Minna Opas | University of Turku (original) (raw)
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Papers by Minna Opas
Approaching Religion, Oct 23, 2019
Anthropological Quarterly, 2019
In: Handman, Courtney & Minna Opas (eds), Institutions, Infrastructures, and Religious Sociality:... more In: Handman, Courtney & Minna Opas (eds), Institutions, Infrastructures, and Religious Sociality: The Difference Denominations Make in Global Christianity. Special journal issue of Anthropological Quarterly. (accepted for publication)
Non-humans in Amerindian South America, 2018
In: Juan Javier Rivera (ed.), Non-humans in Amerindian South America, 252–275. New York & Oxford:... more In: Juan Javier Rivera (ed.), Non-humans in Amerindian South America, 252–275. New York & Oxford: Berghahn.
Religious Studies and Theology, 2017
In: Religious Studies and Theology 36(1), 79–103.
Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 2017
In: Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 56–77. Lond... more In: Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 56–77. London: Bloomsbury.
Brill Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s), 2017
In: Greg Johnson & Siv Ellen Kraft (eds.), Brill Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s): Local Ground... more In: Greg Johnson & Siv Ellen Kraft (eds.), Brill Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s): Local Grounds, Global Networks, 120–137. Leiden: Brill
Introduction to Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality,... more Introduction to Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 1–33. London: Bloomsbury.
Suomen Antropologi 40(4): Forum: Is there such a thing as religious language? Is there such a thi... more Suomen Antropologi 40(4): Forum: Is there such a thing as religious language? Is there such a thing as religion?
This article examines the role of socio-moral space in people’s experiences of divine presence. M... more This article examines the role of socio-moral space in people’s experiences of divine presence. More specifically, it addresses the questions of how social others influence people’s experiences of God and Satan among the indigenous evangelical Yine people of Peruvian Amazonia, and the consequences these interactions have for the individual believer and the collectivity. For the Yine dreams are a privileged site of human encounter with other-than-human beings, and they also feature centrally in their Christian lives. It is in dreams that they interact with angels and sometimes with the devil. By examining Yine evangelical dreams as mimetic points of encounter involving not only the dreamer but also transcendent beings and fellow believers as active agents, the article shows that Yine experiences of God’s presence cannot be conceptualised as an individual matter, but are highly dependent on the social other: they come to be as co-acted experiences of the divine.
The special issue Connected with God: Body, the Social, and the Transcendent addresses the very t... more The special issue Connected with God: Body, the Social, and the Transcendent
addresses the very topical question of the architecture of
religious, especially Christian, experiences. Specifically, it examines
the processes in which Christians experience the connection with, and
gain knowledge of, God in and through the body, and, in particular,
the role of social relatedness and morality in generating and informing
these experiences. The issue challenges the view of an individual subjective
relationship with God, and argues that Christian experiences
of God’s presence are not solely a matter of an individual’s relationship
with the divine but are very much made possible, guided, and
conceptualised through corporeal relationships with social others –
believers and other fellow-humans. Through detailed ethnographic
and historical examination, the issue also addresses the question
of whether and how the form of Christianity practised influences
people’s experiences of divine presence.
Elore, 2003
Suomen Uskontotieteellinen Seura, Religionsvetenskapliga Sällskapet i Finland ry perustettiin mar... more Suomen Uskontotieteellinen Seura, Religionsvetenskapliga Sällskapet i Finland ry perustettiin marraskuussa 1963. Seuran perustaminen katsottiin tarpeelliseksi, koska kiinnostus uskontotieteellistä tutkimusta kohtaan oli kasvanut nopeasti. Uskontotieteellistä ...
Like many indigenous peoples in Amazonia, also the Peruvian Yine people adhere to a social cosmol... more Like many indigenous peoples in Amazonia, also the Peruvian Yine people adhere to a social cosmology that can be called perspectivist. It includes a number of intentional beings which in different situations can transform into or be conceived of as being human. In such a transformative world, what most concerns the Yine is the epistemological ambiguity inherent in the situation: one can never be entirely certain of the human condition of the other person. In this paper, I shall discuss one aspect thus far little examined in relation to perpectivist cosmologies, namely morality. I shall do this by studying the causes and consequences of the epistemological ambiguity: How is the category of the human conceptualised among the Yine? In terms of morality, what separates humans from other beings with subjectivity? What consequences does this ambiguity have for the Yine daily life? I will suggest that in the Yine social cosmos a number of different human positions exist which are situated on a moral continuum without any fixed boundaries between them. Examples will be drawn from both the inter-action between legitimate Yine humans and between humans and non-humans.
Approaching Religion, Oct 23, 2019
Anthropological Quarterly, 2019
In: Handman, Courtney & Minna Opas (eds), Institutions, Infrastructures, and Religious Sociality:... more In: Handman, Courtney & Minna Opas (eds), Institutions, Infrastructures, and Religious Sociality: The Difference Denominations Make in Global Christianity. Special journal issue of Anthropological Quarterly. (accepted for publication)
Non-humans in Amerindian South America, 2018
In: Juan Javier Rivera (ed.), Non-humans in Amerindian South America, 252–275. New York & Oxford:... more In: Juan Javier Rivera (ed.), Non-humans in Amerindian South America, 252–275. New York & Oxford: Berghahn.
Religious Studies and Theology, 2017
In: Religious Studies and Theology 36(1), 79–103.
Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 2017
In: Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 56–77. Lond... more In: Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 56–77. London: Bloomsbury.
Brill Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s), 2017
In: Greg Johnson & Siv Ellen Kraft (eds.), Brill Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s): Local Ground... more In: Greg Johnson & Siv Ellen Kraft (eds.), Brill Handbook of Indigenous Religion(s): Local Grounds, Global Networks, 120–137. Leiden: Brill
Introduction to Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality,... more Introduction to Opas, Minna & Anna Haapalainen (eds), Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, 1–33. London: Bloomsbury.
Suomen Antropologi 40(4): Forum: Is there such a thing as religious language? Is there such a thi... more Suomen Antropologi 40(4): Forum: Is there such a thing as religious language? Is there such a thing as religion?
This article examines the role of socio-moral space in people’s experiences of divine presence. M... more This article examines the role of socio-moral space in people’s experiences of divine presence. More specifically, it addresses the questions of how social others influence people’s experiences of God and Satan among the indigenous evangelical Yine people of Peruvian Amazonia, and the consequences these interactions have for the individual believer and the collectivity. For the Yine dreams are a privileged site of human encounter with other-than-human beings, and they also feature centrally in their Christian lives. It is in dreams that they interact with angels and sometimes with the devil. By examining Yine evangelical dreams as mimetic points of encounter involving not only the dreamer but also transcendent beings and fellow believers as active agents, the article shows that Yine experiences of God’s presence cannot be conceptualised as an individual matter, but are highly dependent on the social other: they come to be as co-acted experiences of the divine.
The special issue Connected with God: Body, the Social, and the Transcendent addresses the very t... more The special issue Connected with God: Body, the Social, and the Transcendent
addresses the very topical question of the architecture of
religious, especially Christian, experiences. Specifically, it examines
the processes in which Christians experience the connection with, and
gain knowledge of, God in and through the body, and, in particular,
the role of social relatedness and morality in generating and informing
these experiences. The issue challenges the view of an individual subjective
relationship with God, and argues that Christian experiences
of God’s presence are not solely a matter of an individual’s relationship
with the divine but are very much made possible, guided, and
conceptualised through corporeal relationships with social others –
believers and other fellow-humans. Through detailed ethnographic
and historical examination, the issue also addresses the question
of whether and how the form of Christianity practised influences
people’s experiences of divine presence.
Elore, 2003
Suomen Uskontotieteellinen Seura, Religionsvetenskapliga Sällskapet i Finland ry perustettiin mar... more Suomen Uskontotieteellinen Seura, Religionsvetenskapliga Sällskapet i Finland ry perustettiin marraskuussa 1963. Seuran perustaminen katsottiin tarpeelliseksi, koska kiinnostus uskontotieteellistä tutkimusta kohtaan oli kasvanut nopeasti. Uskontotieteellistä ...
Like many indigenous peoples in Amazonia, also the Peruvian Yine people adhere to a social cosmol... more Like many indigenous peoples in Amazonia, also the Peruvian Yine people adhere to a social cosmology that can be called perspectivist. It includes a number of intentional beings which in different situations can transform into or be conceived of as being human. In such a transformative world, what most concerns the Yine is the epistemological ambiguity inherent in the situation: one can never be entirely certain of the human condition of the other person. In this paper, I shall discuss one aspect thus far little examined in relation to perpectivist cosmologies, namely morality. I shall do this by studying the causes and consequences of the epistemological ambiguity: How is the category of the human conceptualised among the Yine? In terms of morality, what separates humans from other beings with subjectivity? What consequences does this ambiguity have for the Yine daily life? I will suggest that in the Yine social cosmos a number of different human positions exist which are situated on a moral continuum without any fixed boundaries between them. Examples will be drawn from both the inter-action between legitimate Yine humans and between humans and non-humans.
Anthropological Quarterly.
Special journal issue of Anthropological Quarterly, edited by Courtney Handman & Minna Opas
The special issue Connected with God: Body, the Social, and the Transcendent addresses the very t... more The special issue Connected with God: Body, the Social, and the Transcendent addresses the very topical question of the architecture of religious, especially Christian, experiences. Specifically, it examines the processes in which Christians experience the connection with, and gain knowledge of, God in and through the body, and, in particular, the role of social relatedness and morality in generating and informing these experiences. The issue challenges the view of an individual subjective relationship with God, and argues that Christian experiences of God’s presence are not solely a matter of an individual’s relationship with the divine but are very much made possible, guided, and conceptualised through corporeal relationships with social others – believers and other fellow-humans. Through detailed ethnographic and historical examination, the issue also addresses the question of whether and how the form of Christianity practised influences people’s experiences of divine presence.
Anthropological Notebooks 18(3), 79–80. (2012)
Temenos: Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion 46(2) (2010)
Tipití. Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America 3(2), 215–216. (2005)
Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America 2(2). (2004)
Agricola book reviews. (2010)
Agricola book reviews (2012)
Call for Panel Proposals Christianity and Politics Conference University of Turku 22–23 November ... more Call for Panel Proposals
Christianity and Politics Conference
University of Turku
22–23 November 2018
The relationship between religion and politics is extremely complex and delicate. Over time the boundaries between the two have been drawn in various ways. Especially in the pre-modern era religion and politics belonged to the same processes, both at theoretical and practical levels. They were tightly intertwined: in medieval studies separating them as autonomous phenomena is often as difficult as it is arbitrary. The two are now easily considered separate entities in Western societies. Religion is often understood as a clearly bounded phenomenon affecting politics either directly or indirectly. However, religion is also approached as something that can be used as a political tool. Both approaches tend to simplify the complex relationship between religion and politics. ‘Religion’ and ‘politics’ are not bounded phenomena and they should not be seen as existing as such in the world. Whereas politics may refer to public decision-making processes that are easily recognised as something we call politics, it may equally refer to the sphere of the private and ordinary. Likewise, the term religion designates not only religious action related to churches and religious institutions but is also something flexible and fluid that easily evades attempts to define it. Various phenomena can therefore be termed political and religious, but they should not be considered such but named and categorised as such in particular contexts. Furthermore, despite the secularisation thesis, religious institutions and actors in the West are seeking new roles in the field of politics. Although religion in the US has for long been an integral part of the political scene, in Europe the situation has been more variable. In many predominantly Catholic countries religion has been very visibly present in politics, whereas in Protestant countries it has often rarely been mentioned and kept silent about, not raised in the political arena. Even when obvious, as for instance in relation to historically grounded freedom of religion acts, Christianity’s role in influencing politics is under-recognised and invisible. Presently, however, Christian actors are again more visible in politics across the denominational field. The media plays an important role in reshaping the relationship between Christianity and politics in the West.
Christianity and Politics zooms in on Christianity with a critical focus on the examination of the relationship between Christianity and politics in the West. Under scrutiny will be the manifold ways in which Christianity and politics have been and are intertwined and exist in relation to one another, both in the past and in the contemporary world. How are Christianity and politics defined and delineated in relation to one another? How has the demarcation between Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Protestants affected political culture in different areas over time? What are political Christianity and Christian politics, how are they visible in western societies, and how do they influence them? How was the unity of the political and religious realms manifested in the Middle Ages and what mark has this left on our societies? How and why did the European and American ways of conceiving the relationship between religion and politics become so different? In what kinds of non-institutional and often invisible forms is Christianity present in the field of politics? How is research on these topics itself political and to what extent should it be?
The conference brings together researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds to study the relationship between Christianity and politics. We invite contributions from a wide disciplinary range examining the relationship between Christianity and politics from antiquity to the Middle Ages and the present world. Possible topics to be studied include, but are not restricted to, the following:
· Defining the fields of Christianity/religion and politics
· How Christianity and politics are defined and the impact of these definitions on politics and Christian cultures
· Political Christianity and Christian politics
· The eclipsing and silencing of Christianity in politics
· Christianity as civil or state religion
· The role of Christianity in nationalism and neoliberalism
· The role of Christian values in the Western political arena
· Inter-denominational relations and their effects on politics
· Differences between Europe and the rest of the Western world
· Methods for critical study of Christianity and politics
· The political nature of the study of Christianity and politics
Keynote speakers in the conference are:
Dr. Timothy Fitzgerald – The Centre for Critical Research on Religion
Dr. Saara Särmä – Finnish National Defence University
Dr. Sylvain Piron – L'École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)
The deadline for submission of proposals for open panels (max. 500 words) is 31 March. Panels will be approved by 5 April.
The submission of individual paper abstracts opens on 5 April. The deadline for submission of individual paper abstracts (max. 250 words) is 30 April.
Submission of panel proposals and individual paper abstracts should be made through the conference webpage at christianityconf.utu.fi. Panel chairs will accept or reject individual paper abstracts submitted to their panel. If rejected, abstracts may still be accepted as individual papers by the conference organisers.
Conference fee is 50 € (does not include Conference Dinner).
The conference is organised by the Centre for the Study of Christian Cultures, University of Turku
Tvärminne –seminar. November 2014, Hanko, Finland.
Postsecularity and gender workshop, May 2014, Turku, Finland.
Images of Afterlife, October 2014, Turku, Finland.
Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, September 2014, Turku, Finland.
– Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America’s conference, June 2014, Gothenburg, Sweden.
European Association for the Study of Religion, May 2014, Groningen, Holland.