Amy Whitehead – författare

Scholarly attention to Indigenous religions has grown massively in the last twenty years. Within varied forms of Indigenous Studies (e.g. Native American Studies, Maori Studies), as a field itself, and within ethnological disciplines such as Anthropology and Religious Studies, issues related to Indigenous peoples have become increasingly important. Indigenous Religions brings together significant journal articles from the last fifteen years to provoke further discussion and to underpin improved teaching and up-to-date research. Some of the selected articles have already played significant roles in shaping debates in diverse areas, but bringing them together, combined with lesser known yet equally significant ones, enhances their significance and gives them a greater value to researchers and students. This collection is intended to provide an unrivalled resource for future developments in the disciplines that touch on Indigenous religions and current issues as they unfold in the twenty-first century.

Religion is, at its very root, a sensual and often tactile affair. From genuflections, prayer, dance, and eating, to tattooing, wearing certain garments or objects, lighting candles and performing other rituals, religions of all descriptions involve regular bodily commitments which are mediated by acts of touch. Contributors to this volume have isolated the 'sense of touch' from the general sensorium as a particular 'sense tool' from which to creatively innovate and operationalize fresh concepts, theories, and methods in relation to a diverse range of case studies in Africa, South America, Polynesia, Europe, and South and Southeast Asia. Organised over three main parts: Reciprocity and Knowing: Being in Touch with Things; Crafting, ritual, and creativity: working devotion; and 'Touch, Ritual Efficacy and Communication, common and overlapping themes among the contributions include how touch mediates direct physical (often deliberate) contact between physical bodies (human and other than human) and the things that are crafted, blessed, related with, engaged with, or worn. Understanding touch as the vehicle to alternative forms of knowledge-making in specific religious contexts is the driving force behind the contributions to this collection. The volume argues that touch is not only an intrinsic part of religion but the principal facilitating medium through which religion, religious encounters and performances take place. The diverse contexts presented here signal how investigations that centralise the body and the senses can produce nuanced, culturally specific knowledges and allow for the development of new definitions for lived religion. By placing both 'body' and the sense of touch at the centre of investigations, the volume asserts that material practice and bodily sensation are lived religion.

Religion is, at its very root, a sensual and often tactile affair. From genuflections, prayer, dance, and eating, to tattooing, wearing certain garments or objects, lighting candles and performing other rituals, religions of all descriptions involve regular bodily commitments which are mediated by acts of touch. Contributors to this volume have isolated the 'sense of touch' from the general sensorium as a particular 'sense tool' from which to creatively innovate and operationalize fresh concepts, theories, and methods in relation to a diverse range of case studies in Africa, South America, Polynesia, Europe, and South and Southeast Asia. Organised over three main parts: Reciprocity and Knowing: Being in Touch with Things; Crafting, ritual, and creativity: working devotion; and 'Touch, Ritual Efficacy and Communication, common and overlapping themes among the contributions include how touch mediates direct physical (often deliberate) contact between physical bodies (human and other than human) and the things that are crafted, blessed, related with, engaged with, or worn. Understanding touch as the vehicle to alternative forms of knowledge-making in specific religious contexts is the driving force behind the contributions to this collection. The volume argues that touch is not only an intrinsic part of religion but the principal facilitating medium through which religion, religious encounters and performances take place. The diverse contexts presented here signal how investigations that centralise the body and the senses can produce nuanced, culturally specific knowledges and allow for the development of new definitions for lived religion. By placing both 'body' and the sense of touch at the centre of investigations, the volume asserts that material practice and bodily sensation are lived religion.

Stretching? Sleep? Fatigue? Psychological Safety? Pregnancy? Leadership?Sport Performance is a complex, highly studied, highly debated and often controversial mixture of theories, opinions and evidence. This book aims to demystify some of the most pervasive myths, misconceptions and realities surrounding the how, what and why of improving performance in sport.Ultimately, you’ll learn the truth about a particular myth, based on the most credible evidence available.The subject is multidisciplinary in nature, made up of a myriad of sciences and philosophies, with the aim (the majority of the time) of improving performance, well-being, and health. Readers will learn multidisciplinary perspectives of sport and performance, from the physiological, psychological, pedagogical, sociological, and even philosophical.Yes, this book is underpinned by science, but we also invited authors from around the world to bring their own personal experiences to the chapters, hence including not just experts within academia, but also those working on the ground of sport and performance. Contributors include lead sport scientists working in national institutes of sport, physiotherapists, sport and exercise psychologists, former athletes and high-performance consultants. It is important to us that this book is read by practitioners in the field of sport, and therefore is informed by those successfully working in these areas.Whichever area of sport you compete, participate, work, or have an interest in, this book provides both the research underpinnings and practical considerations for you to be able to apply to your own environment and context. Whether you just become more aware of a specific topic, or you actually change what you do as a result, we hope you enjoy reading as much as we enjoyed putting together.

The sport industry has long operated on structures and systems that weren’t built for women, especially not for those working behind the scenes as leaders, coaches, developers, or support staff. While progress has been made, too many women still face invisible barriers, cultural bias and professional compromise simply for existing in spaces that weren’t designed with them in mind.Women Working in Sport offers a fresh, unapologetic lens on these challenges and moves decisively toward solutions. Through the voices of coaches, psychologists, administrators, academics and directors, this book sheds light on what’s holding women back and more importantly, how we move forward.Each chapter is a conversation, a lived experience and a call to action offering not just critique but real insight for organisations serious about equity, wellbeing and performance.For policy-makers, system leaders and anyone shaping the future of sport, this is more than a book. It’s a practical resource, a challenge to the status quo, and a roadmap toward building environments where women not only work they thrive.

This volume brings together a group of articles concerned with ways of approaching Indigenous religions, focusing on the concepts of "place", "language" and "community" through case studies, fieldwork, literature and theories.

This volume highlights the conceptual differences between European colonial cultural, often Cartesian, discourses and Indigenous lifeways/ontologies, focusing on the concepts of world-making, cosmology, and ecology and life-ways.

This volume brings together a collection of articles that conceptually focus on dynamic engagements with spirits and other-world beings, focusing on the concepts of spirits, possession and witchery.