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The International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism (ISARS) and the Program of Anthropology, Institute of Sociology, UC, invites you to attend the 3rd international conference of ISARS which will be held at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile in *November **27-30, 2019*. *Call for Papers/Sessions has been extended until February 15th, 2019* The Official Theme of the Conference will be the following: *Relations, connections, cosmologies: shamanism and spirit possession under the ethnographic lens* The question of what shamanistic practices “do” in any given society has always been a central one in anthropology, and much analysis has understood ritual and spiritual experience as connected to other spheres of society, especially to political and ideological dimensions. This has been emphasized by anthropological literature on cultures that have experienced radical changes of political structure. For instance, Piers Vitebsky reminds us that shamans do not work in a political vacuum (2002); in possession or shamanic cults throughout Asia, he argues, spirit helpers are often kings, policemen, generals, clerks, as well as “wild” spirits; i.e. reflective of worldly difficulties brought about by the onset of a particular state or bureaucratic system. Possession or shamanic trance in these cases can often embody a form of resisting or mocking authority, as Paul Stoller shows in his classic analysis of spirit possession among the Songhay people of Niger (1993). In a contemporary setting, we are interested in looking at the intersections of possession/shamanic cosmologies with globalization and neoliberal policies, as well as concerns with ecology, climate change and indigenous rights. However, we don’t want to simply observe that intersection. Following a host of more recent scholars, we want to go back to more primary questions – about what shamanism and spirit possession *are* in particular cultural places, rather than about how they dialogue with, or resist, their particular context. In Mongolia or Amazonia, for instance, shamanism has been described as defined by its intersubjectivity (Humphrey, 1996; Viveiros de Castro, 2007): a shaman is a highly relational being that mediates between past and present, and between different ontological statuses, with possession belonging to the whole community. Equally, Morten Pedersen argues that in the ontological chaos of post-socialist Mongolia, with many new spirit forms emerging, shamanism in some sense *was *the transformation or change itself (2011). Shamanism can be defined here as a transitional cosmology, rather than as a fixed set of ideas or practices. In Cuba, on the other hand, spirits take a number of forms, as do practices of possession. Aisha Beliso-De Jesús has understood spirits in non-substantial terms (2015): as electric currents, electronic “co-presences” transmitted through media technologies such as DVDs as practitioners travel between countries. In Mozambique, a radical distinction between physical and spiritual realities is untenable (Nielsen, 2015), as ancestors live inside people´s bodies, empowering and guiding them. In this conference, we wish to go back to ontological basics in relation to spirit cosmologies, and practices of possession and shamanism. We will ask what possibilities or worlds shamanism and spirit possession create and enable in these environments through their practice by experts and laypersons. We will ask, in a pragmatic sense, what the effects of shamanism and spirit possession are: what kinds of entities are made possible via the manipulation of things in the world, for instance, or of the training of bodies to receive them? We will similarly explore questions of materials, media and technologies in relation to shamanism and spirit possession, and ask: can we look at these technologies and corresponding techniques as generative or expansive of, rather than just mediatory or reflective of, particular cosmologies? We can further ask, what is the fundamental role of the senses in spirit ceremonies? In what ways are emotions and affects central to the very existence of spirits and other entities, and how are people themselves constituted as persons through these encounters? Please send your paper title and abstract (max.250 words) and/or your session proposal (max 300 words) *on the main theme of the conference *in a word document by* February 15th. 2019* to: *[log in to unmask]*) Session organizer(s) are requested to indicate the general title of the session, a brief description of the main topic (max. 300 words), number, names and affiliation of participants. Sessions should include a minimum of 4 participants and a maximum of 6. Although the official language of the conference will be English, proposals for panel sessions in Spanish are welcome. More information at http://www.isars.org/conferences/santiago2019 ************************************************************* * Anthropology-Matters Mailing List * http://www.anthropologymatters.com * * A postgraduate project comprising online journal, * * online discussions, teaching and research resources * * and international contacts directory. * * To join this list or to look at the archived previous * * messages visit: * * https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/Anthropology-Matters * * If you have ALREADY subscribed: to send a message to all * * those currently subscribed to the list,just send mail to: * * [log in to unmask] * * * * Enjoyed the mailing list? 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