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IAHR Durban World Congress Proceedings 2000 IAHR WORLD CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS DURBAN 2000 THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS: ORIGINS AND VISIONS edited by Rosalind I. J. Hackett and Michael Pye ROOTS AND BRANCHES Cambridge 2009 IAHR World Congress Proceedings Durban 2000. The History of Religions: Origins and Visions © 2009 International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) Published by Roots and Branches, Cambridge ISBN 0 9525772 5 9 This book is copyright under the Berne convention. All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for private study or review as permitted under the UK Copyright Act of 1956, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electric, electronic, chemical, mechanical, optical or any other, or by photocopying or recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. All enquiries to the Publications Officer of the IAHR <www.iahr.dk> CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION Congress Announcement 1 Congress Organisation and Committees 3 Acknowledgements 6 IAHR Executive Committees 7 Location and Formalities 8 The IAHR Congress Tradition in Brief 9 CONGRESS SCHEDULE Overall Schedule 10 List of Panels by Title 64 ACADEMIC PROGRAMME 71 Abstracts of Panels and Symposia 72 Abstracts of Individual Papers 92 CONGRESS ADDRESSES AND REPORTS Introductory Note 278 Welcome Address - Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, MP 279 Opening Address - Michael Pye 284 Keynote Lecture - David Chidester 298 General Academic Programme Report - Rosalind I. J. Hackett 327 Cultural Activities - Rosalind I. J. Hackett 333 Administrative Report of the IAHR Durban 2000 Conference - Pratap Kumar 332 FORMAL MEETINGS OF THE IAHR General Secretary’s Report for the Period 1995-2000 338 Meeting of the International Committee of the IAHR 368 The General Assembly of the IAHR 383 PREFACE The 18th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, generally known as the IAHR, took place in Durban, South Africa, 5-12 August 2000. The overall title theme was The History of Religions: Origins and Visions. This was the first time that the quinquennial congress was held on the African continent, and it is generally agreed that it was a great success, organisationally, socially, and academically. In spite of the delay, we feel that it remains important to publish a general record of the congress. This will not only be of interest to many who attended it, but will also assist librarians and specialists in the history of the subject. The first congress in the series was held in Paris in 1900. Since the proceedings of the 1995 congress held in Mexico City have appeared, the present volume will present a clear view of the sequence throughout the whole of the twentieth century. More details about the conferences and proceedings of the IAHR will be found below. In this volume we present a formal record of the congress. This includes not only a report on the academic contents but also various introductory materials and formal documents relating to the on-going work of the IAHR. While some of the latter material has appeared elsewhere, for example in the relevant IAHR Bulletins, it is necessary to include it here as part of the sequential context of the congress. The Editors INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION CONGRESS ANNOUNCEMENT The following is the text of the Congress Announcement issued by the Executive Committee of the IAHR: The International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) is an International body of national societies for the study of religion. It is a member of the Conseil international de la philosophie et des sciences humaines (CIPSH) under UNESCO. It brings together more than a thousand scholars from around the world once every five years for a Congress to discuss, debate and exchange views on the academic study of the religions of the world. The Executive Committee of the IAHR met in July 1997 in Turku, Finland and unanimously decided to hold its XVIII congress in the year 2000 in Durban, South Africa. The Department of Science of Religion at the University of Durban-Westville, in cooperation with key members of the Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa and the African Association for the Study of Religion, has been requested to host the event. This upcoming Congress in August 2000 is significant for a number of symbolic reasons. First, it will be the first IAHR congress ever held on the African Continent. For more than hundred and fifty years academic scholars around the world have been keenly studying the religions of Africa. But this is the first time they will assemble in Africa to take stock of where they came from and where they will be heading. Secondly, the IAHR Congress in the year 2000 will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the IAHR in Amsterdam. Third, it will also mark the 100th anniversary of scientific congresses in the History of Religions discipline. Several questions arise as the year 2000 draws near. First, it would be appropriate to take stock and reflect on where we as an international body of scholars engaged in a common 2 Introductory Information scientific approach are coming from. What are the central themes, the important empirical areas, the debated issues and the shared approaches that have carried us to this point in time? In which parts of the world have we gone wrong, and where have we gone right? How has the history of religions contributed to education and cultural development in general? Second, it would also be appropriate to discuss the directions for the future. In what ways does increasing globalisation change the nature of the subject of our study and our methodlogies? What methodological and theoretical approaches are most appropriate to these challenges? Is the history of religions capable of dealing with these challenges, and is the IAHR doing what it can in these respects? Are we truly engaged in a common endeavour? The Durban Congress seeks in particular to promote the cross-cultural, inter-disciplinary, comparativist and critical study of religion, as well as newer and neglected areas of research. Major strands in the history of religions, which have in the past been covered with a number of separate sections, will be addressed with special reference to transhistorical parallels and the possibility of the diachronic transfer of theoretical questions and analyses. There is also a concern to examine, wherever appropriate, the links between the theoretical, methodological, empirical, and pedagogical aspects of our field of study. To this end, a number of panels and symposia are already being planned on religious education, multiculturalism, the political economy of religious studies, fieldwork, texts and textuality, comparativism, globalization, syncretism, millennialism, shamanism; religion and human rights, civil society, media, cyberspace, diaspora, material and expressive culture, ecology, healing, literature, cognition, cultural studies, tourism, etc. Introductory Information 3 CONGRESS ORGANISATION AND COMMITTEES Congress Host Organisation Department of Science of Religion, University of Durban- Westville, Durban, South Africa Congress Presidents Prof. G.C. Oosthuizen Prof. S. Nadvi Dr. T. Naidoo The Quinquennial Congress Advisory Committee (QCAC) Chair: Prof. Michael Pye (Marburg, Germany) IAHR President Prof. G.C. Oosthuizen (Durban, South Africa) Congress President Prof. S. Nadvi (Durban, South Africa) Congress President Dr. T. Naidoo (Durban, South Africa) Congress President Prof. Peter Antes (Hannover, Germany) Vice President of IAHR Dr. Yolotl Gonzales Torres (Mexico) Vice President of IAHR The International Congress Committee (ICC) Chair: Prof. Armin Geertz (Aarhus, Denmark) - General Secretary of IAHR Prof. Michael Pye (Marburg, Germany) - IAHR President (Ex- officio) Prof. Rosalind I.J. Hackett (Knoxville, TN, USA) - Deputy General Secretary of IAHR Dr. Gerrie ter Haar (Utrecht, The Netherlands) - IAHR Executive Committee Member Prof. G.C. Oosthuizen (Durban, South Africa) - Congress President Prof. S. Nadvi (Durban, South Africa) - Congress President Dr. T. Naidoo (Durban, South Africa) - Congress President Prof. P. Kumar (Durban, South Africa) - Director of the Congress Secretariat Mr. S.Govidsamy (Durban, South Africa) - Treasurer Prof. Jim Kiernan (Durban, South Africa) Prof. A. Song (Durban, South Africa) - Association for the Study of Religion in South Africa Dr. Abdulkader I. Tayob (Cape Town, South Africa) - African Association for the Study of Religion Prof. Jacob Olupona (Nigeria) - African Association for the Study of Religion 4 Introductory Information The Congress Academic Program Committee (CAPC) Chair: Prof. Rosalind I. J. Hackett (Knoxville, Tennessee, USA) The Program Chair extends special thanks to the following people for their logistical, intellectual and creative efforts in making the academic program a reality: J. O. Awolalu Abrahim Khan, Robert Papini, Gerrie ter Haar, Abdulkader Tayob, Elias Bongmba, Bron Taylor, Funso Afolayan, James Fitzgerald, Pablo Wright, Winni Fallers Sullivan, J. A. (Bobby) Loubser, Gerhard van den Heever, Abdullahi A. An-Na'im, Peter Barrett, Sabine Marschall, Keyan Tomaselli, G. C. (Pippin) Oosthuizen, Cindy Hoehler-Fatton, Martin Baumann, Bill Paden, Carol Brown, Dennis Schauffer, Thillay Naidoo, Isabel Phiri, Stephen Flanigan, Michael Collier, Shawn Arthur, Andy Phillips, the IAHR officer team, Michael Pye, Armin Geertz and Gary Lease, and the tireless host team, Pratap Kumar, Suleman Dangor, Silver Henry and
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