The Anthropology of Protestantism : Faith and Crisis Among Scottish Fishermen

Through his ethnographic study of the fishermen and their religious beliefs, Webster speaks to larger debates about religious radicalism, materiality, economy, language, and the symbolic. These debates also call into question assumptions about the decline of religion in modern industrial societies. Narrowing in from the broader context of the north Atlantic, through northern Europe, to Britain, northeast Scotland, and finally the fishing village of Gamrie, this anthropology of Protestantism examines millennialist faith and economic crisis. Through his ethnographic study of the fishermen and their religious beliefs, Webster speaks to larger debates about religious radicalism, materiality, economy, language, and the symbolic. These debates (occurring within the ostensibly secular context of contemporary Scotland) also call into question assumptions about the decline of religion in modern industrial societies. By chronicling how these individuals experience life as "enchanted," this book explores the global processes of religious conversion, economic crisis, and political struggle Front Matter....Pages i-xxi Introduction: Gamrie, Words, Signs....Pages 1-27 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 Situating Gamrie....Pages 31-55 The Triple Pinch....Pages 57-72 Front Matter....Pages 73-73 Preaching....Pages 75-100 Testimony....Pages 101-123 Fishing....Pages 125-152 Front Matter....Pages 153-153 Providence and Attack....Pages 155-171 Eschatology....Pages 173-202 Conclusion: Enchantment....Pages 203-221 Back Matter....Pages 223-244