Transforming Home

The Religious Heritage of Indigenous Society in the Age of Environmental Problems

in Nature and Culture
Author:
Maryam Pirdehghan Researcher, University of Zurich, Switzerland maryam.pirdehghan@uzh.ch

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/nc.2024.190202
Keywords:
dialogue; Indigenous religion; nature; pollution; risk society; taboo
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Abstract

This study investigates Indigenous society and the environment from a religious perspective, concentrating on the Earth's deteriorating physical condition. This issue has caused substantial cultural confusion since it directly affects Indigenous society's active modes of being, which are profoundly based on nature as their home. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the following inquiry: What is the meaning of transforming home in indigenous society as a result of new environmental issues? The present analysis suggests that environmental pollution, which is both objective and subjective, disrupts indigenous society's social order by turning nature's inherent role as a life-giving entity into a source of hazardous substances. Consequently, the erosion of the concept of home has led to the emergence of an indigenous risk society.

Contributor Notes

Maryam Pirdehghan is a religious studies doctoral candidate at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Her doctoral research focuses on the cultural impact of environmental issues on nature-based indigenous religions, with a particular emphasis on the Buryat population in Siberia. Her areas of study include religion anthropology, indigenous religions, and anthropology of policy. Email: maryam.pirdehghan@uzh.ch

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Cover Nature and Culture
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
26
Keywords:
dialogue; Indigenous religion; nature; pollution; risk society; taboo
Print Publication Date:
01 Jun 2024
Online Publication Date:
01 Jun 2024
Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024

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