Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/103290
Type: Journal article
Title: Beyond contradiction: sacred-profane waters and the dialectics of everyday religion
Author: Drew, G.
Citation: Himalaya, 2016; 36(2):70-81
Publisher: Nepal Studies Association
Issue Date: 2016
ISSN: 1935-2212
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Georgina Drew
Abstract: Studies of the relationship between religion and ecology are either highly enthusiastic about the ways that religious belief can motivate sound resource management or skeptical of the connection. Using an everyday religion approach, this text takes a middle ground to show that resources are variously interpreted in daily life and that religious orientations, while potentially supportive of environmentally sound action, are but one source of influence. Drawing from fieldwork, the discussion employs practice theory to look at how water resources in a Himalayan township are understood and the ways that notions of responsibility for sacred and profane waters are changing. The text aims to show that resource degradation is not necessarily indicative of contradictions in belief. This assertion pushes us to think more critically about the importance of everyday terrains of discourse and action, including how resource perceptions and management activities are influenced by structural constraints.
Keywords: everyday religion; practice theory; Garhwal Himalaya; water resource management
Rights: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized
Published version: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol36/iss2/11
Appears in Collections:Anthropology & Development Studies publications
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