Abstract of volanteered paper

Anthropological Contributions to Spiritual Ecology:

A Retrospective and Prospective Critical Analysis

For more than a century and a half anthropologists have studied various aspects of religion and spirituality. Since the 19th century anthropologists such as Edward B. Tylor and Sir James Frazer occasionally touched on the relationships between religion and/or spirituality on the one hand and aspects of ecology and/or environment on the other. Indeed, this is almost inevitable with some subjects like Animism. However, only since the mid-1960s have anthropologists gradually developed a special focus on these relationships identified here as spiritual ecology. Although the research and publications of Roy A. Rappaport are often recognized in this regard, in more recent decades several other anthropologists have made especially important contributions to this subject. Among these are Kelly D. Alley, Eugene N. Anderson, J. Steven Lansing, Richard K. Nelson, Darrell A. Posey, and Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff. This paper reviews the work of a sample of these pioneers in historical perspective, critically assesses their contributions and limitations, and identifies some major needs for future research in this field. Anthropological research will also be placed within the larger context of the interdisciplinary study of the relationships among religion, nature, and culture.

Leslie E. Sponsel (University of Hawai`i)

Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel (Chaminade University)