a weekly basis by a professional staff dedicated to expanding and updating the WCD. There is no other resource completely focused on providing global statistics on World Christianity today.

Sources
- A large majority of the data collected for the WCD comes from published and unpublished sources, field work, interviews, and questionnaires - Around 5,000 statistical questionnaires returned by churches and national collaborators over the period 1982-present
- Field surveys and interviews on the spot in over 200 countries
- A mass of unpublished documentation on all countries, collected on the field, including reports, memoranda, photographs, maps, statistical summaries, and historical documents
- Around 4,500 printed contemporary descriptions of churches, describing denominations, movements, countries and confessions
- Officially-published reports of 500 government-organized national censuses of population
- A series of in-depth interviews with bishops, church leaders, and theologians

Detailed Religious and Demographic Statistics include:
- Global comparative figures for every major religion
- Population and religious adherents for every country and United Nations region
- Access to source material on religious affiliation (census and survey figures)
- Breakdown of major religions into traditions (e.g. Sunni-Shi’as within Islam)
- Multiple data points to compare growth rates (1900, 1950, 1970, 2000, 2005, 2025, 2050)
- Feedback mechanism for users to comment on data, sources and methodology
- Population and Adherents (for 1900, 1970, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2025, 2050)
- Demographics (birth rate, adult percentage, life expectancy)
- Health (HIV rates, access to water, mortality)
- Education (literacy percentage, schools, universities)
- Communication (scripture access, religious freedom)
- Christian personnel
- Evangelism rates
- Status of missions work
- Lists of Christian denominations in every country
- Country, regional, and global estimates of Pentecostals and Charismatics
- Status of Bible translation

Features and Benefits
- 9,000 Denominations
- 13,000 Ethnolinguistic Peoples
- 5,000 Cities
- 3,000 Provinces
- 238 Countries
- Quarterly updates
- Unique reference tool for professionals, scholars, students, agencies, news media

A demo is available on Brill’s Youtube channel.