Our contemporary moment is characterized by a global resurgence of religion which manifests itself in many forms—from religious fundamentalism to a spiritual renewal of self and society. While religious fundamentalism and its globalization has aroused much interest and concern, mobilization of practical spirituality at the contemporary juncture has been a neglected theme and area of scholarly exploration. In this unusual study which combines anthropology and theories of global transformations in novel and creative ways, the author describes the global work of Habitat for Humanity, a U.S. based transnational socio-religious movement. It describes how Habitat builds in the margins of shacks in communities in the U.S.A. and in India, one of more than fifty countries around the globe where this movement is at work. There is currently a lamentable dearth of ethnography in this field and the book probably presents the first ever anthropological study of a transnational voluntary organization and social movement. The book also charts the pathways of a new anthropology—one which takes the global and spiritual dimensions of the human condition seriously and contributes to a new hermeneutics of recovery. Lucidly written and carefully argued, the book is a significant contribution to the study of religion, social movements and globalization. It would be of interest not only to scholars in such diverse fields as anthropology, philosophy, sociology and religious studies but also to activists in voluntary organizations and social movements in the emerging transnational public sphere and to spiritual seekers everywhere in the world.
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