University of New Mexico Press With This Root about My Person: Charles H. Long and New Directions in the Study of Religion (Religions of the Americas Series)

Review This book is truly a great boon for all scholars and students who will be introduced to the depths of Long's scholarship in relation to both confessional theology and critical theories and methods in religious studies.--Juan M. Floyd-Thomas, Reading ReligionIn explicating Long's critique of Black theology and US civil religion, his theorization of religion and modernity, and his role in creating and innovating the history of religions, With This Root about My Person makes a significant contribution to the field.--Edward E. Curtis IV, Journal of the American Academy of ReligionExpanding like a beautiful fan, the collection explores Long's impact on the study of African diasporic religions, American civil religion, the philosophy of religion, and indigenous religions in the Americas. In tracing the linkages between Long and the concept of indigeneity, this volume forges new theoretical ground, mapping an orientation toward the sacredness of the material world while facing (down) the colonial imperative to extract resources. This volume will inspire new ways of facing current and future concerns. Highly recommended.--J. Kahn, ChoiceRemarkably the contributors illustrate a different aspect of the history of religions field due to Long's influence. This volume provides material for courses, or in the Long tradition, animated late-night discussions about the content and method of the history of religions.--Jill Raitt, author of The Colloquy of Montbéliard: Religion and Politics in the Sixteenth Century Product Description Charles H. Long's groundbreaking works on Africana religious studies serve as the backdrop to With This Root about My Person. The volume features twenty-six essays by a diverse group of students and scholars of Long. Revitalizing an interpretive framework rooted in the Chicago tradition, the essays in this volume vigorously debate the nature of religions in the Americas. In doing so they wrestle with the foundations of the study of religion that emerged out of the European Enlightenment, they engage the discipline's entrenchment in the conquest of the Americas, and they grapple with the field's legacy of colonialism. The book demonstrates tremendous breadth and depth of scope in its skillful comparative work on colonialism, which links the religions of the Americas, Melanesia, and Africa. This seminal work is an important addition to the Religions of the Americas Series and a valuable contribution to the field to which Charles H. Long has for so long been devoted. About the Author Jennifer Reid is a professor of religion emerita at the University of Maine at Farmington. Her books include Finding Kluskap: A Journey into Mi'kmaw Myth, Religion and Global Culture: New Terrain in the Study of Religion and the Work of Charles H. Long, and Myth, Symbol and Colonial Encounter: British and Mi'kmaq in Acadia, 1700-1867. She is a 2015 John Simon Memorial Foundation Fellow.Davíd Carrasco is the Neil Rudenstine Professor for the Study of Latin America at Harvard University. He is the author or editor of several books and the editor in chief of the award-winning three-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. Carrasco received the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.