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The Headless Horseman Of Central India: Sovereignty at Varying Thresholds of Life

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Building on recent anthropological discussions on sovereignty and life, I examine the political theologies of Thakur baba, a minor sovereign deity in central India. How might we understand spirits and deities as cohabitants with the living? Following Gilles Deleuze, I set out the idea of “varying thresholds of life.” How do we conceptualize relations of power between these thresholds? Engaging Thakur baba’s capacity to harm and to bless, I show how this sacred ambivalence may be understood as an expression of deified sovereignty. In contrast to Agamben and Schmitt’s more absolutist political
theology, I set out a “bipolar” concept of sovereignty as varying relations of force and contract, a tension I find best named by the Vedic mythological pair of Mitra-Varuna. Rather than a direct mirroring of social or historical sovereignty, I locate Thakur baba’s vitality in a weave of kin and spirit relations, and in his status as a human sacrifice. In conclusion I analyze how these deified powers might wax and wane. [sovereignty, concepts of life, ambivalence of the sacred, ancestral spirits, sacrifice, political theologies, popular religion, Hinduism, Rajasthan (India)]

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

No. Panggil

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Penerbit

: The American Anthropological Association., 2012

Deskripsi Fisik

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Vol. 27, Issue 2, pp. 383–407

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

15481360

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

ANTROPOLOGI

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

Yuli / Hasndiar

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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