2021/04/05 by Carsten Herrmann‐Pillath, Man Guo · 6 citations
Social Sciences · #Ancestor #Anthropology #Archaeology #China #China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance #Chinese history and philosophy #Empirical research #Epistemology #History #Japanese History and Culture #Law #Lineage (genetic) #Phenomenon #Philosophy #Political science #Sociology #The Internet #Worship
paper · doi:10.1080/1070289x.2021.1911474
published in Identities 30(1), 75-92 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2021/04/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/27
This paper explores the theory of ‘interaction ritual chains’ proposed by the sociologist Randall Collins in understanding popular religion in China today. It contributes to ongoing conceptual debates over approaching Chinese religions and draws conclusions for general socio-economic theory. We concentrate on the specific phenomenon of the resurgence of ancestor worship and lineage rituals which we have explored in fieldwork done in Shenzhen metropolis. We study two empirical cases, the re-emergence of ritual spaces that project the ritual infrastructure of the traditional village onto the modern urban infrastructure, and the role of the internet in mediating ritual activities between the local and the global.