John Eade | Roehampton University (original) (raw)

Books by John Eade

According to the 2021 Census of England and Wales 644,881 people identified themselves as Banglad... more According to the 2021 Census of England and Wales 644,881 people identified themselves as Bangladeshis or 1.1 per cent of the total population. This represented a 42.9 per cent increase from the 451,529 recorded in the 2011 census 1a massive increase that largely reflected the youthful demographic of Bangladeshi settlement. The vast majority of Bangladeshis lived in English urban areas and almost half (322,054)) were located across the Greater London area. 2 The most popular London borough for Bangladeshis was Tower Hamlets, which bordered London's global financial hub and historic centrethe City of London. By 2021 312,273 people were recorded as living in the borough, 3 of which 107,333 or 34.6 per cent were Bangladeshis, i.e. by far the largest ethnic group. 4 Although Tower Hamlets was widely considered to be heart of the Bangladeshi community, the neighbouring boroughs of Newham and Waltham Forest to the east and Camden Town to the north also contained substantial numbers of Bangladeshis. Despite the dominant presence of Bangladeshis in Tower Hamlets, the borough had attracted other minority ethnic groups. As the borough profile noted: The borough is ranked as the 16th most ethnically diverse local authority in England in terms of the mix of different ethnic group populations. More than two thirds of our residents belong to minority ethnic groups. ... the most significant population growth in recent years was among EU nationals. 5 Although ethnicity was socially and culturally important, the ties of social class cut across ethnic boundaries, reflecting the long history of the area as a predominantly working class

Approaching Pilgrimage: Methodological Issues Involved in Researching Routes, Sites, and Practices, 2024

This is a pre-print of a chapter in a co-edited volume (with M. Katic) in the Routledge Series on... more This is a pre-print of a chapter in a co-edited volume (with M. Katic) in the Routledge Series on Pilgrimage, Religious Travel and Tourism. The chapter draws on my experience of working at the renowned Marian shrine of Lourdes in France for 32 years and describes the changes taking place in bathing practices during that time as a observer participant/participant observer. This leads to a discussion of how my experience is linked to identity and change and direct and indirect modes of communication. The final section of the chapter discusses my continuing involvement in pilgrimage drawing on my more recent participation in pilgrimage walks organised by the British Pilgrimage Trust and my academic involvement with fellow researchers on pilgrimage in the European region and more globally.

An Introduction to Immigrant Incorporation Studies, , 2014

This chapter will examine the academic models developed to understand cultural diversity generate... more This chapter will examine the academic models developed to understand cultural diversity generated by global migration. The focus will be on how those models have engaged with multiculturalism as state policy and practice in N. America and Europe. Attention will also be paid to the relationship between multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism across an expanding European Union and the limited empirical research undertaken on everyday multicultural and cosmopolitan discourses and practices across the region.

Qualitative Market Research, 2023

Purpose-Pilgrimage brings humans and other-than-humans together through a dual processmovement ac... more Purpose-Pilgrimage brings humans and other-than-humans together through a dual processmovement across space and the transformation of space through the process of sacralisation. This paper aims to explore this dual process by outlining the development of qualitative research on contemporary pilgrimage where the dominant representational approach which focuses on human agency has been complemented by a relational perspective where statues, springs and rocks, for example, are seen as possessing their own agency that influences human action. Design/methodology/approach-This paper describes the development of qualitative research on contemporary pilgrimage by bringing together both the representational and relational approach and drawing on the author's experience of pilgrimage over many years and his reflections on that experience as a trained qualitative researcher. Findings-This paper explores the ways in which the dominant representational approach in pilgrimage studies can be complemented by the relational approach by drawing on the author's experience of pilgrimage in three different contexts Originality/value-The paper is original by bringing together both the representational and relational perspectives, contextualising them through the author's experience of different types of pilgrimage and linking pilgrimage to the wider issues of migration, space and agency.

Landscapes of Christianity, 2022

This chapter is a contribution to the Landscapes of Christianity volume edited by James Bielo and... more This chapter is a contribution to the Landscapes of Christianity volume edited by James Bielo and Amos Ron. I explore the ways in which the landscape at Lourdes has been physically and discursively sacralized. I focus on two types of water - (a) the River Gave which runs down from the Pyrenees and through the town and (b) the spring uncovered by St Bernadette during her seances in 1858. I discuss the ways in which bathing in the spring water has been organized over time drawing on my experience as a helper in the official baths since the late 1960s.

During the last twenty years around the world there has been a rapid increase in the number of pe... more During the last twenty years around the world there has been a rapid increase in the number of people visiting long established religious shrines as well as the creation of new sites by those operating outside the boundaries of institutional religion. This increase is intimately associated with the revival of traditional routes, the creation of new ones and the invention of new rituals (religious, spiritual and secular). To examine this process I will focus on the European region and two contrasting destinations in particular-the Catholic shrine of Lourdes, France, and the pre-Christian shrine of Avebury, England-drawing on my personal involvement in travelling to both destinations and being involved in ritual activities along the route and at the two destinations. In the discussion section of the paper I will explore the relevance of these two case studies to the analysis of power, agency and performance and the ways in which they expose (a) the role of institutions and entrepreneurs in creating rituals and sacred places and (b) the relationship between people and the domesticated landscape.

Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage , 1991

This chapter will explore the ways in which Roman Catholic institutions seek to control nature in... more This chapter will explore the ways in which Roman Catholic institutions seek to control nature in the form of water through the process of sacralisation. I begin with an historical overview of sacralising the landscape through Catholic pilgrimage and then introduce two theoretical approaches within pilgrimage studies (the phenomenological and relational) towards this process in the context of contemporary pilgrimage. This leads to a detailed case study of Lourdes, one of the most popular European pilgrimage shrines, where the landscape has been radically altered through the process of sacralisation where two types of waterthe spring uncovered by St Bernadette during her visions in 1858 and associated with 'miraculous' healing and the river Gaveplay an ever-present and potentially disruptive role.

Religions, 2020

During the last twenty years around the world there has been a rapid increase in the number of pe... more During the last twenty years around the world there has been a rapid increase in the number of people visiting long established religious shrines as well as the creation of new sites by those operating outside the boundaries of institutional religion. This increase is intimately associated with the revival of traditional routes, the creation of new ones and the invention of new rituals (religious, spiritual and secular). To examine this process, I will focus on the European region and two contrasting destinations in particular-the Catholic shrine of Lourdes, France, and the pre-Christian shrine of Avebury, England-drawing on my personal involvement in travelling to both destinations and being involved in ritual activities along the route and at the two destinations. In the discussion section of the paper, I will explore the relevance of these two case studies to the analysis of power, agency and performance and the ways in which they expose (a) the role of institutions and entrepreneurs in creating rituals and sacred places and (b) the relationship between people and the domesticated landscape.

Pilgrimage and Political Economy, 2018

Introductory chapter which explains the relationship between pilgrimage and political economy and... more Introductory chapter which explains the relationship between pilgrimage and political economy and the need for further research on this relationship

The subjugation of nature by human institutions (religious and secular) to create an ordered, pre... more The subjugation of nature by human institutions (religious and secular) to create an ordered, predictable landscape has a long history. Machu Pichu, Stonehenge, Rome, Jerusalem, Mecca and Varanasi are just some of the most famous sacred places where landscapes reveal how

Despite the different types of pilgrimage (internal, moral and place pilgrimage), they all involv... more Despite the different types of pilgrimage (internal, moral and place pilgrimage), they all involve movement and an engagement with the sacred. Anthropological research has focussed mainly on place pilgrimage and this entry begins by outlining the social and economic processes which have encouraged to growth of this form of pilgrimage since the 1960s. It then proceeds to discuss both religious and non-religious place pilgrimage around the world and illustrates these pilgrimages through particular examples. Key changes in the anthropological study of pilgrimage since the 1970s are considered next and the entry concludes by outlining two promising avenues which researchers are exploring -(a) alternatives to the dominant constructivist approach and (b) attempts to break down the boundaries between Anglophone and non-Anglophone pilgrimage research.

An analysis of how Bengali Muslims negotiated social and cultural identities drawing on research ... more An analysis of how Bengali Muslims negotiated social and cultural identities drawing on research undertaken during 1970 and 1971 and in 1976.

Migration often encourages a process of reflexivity where migrants think about the norms and valu... more Migration often encourages a process of reflexivity where migrants think about the norms and values of their place of origin in relation to their place of settlement. During the 20 th century western cities have been prime locations where this process has been analysed but it is crucial to also look beyond the confines of the city to the surrounding regions and consider how migrants network between the two. This chapter will focus on recent Romanian and Bulgarian migrants to London and the surrounding region through an exploration of their reflections on the secular and religious issues associated with living and working in a new social and cultural environment.

Despite the different types of pilgrimage (internal, moral, and place pilgrimage), they all invol... more Despite the different types of pilgrimage (internal, moral, and place pilgrimage), they all involve movement and an engagement with the sacred. Anthropological research has focused mainly on place pilgrimage and this entry begins by outlining the social and economic processes which have encouraged the growth of this form of pilgrimage since the 1960s. It then proceeds to discuss both religious and nonreligious place pilgrimage around the world and illustrates these pilgrimages through particular examples. Key changes in the anthropological study of pilgrimage since the 1970s are considered next and the entry concludes by outlining two promising avenues which researchers are exploring: (1) alternatives to the dominant constructivist approach; and (2) attempts to break down the boundaries between Anglophone and non‐Anglophone pilgrimage research.

A pioneering study of Bangladeshi Muslim community politics in London's East End during the late ... more A pioneering study of Bangladeshi Muslim community politics in London's East End during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

A pioneering study of Bangladeshi Muslim community politics and the Labour Party in London's East... more A pioneering study of Bangladeshi Muslim community politics and the Labour Party in London's East End during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Approaching Pilgrimage: Methodological Issues Involved in Researching Routes, Sites, and Practices, 2024

An Introduction to Immigrant Incorporation Studies, , 2014

Qualitative Market Research, 2023

Landscapes of Christianity, 2022

Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage , 1991

Religions, 2020

During the last twenty years around the world there has been a rapid increase in the number of pe... more During the last twenty years around the world there has been a rapid increase in the number of people visiting long established religious shrines as well as the creation of new sites by those operating outside the boundaries of institutional religion. This increase is intimately associated with the revival of traditional routes, the creation of new ones and the invention of new rituals (religious, spiritual and secular). To examine this process, I will focus on the European region and two contrasting destinations in particular-the Catholic shrine of Lourdes, France, and the pre-Christian shrine of Avebury, England-drawing on my personal involvement in travelling to both destinations and being involved in ritual activities along the route and at the two destinations. In the discussion section of the paper, I will explore the relevance of these two case studies to the analysis of power, agency and performance and the ways in which they expose (a) the role of institutions and entrepreneurs in creating rituals and sacred places and (b) the relationship between people and the domesticated landscape.

Pilgrimage and Political Economy, 2018

Religion, State and Society, 2022

Religions, Apr 23, 2024

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Inter Faculty, Dec 31, 2020

This article analyses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020 on London's socioeconomic s... more This article analyses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020 on London's socioeconomic structure. After outlining the history of health crises in London during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the city's demographic decline and resurgence, it describes the 2020 pandemic's impact on London's socioeconomic inequalities and the role of home working. Context is provided by describing my own locality and experience while the wider context is discussed through comparison with other highly globalised cities such as Singapore. The article concludes by placing London's 2020 pandemic within a historical perspective as infections increase after the summer holidays and the beginning of the teaching term.

Living the Global City, 2003

Les societes modernes sont des societes en mouvement, qu'il s'agisse du mouvement des per... more Les societes modernes sont des societes en mouvement, qu'il s'agisse du mouvement des personnes, ou de celles des biens, des informations, des connaissances et des valeurs. Cette mobilite generalisee a ete peu analysee en tant que telle jusqu'a present. L'interet de cet ouvrage, qui suit la tenue d'un colloque international organise par l'Institut pour la ville en mouvement a Cerisy en 2003, est de l'aborder de facon pluridisciplinaire sans esquiver aucune des questions qu'elle souleve. Le livre presente ainsi 30 contributions de sociologues, economistes, geographes, anthropologues, historiens, urbanistes, architectes, venus d'Europe, d'Amerique et d'Asie, qui traitent aussi bien des mouvements a l'echelle mondiale dans un contexte de globalisation, que de la mobilite quotidienne des individus, de la transformation des villes et des espaces urbains, des politiques publiques de transports, des dimensions sociales et culturelles des depl...

New Pilgrimage Routes and Trails: 2, 2023

a pre-print paper on the development of new pilgrimage routes across northern Europe deeply influ... more a pre-print paper on the development of new pilgrimage routes across northern Europe deeply influenced by the Protestant Reformation. After the Introduction the paper describes the surprising emergence of pilgrimage routes linking Estonia and Latvia - two countries with a Protestant heritage - with Lithuania where Roman Catholic pilgrimage has a long history. This development has been encouraged by the revival of the 'camino' routes to Compostela and the increasing interest in 'spiritual' and 'secular' forms of pilgrimage. This development is then compared with the longer history of religious, spiritual and secular pilgrimage in England and the Conclusion reflects on the wider relevance of this comparison for the study of contemporary pilgrimage.

Religion, State & Society, 2022

In this collection of three articles that draw on ethnographic research and a more theoretical af... more 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

A reflection for a college publication on the changes taking place since I began my academic care... more A reflection for a college publication on the changes taking place since I began my academic career in 1973 at the college which is now part of the University of Roehampton, London (UK).

Religions, 2024

Although the relationship between religion and football has gained considerable interest during t... more Although the relationship between religion and football has gained considerable interest during the last twenty years, scant attention has been paid to the relationship between pilgrimage and football. This paper seeks to advance the study of this relationship through an exploration of collective memory about football disasters that throws fresh light on central themes within pilgrimage studies-pilgrimage as both a journey to a sacred place and the performance of diverse rituals at such places. The paper explores in particular the ways in which three different tragedies involving English football clubs have been commemorated through journeys to and ritual performance at places seen as sacred to those involved in commemorationfootball stadiums, cathedrals and pilgrimage shrines in England, Germany and Italy. Through this analysis we seek to show how the commemoration of football disaster is linked to pilgrimage as a process where people seek healing and reconciliation through the public performance of rituals that link the local to the global.

Berghahn Books, 2018

List of Illustrations Introduction: Pilgrimage and Political Economy: Introduction to a Research ... more List of Illustrations Introduction: Pilgrimage and Political Economy: Introduction to a Research Agenda Simon Coleman and John Eade Chapter 1. From the Indian Ganges to a Mauritian Lake: Hindu Pilgrimage in a 'Diasporic' Context Mathieu Claveyrolas Chapter 2. Transnational Courting through Shakyamuni Buddha: Japanese Pilgrimage and Geographical Dowries in North India David Geary Chapter 3. Sufism and Pilgrimage Market: A Political Economy of a Shrine in Southern Pakistan Remy Delage Chapter 4. Allah Always Hears the Prayers of a Traveller: Nationalized Shrines and Transnational Imaginaries in Bukhara Maria Louw Chapter 5. 'Pilgrimage Capital' and Bosnian Croat Pilgrimage Places: Bosnian Croat Pilgrimages and Transnational Ties through Time and Space Mario Katic Chapter 6. Translating Catholic Pilgrimage Sites into Energy Grammar: Contested Spiritual Practices in Chartres and Vezelay Anna Fedele Chapter 7. A Pentecostal Shrine in Mexico: Ethnography of Migration and Pilgrimage Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola Chapter 8. The Paths of Saint James in Brazil: Body, Spirituality and Market Carlos Alberto Steil Afterword: Going Beyond the Elusive Nature of Pilgrimage Dionigi Albera Index

Routledge eBooks, Aug 2, 2004

A Question of Identity, Jan 15, 2019

The unity of identity is usually associated with a state of being which is rooted in some long-st... more The unity of identity is usually associated with a state of being which is rooted in some long-standing essence which establishes the distinctiveness of an individual or a group. National identities are widely understood as grounded in a heritage which stretches back into the mists of time. A politics of representation had developed where people were far more aware of the kinds of complexities created by the interweaving of class, race, ethnicity and gender. The public debate about British identity has been shaped by the controversy over immigration and the changing character of British society. The rapid growth of the British Bangladeshi population has been accompanied by its highly concentrated geographical location. The growing Bangladeshi engagement with British urban life has coexisted with close ties to the country of origin. The anthropological tradition clearly reflects important aspects of the everyday life of British Bangladeshis and other ‘ethnic minorities’.

The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 2018

Religions, 2024

Community Development Journal, Oct 1, 1992

Review of Religious Research

The text engages with the ongoing discussion about the role played by religion in social life, wi... more The text engages with the ongoing discussion about the role played by religion in social life, with attention paid to transnational dynamics of religiosity in migrants’ individual experiences, expectations and modes of involvement. We concentrate on the research problem: how does the Roman Catholic Church, through the networks of the faithful, facilitate, challenge, and intersect with the adaptation or integration of migrants in their new settings? The study draws on a survey conducted with a sample ( n = 620) Polish Catholics in Great Britain in 2019. With the cluster analysis, we distinguished five categories of participants in parish life. The results of the study concern the declared expectations of the respondents in the confessional and non-confessional (charity, leisure, tourist, or cultural) activities. It shows two paths of respondents’ religious experience: the old parochialism and the new one. The first attitude, represents a general religious-community context, while the...

Qualititative Market Research, 2023

Mobility and space involves both humans and other-than-humans. Pilgrimage brings humans and other... more Mobility and space involves both humans and other-than-humans. Pilgrimage brings humans and other-than-humans together through a dual process-movement across space and the transformation of space through the process of sacralisation. I explore this dual process by outlining the development of qualitative research on contemporary pilgrimage where the dominant, representational approach, which focuses on human agency, has been complemented by a relational perspective where statues, springs and rocks, for example, are

pilgrimage publications, 2023

This is a draft of publications on contemporary pilgrimage mostly in Europe that appeared between... more This is a draft of publications on contemporary pilgrimage mostly in Europe that appeared between 2020 qnd 2022

Discussing projects undertaken between 2021 and 2022, the presenters provided a range of interdis... more Discussing projects undertaken between 2021 and 2022, the presenters provided a range of interdisciplinary perspectives (anthropology, sociology, sociolinguistics, vulnerability studies and applied linguistics), perspectives on UK government policy and practice (Runnymede Trust) and from within specific diasporic communities (Bangladeshis in the UK, Peruvians in Italy and Turks in Feuerbach, Stuttgart) and other nations (Bangladesh). Each in their own way, they discussed the inequalities which the pandemic had highlighted and exacerbated.

online workshop, 2022

which links the Volkswagen project I talked about to the AoB group to colleagues in Dhaka and Hal... more which links the Volkswagen project I talked about to the AoB group to colleagues in Dhaka and Halima Begum, a British Bangladeshi who is CEO of the Runnymede Trust and an old friend See list of speakers and link below to register https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/who-to-trust-in-a-pandemic-the-local-responses-of-bangladeshisand-other-ethnic-groups-to-government-actors-during-covid-19<https:// eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kcl.ac.uk%2Fevents% 2Fwho-to-trust-in-a-pandemic-the-local-responses-of-bangladeshis-and-other-ethnic-groupsto-government-actors-during-covid-19&data=05%7C01%7CJ.Eade%40roehampton.ac.uk% 7C4437415bd2f140fe081308dab68a15e2%7C5fe650635c3747fbb4cce42659e607ed%7C0% 7C0%7C638023001435979864%7CUnknown% 7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0% 3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qhyfs37DdR2ez4Io%2BSj0ah6sG%2F0Y7ON12byE6HLDuQo %3D&reserved=0>

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.

Religion, State and Society, 2022

Given the predominantly secular approach by anthropologists and sociologists towards religion we ... more Given the predominantly secular approach by anthropologists and sociologists towards religion we contend that a discussion of the researcher's positionality with regard to faith and belief, as well as the autoethnographic approach in pilgrimage studies, is methodologically important. Drawing on years of volunteering at two pilgrimage sites, we explore what kind of methodological impact our role as volunteers and our private lives has had on both research at and interpretations of the pilgrimage sites. For one of us working as a volunteer was a personal choice motivated by faith, while for the other it was based on the pragmatics of doing research. In both cases gaining access involved the generation of social capital through the gifting of time and free labour within a hierarchical structure of power exchange. Our role as volunteers gave us an opportunity to explore the faith-based positionality and self-interest which informs pilgrimage volunteering and involves power exchange. Our paper seeks to show how we address our own religious beliefs but, at the same time, stay grounded in ethnographic observations and analysis.

Submitted to a volume edited by D. Olsen, D. Munro and I. McIntosh (eds), New Pilgrimage Routes and Trails, Bern, Switzerland: P. Lang., 2022

A paper written with Tiina Sepp which examines the revival of pilgrimage routes in northern Europ... more A paper written with Tiina Sepp which examines the revival of pilgrimage routes in northern Europe through a comparison between the Baltic States and England. The authors largely draw on ethnographic data based on interviews with walkers in Estonia and participant observation of one way walks in England organised by the British Pilgrimage Trust.

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.

Religions, 2020

Journeys, 2020

update paper for special issue on knowing and not-knowing in the context of pilgrimage

Journeys, 2020

The millions visiting pilgrimage sites across the world attest to the continuing social, politica... more The millions visiting pilgrimage sites across the world attest to the continuing social, political and economic significance of religion. The popularity of pilgrimage is partly driven by the expansion of global communications and the travel and tourism industry (a major contributor to the expansion of the service sector). Many shrines have adapted very successfully to technological change and even in the European region where engagement in Christian beliefs and practices has declined, especially in W. Europe, pilgrimage sites attract widespread interest and new routes are being invented or old ones revived. It is a mistake to see pilgrimage as just a 'traditional' survival or to simply contrast religious pilgrimage with secular tourism. In this article I want to explore the adaptation by pilgrimage shrines to technological change since the mid-19 th century by focussing on a very popular and well publicised Christian shrine-the Roman Catholic sanctuary of Lourdes near the Pyrenees in southwest France. Knowledge about this shrine was disseminated through the growth of mass media associated with the expansion of literacy. During the second half of the nineteenth century newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and postcards found their way across both European rural and urban societies facilitated by an expanding international railway network. Photography played an important role in this dissemination of knowledge, making saints and shrines more visible and the camera played an important role in the portrayal of dramatic events associated with them. Lourdes emerged as a particularly controversial shrine because of people's claims to having been miraculously healed there. The body became a prime focus of the photographic gaze in this context and photographs of the 'sick' body were quickly pressed into service as objective 'evidence' of dramatic healing.

This is the prospectus for the international workshop held on October 14 at the University of Roe... more This is the prospectus for the international workshop held on October 14 at the University of Roehampton, convened by J. Eade and N. Stadler

This paper overlaps with another unpublished paper which I uploaded a few days ago. It combines b... more This paper overlaps with another unpublished paper which I uploaded a few days ago. It combines both a discussion of pilgrimage studies, in general, and Lourdes, in particular. I draw on my first period of working at Lourdes, i.e. between 1968 and 1992, but I also add a section on the economic dimension of pilgrimage through a reflection on the career of a hotel owner, and a good friend who was also a central figure within the pilgrimage confraternity (the Hospitality of Our Lady of Lourdes). Religion and business can work together!

Pilgrimage and Academic Journeys, 2019

Since the late 1980s there has been a massive increase in academic research and writing about div... more Since the late 1980s there has been a massive increase in academic research and writing about diverse types of pilgrimage (religious, spiritual, secular etc) and hybrid forms (pilgrimage tourism). Yet in the rapid growth of pilgrimage studies relatively little attention has been paid to the researcher’s personal engagement. This is surprising given the influence of Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture where Victor and Edith Turner make clear their commitment as Roman Catholics and Edith Turner’s subsequent writing on Catholic pilgrimage as well as the detailed discussion by Jill Dubisch of her position as a female ethnographer in various ethnographic studies (Dubisch 1995, Michalowski and Dubisch 2001). I seek here to fill this gap by drawing on my experience as a voluntary worker at the famous Roman Catholic shrine of Lourdes in France which I visited every year for a week between 1968 and 1992 and then again from 2014. Since my most intense experience was working as a helper in the baths, I examine the changing procedures concerning bathing and my own sensuous experience of bathing. More generally, Lourdes provides a fine case study of the role played by water in the relationship between the material and human world.

H. Callan (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology (John Wiley & Sons Ltd.) , 2018

Despite the different types of pilgrimage (internal, moral and place pilgrimage), they all involv... more Despite the different types of pilgrimage (internal, moral and place pilgrimage), they all involve movement and an engagement with the sacred. Anthropological research has focussed mainly on place pilgrimage and this entry begins by outlining the social and economic processes which have encouraged to growth of this form of pilgrimage since the 1960s. It then proceeds to discuss both religious and non-religious place pilgrimage around the world and illustrates these pilgrimages through particular examples. Key changes in the anthropological study of pilgrimage since the 1970s are considered next and the entry concludes by outlining two promising avenues which researchers are exploring – (a) alternatives to the dominant constructivist approach and (b) attempts to break down the boundaries between Anglophone and non-Anglophone pilgrimage research.

Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology

This article reviews the development of pilgrimage studies through the following themes: Introduc... more This article reviews the development of pilgrimage studies through the following themes: Introduction; Defining Pilgrimage; Development of the Anthropological Study of Pilgrimage; Methods: Qualitative Approaches and Personal Belief; Pilgrimage and Tourism as Metaphors or Ideal Types; Pilgrimage and Tourism – Empirical Research; Films; Virtual Pilgrimage; Pilgrimage and Gender; Pilgrimage, Politics, Nationalism and Identity; Shared Shrines; Pilgrimage as an Economic Activity; Short Visits and Local Shrines; Pilgrimage and the Anthropology of Christianity;
Beyond the Representational Approach: Lived and Material Religion and Landscape

Migrants’ (Im)mobilities in Three Urban Contexts: Global Pandemic and Beyond , 2024

This co-authored chapter draws on the research undertaken during the Covid 19 pandemic 2020-2022 ... more This co-authored chapter draws on the research undertaken during the Covid 19 pandemic 2020-2022 funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung. In this chapter Samuele Davide Molli and John Eade explore the role played by religious institutions in Milan and London at the meso level between the nation-state and local residents. Their ways of resisting and adapting to top-down pressures from the nation-state are examined within the context of two key European cities.

Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage, 1991

Introduces the chapters in the volume and then considers correspondence theory and the Turnerian ... more Introduces the chapters in the volume and then considers correspondence theory and the Turnerian paradigm, deconstructing the centre, perceptions of the sacred, the suffering body in pilgrimage discourse and symbolic exchange in pilgrimage before briefly concluding.

Modernization and Social Change among Muslims in India, 1983

Exploration of the social construction of multiple identities based on fieldwork undertaken in Ca... more Exploration of the social construction of multiple identities based on fieldwork undertaken in Calcutta/Kolkata between 1970 and 1971.

V. Narayanan (ed The Blackwell Wiley Companion to Religion and Materiality, 2020

The chapter explores the themes of moving, crossing and dwelling through theoretical developments... more The chapter explores the themes of moving, crossing and dwelling through theoretical developments within contemporary pilgrimage studies and analyses of how beliefs and practices are performed through place pilgrimage. It focuses largely on the European region and its various Christian traditions but locates this historic heartland of Christian pilgrimage within a wider theoretical and substantive context.

Ashgate, 2007

Full text: In three parts: Europe, Africa, Asia ISBN 978-0-7546-7070-4

When the college Principal invited me to write about my time today as a contribution to the colle... more When the college Principal invited me to write about my time today as a contribution to the college's 150 th anniversary celebrations, I thought of this title as it seems to sum up the transformation that has taken place since I came to Digby over 50 years ago. When I started as a young lecturer in September 1973 I was given my own office with bookshelves and now as a professor with an occupational pension and a part time contract I hot desk with my PC, Ipad and mobile phone. Rather than moan and groan about how things have changed, I try to reflect on how times are changing by drawing on my social science training and being grateful for still being paid for doing what I love.

In the first section of this paper I describe the marginal position of social sciences at Oxford ... more In the first section of this paper I describe the marginal position of social sciences at Oxford during the 1960s; apart from Ceri Peach the academic analysis of race and ethnicity emerged elsewhere in Britain. In the second section I draw on my growing up in England after the Second World War and attending Oxford as an undergraduate and postgraduate between 1965 and 1973. My personal experience of racial and ethnic solidarities and divisions was

Urban Anthropology and International Collaboration , 2022

This is a powerpoint presentation I gave on 12/10/2022 to an online seminar held by the Anthropol... more This is a powerpoint presentation I gave on 12/10/2022 to an online seminar held by the Anthropology of Britain group.

Considerable debate has emerged during the Covid 19 crisis concerning its impact on migrant minor... more Considerable debate has emerged during the Covid 19 crisis concerning its impact on migrant minorities and the attempts made by official bodies to control the pandemic character of the virus in relation to those minorities. Although considerable quantitative data has been generated by epidemiologists, in particular, qualitative studies of how members of migrant minorities themselves are reacting to the ongoing pandemic and to official measures have been less forthcoming so far. This social-science-based paper attempts to fill this research gap through a qualitative approach to explore the resilience patterns of minority groups in London, Milan and Stuttgart. It is based on an ongoing international research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.
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.

PILNET 2019 Workshop, Zadar 3th-5th September 2019

Journal of Contemporary Religion , 2019

A book review

Religion State and Society, 2022

ACT In this collection of three articles that draw on ethnographic research and a more theoretica... more ACT
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.