From Primitive to Indigenous: The Academic Study of Indigenous Religions

The academic study of Indigenous Religions developed historically from missiological and anthropological sources, but little analysis has been devoted to this classification within departments of religious studies. Evaluating this assumption in the light of case studies drawn from Zimbabwe, Alaska and shamanic traditions, and in view of current debates over 'primitivism', James Cox mounts a defence for the scholarly use of the category 'Indigenous Religions'.

James L. Cox is Professor of Religious Studies in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, UK.