Religion and belief

The essentials

Religion is a system of beliefs and practices relating to sacred or supernatural beings and forces. Émile Durkheim defined it in terms of the distinction between the sacred and the profane, and saw religion as uniting believers into a moral community.

Key points

• Functions of religion: social cohesion and solidarity (Durkheim); providing meaning and comfort in crises such as death and illness (Malinowski); legitimising social norms and authority; social control through ideas of sin and reward; marking life transitions through rites of passage.
• Animism (E. B. Tylor): belief in spirits or souls, which Tylor saw as the earliest form of religion, arising from experiences of dreams and death.
• Animatism (R. R. Marett): belief in an impersonal supernatural power present in objects and persons, such as mana in Melanesia. Marett called this a "pre-animistic" stage.
• Totemism: a special relationship between a social group (often a clan) and an animal, plant or object (the totem), usually with taboos against killing or eating it. Durkheim studied Australian Aboriginal totemism. Many Indian tribes (e.g. Oraon, Munda) have totemic clans.
• Magic: techniques to control supernatural forces for practical ends. J. G. Frazer distinguished imitative (homeopathic) magic, based on "like produces like", and contagious magic, based on things once in contact staying linked. Magic may be "white" (helpful) or "black" (harmful). Malinowski noted that Trobriand islanders used magic for risky deep-sea fishing but not for safe lagoon fishing.
• Shaman: a part-time religious specialist who enters a trance to contact spirits, often for healing or divination. A priest is a full-time specialist of an organised religion.

Exam tips

• Tylor = animism; Marett = animatism and mana; Frazer = types of magic; Durkheim = sacred/profane and totemism.

Common mistakes

• Confusing animism (personal spirits) with animatism (impersonal power).