The Governmateriality of Indigenous Religion(s) (GOVMAT)

The GOVMAT project researches materializations of indigenous religions and their roles in contemporary cosmopolitics. How and why are indigenous religions assembled, and what do they do? We examine this (a) in local communities in Costa Rica, Ethiopia, India, Norway, Peru, and Russia, (b) in international venues like a United Nations Climate Change Conference, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, an international exhibition of indigenous art, a conference of the International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism, and the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and (c) in diverse exchanges through social media, journalism, education, politics, law, environmentalism, tourism, proselytizing, scholarship, art, and popular culture. The project is based on fieldwork and collaboration between researchers and stakeholders.

Click here to learn about the concept of governmateriality.

Researchers: Bjørn Ola Tafjord, Siv Ellen Kraft, Arkotong Longkumer, Marisol de la Cadena, Terje Østebø, Gregory D. Alles, Liudmila Nikanorova, Nils Oskal, Monica Grini, Trude Fonneland, Aheli Moitra, Olle Sundström, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, Paul C. Johnson, Greg Johnson, and Markus Dressler.

A FRIPRO grant from The Research Council of Norway funds the project from 2020 to 2024.