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Through examining childbearing in California’s Silicon Valley, this article describes how seeking “self-actualization” has become a rite of passage for contemporary child-bearing people. This approach undermines distinctions between “technological” and “natural” approaches to birth, as people are coached to leverage both logistical and animalistic capacities to produce “self-knowledge” and enact new feminist ways of doing embodiment. Based on fieldwork conducted as a doula, this article describes new rituals, anxieties, and aspirations that draw from both the idea that self-authenticity stems from an unadulterated, primordial nature and that self-realization is enabled by a very modern, reflexive strategy of self-design. In this community, the way reproduction comes to matter has less to do with realizing gendered expectations and kinship relations than with creative self-optimization. This approach facilitates women’s self-determination, while simultaneously introducing new forms of pressure and advancing a dominant cultural discourse that minimizes thinking about structural conditions and mutual accountability.

This work shows the contribution of concept of rites of passage and theory of liminality to the understanding of transformations in the course of a person’s life. The structural–functional analysis of empirical studies of physical changes, changing roles in society, and key changes in the area of mental and physical health conducted from the perspective of these theories has allowed to identify the three fundamental processes that govern the attainment of transformation and transgression into a new phase of life. The aim of this paper is to set out the processes identified in the course of functional–structural analysis of chosen studies and they comprise: (1) preservation of the sequence of the life course; (2) liminality: deconstruction, integration, and transformation; and (3) performativity. These processes provide a structural framework for understanding life crises, thus facilitating their study as phases of dynamic transformations connected with the successive roles and tasks over the life course.

European society has been described more than once as poor in shared rites of passage. The manipulation of skin seems to be an increasingly popular solution to fulfil perceived cultural gaps. Can contemporary tattoos be interpreted as tools of commemorating life events, especially in the occasion of births and deaths? This article analyses meanings associated with tattoos collected during two ethnographies in central Italy. Based on qualitative interviews and participant observation, the first fieldwork focuses on death-commemorative tattoos, while a 2020 (n)ethnography investigates birth-celebrative tattoos. Data confirm that the body is the mirror of the self and the skin works as the plastic stage where the embodiment of mourning and other emotions meets the social world. Tattoos are attempts of personalized spiritualities, where births and deaths become key-moments of existence that are elected pillars of the self. However, they are not (only) a private affair. This paper addresses the intersubjective valence of tattoos and their communicative purpose. In parallel with references related to both the self and the others, ethnographical data support an interpretation of tattoos as modern self-making strategies, applied to re-ordinate the past and to project a suitable self for the future.

The article refers to anthropological, sociological and pedagogical aspects of reframing – in a creative way – the rituals addressed to children at the threshold of puberty. Based on a presentation of a new ritual of farewell to childhood, the paper is a theoretical reflection on the need of introducing new rituals that create ground for animation-educational practice. This practice – by revivifying creativity in areas considered so far closed and exclusive – makes it possible to overcome socially unfavourable structures of performance, and the inceptions of new, legitimized and empowering forms of subjective representations. Ritual’s creative qualities – in Victor Turner’s conceptualization – have inspired the authors to emphasize the need to replace a hegemony of thinking with a heterogeneity of thinking about the rites of passage. This undertaking is directed towards creating a space in social consciousness for rituals that are other than religious ones. Following Gert Biesta’s thinking, we argue that the farewell to childhood in the form we propose can be seen as an expression of pedagogical interruption and a practice of commonality which is a common good, one endlessly fragile and requiring cultivation. The secular children’s rite of passage and other secular rituals that arise not in opposition to religious rituals, but alongside them, are such common goods.

This paper looks at the role of art and material culture in the rituals of birth, first taking into consideration research on material culture in traditional rituals of birth and then turning to the primary topic, which is how art in the contemporary rituals of birth often holds sacred meaning even when the ritual is of a nonreligious nature. A discussion about the sacred in the context of a nonreligious ritual hinges upon an understanding of that which is “sacred”; thus, the paper looks at research on modern theology and the sacred to examine the term in the context of birth as a contemporary rite of passage. Giving examples of how material culture has been important in several traditional birth rituals from different cultures, the paper then traces a similar occurrence in which participants in contemporary nonreligious rituals of birth also uphold art and material culture as sacred elements of the rituals. The paper provides the reader with description of a rich array of art and material culture used across cultures in different rituals of birth. Taking into consideration the numerous contributions that scholars have made to the emerging field of birth and religion, including the interdisciplinary importance of theories related to birth as a rite of passage, the paper also presents new research on the materiality of the contemporary rituals of birth.

Türklerin tarihten günümüze Kök Tanrı, Totemcilik (~Totemizm), Animizm (~ruhçuluk/canlıcılık), Şamanizm (Sibirya ve Orta Asya Türk topluluklarında), Budizm, Maniheizm, Zerdüştîlik, İslamiyet, Hristi-yanlık ve Musevilik gibi çeşitli inanç sistemlerini kabul ettiği görülür. Bu durum Türklerin çok geniş bir coğrafyanın ve kültür yelpazesinin içinde yer aldığını gösterir. Dinler tarihçileri bu çeşitli inanç sistemlerini benimsemelerinde Türklerin büyük bir çoğunluğunun yaşadıkları coğrafyanın, sosyal ve kültürel etkileşimlerinin sonucunda gerçekleştiğini ifade ederler. Bu dinsel çeşitliliğin içerisinde Museviliğin Orta Çağda ortaya çıkmış bir mezhebi konumunda değerlendirilen Ârâmî-İbrânî dilinde ‘kutsal yazıyı okuyanlar’ anlamında ‘kara- (K-R-A)’ kelimesinden türetilmiş Karâîlik, zamanla bir Türk soylu halkın adı olmuştur. Hazar Devleti’nin bakiyeleri/torunları olduklarını söyleyen/iddia eden Karaylar, Museviliğin sadece Tevrat’ı/Tora’yı (Yazılı Yasanın otoritesini tanıyanlar) kabul eden Karâî mezhebine mensup bir Türk boyudur. Karaylar, Tanah’ı dinî hükümlerin yegâne kaynağı olarak kabul etmez. Bu etnik grup, kendi millî eşitliğini din ve dilin genel etnogenezine borçludur. Bilindiği üzere insanın ‘geçiş dönemi’ olarak nitelendirilen ‘doğum, evlilik ve ölüm’ olmak üzere başlıca üç önemli evresi vardır. Kişinin bu geçiş dönemlerindeki yeni durumunu belirlemek, onu kutsamak, aynı zamanda da kişiyi bu sırada yoğunlaştığına inanılan bazı tehlike-lerden ve zararlı etkilerden korumak gerekir. Geçiş dönemlerinde yer alan âdetler, gelenekler ve törenler bunların içerisinde yer alan bazı işlem ve uygulamalar Türk soylu halkların geleneksel kültürünün ana merhalelerini oluşturur. Karay Türk toplumu da bu geçiş dönemlerinden evliliğe diğer Türk boylarında olduğu gibi çok önem vermekte ve Karâî mezhebi çerçevesince kendilerince çeşitli pratikler uygulamaktadır. Evlilikte uygulanan bu ritüeller, Karaylar için gelenek ve göreneklerinin devamlılığında, eski kuşaklarla yeni kuşaklar arasında bağlantının sağlanmasında, birlik ve dirliğin muhafazasında önemli bir fonksiyona sahiptir. Karaylar, günümüzde farklı dinlerden (diğer Müslüman, Hristiyan ve Budist Türk boyları) ve Yahudi mezheplerinden (Rabbanistler) evliliklere pek sıcak bakmadıkları için nüfusları yok olma tehlikesiyle karşı karşıya kalmıştır. Bu durum, onların diğer Türk boylarına nazaran kimliklerini daha çok muhafaza etmelerine ve kültürlerine daha çok eğilmelerine sebebiyet vermiştir. Öyle ki onların lehçeleri de ‘Yok Olmaya Yüz Tutmuş Lehçeler’ diye adlandırılan sınıflandırmaya girdiği için Karay lehçesini yaşatabilmek adına çok sayıda dinî, kültürel ve dilbilgisi konulu kitaplar hazırlanmıştır. Bu çalışmada, Karayların hem Türklük ağacının köklerinden getirdikleri evlilik konulu temel inanışları hem de Karâî mezhebi inancı ile yoğurmuş oldukları ritüeller birlikte ele alınıp incelenmiştir. Bu bilgilerin tespitinde özellikle Litvanya’nın eski başkenti Trakai’de ikamet etmekte olan Karay Türklerinden yapılan metin ve kelime derlemeleri ile gözlem yoluyla elde edilen verilerden yararlanılmıştır. Ayrıca bu çalışmada Kırım’da yaşayan Karaylar ile Litvanya’da yaşayan Karayların evlilik ritüellerinde benzerlikler olduğu gibi coğrafya ve farklı kültürlerle temastan kaynaklı farklılıklar da ele alınmıştır. It is a fact that Turks have accepted various belief systems such as Kok Tengri, Totemism, Animism, Shamanism (in Siberian and Central Asian Turkic communities), Buddhism, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. This reveals that the Turks have been in a very wide geographical and cultural spectrum. Historians of religions state that adopting these various belief systems is the result of the geography in which the majority of Turks live and their social and cultural interactions. Derived from the word ‘kara- (K-R-A)’ meaning ‘those who read’ in the Aramaic-Hebrew language, which is considered a sect of Judaism that emerged in the Middle Ages within this religious diversity, Karaism has become the name of a noble Turkish community over time. The Karaites, who claim to be the remnants/descendants of the Khazar State, are a Turkish tribe belonging to the Karaite sect, who accept only the Torah/Torah (those who recognize the authority of the written law) of Judaism. The Karaites do not acknowledge the Tanakh as the sole source of religious decrees. Therefore, this ethnic group owes its national equality to the general ethnogenesis of religion and language. There are three important phases of human beings, namely ‘birth, marriage, and death’, which are described as the ‘passage’. It is necessary to identify the new state of the person in these transitional periods, to bless him, and at the same time to protect the person from some of the dangers and harmful effects that are believed to be intensified during this time. The customs, traditions, and ceremonies in the transitional periods, as some of the processes and practices included in them, constitute the main stages of the traditional culture of the Turkish noble peoples. Karaite Turkish society also attaches great importance to marriage, being one of these transition periods, as in other Turkish tribes, and implements various practices in their own way within the framework of the Karai belief system. These rituals applied in marriage have an important function in the continuity of their traditions and customs, ensuring the connection between the old and new generations, and maintaining unity and harmony for the Karaites. The Karays are in danger of extinction because they do not have a positive opinion of marriages from different religions (other Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist Turkish tribes) and Jewish sects (Rabbanists). This situation enabled them to preserve their identity more than other Turkish tribes and to lean on their culture more. So much so that, since their dialects are included in the classification called “Dialects that are on the verge of extinction”, many religious, cultural, and grammatical books have been prepared in order to keep the Karaite dialect alive. In this study, both the basic beliefs of the Karaites on marriage, which they brought from the roots of the Turkic tree and the rituals that they kneaded with the belief of the Karai sect were examined together. In detecting this information, especially the text and word compilations made by the Karaite Turks residing in Trakai, the old capital of Lithuania, with the data obtained through observation were utilized. In addition, in this study, the similarities in the rituals of the Karaites living in Crimea and the Karaites living in Lithuania, as well as differences due to geography and contact with different cultures are discussed.

The metaphor of the world upside down centers on the condition of a community, a society, and/or the world at large, including the habitat of both humans and non-humans, in which such fundamental concepts as goodness, beauty, truth, unity, order, as well as related notions, are upended, turned around, reversed. Scholars face multiple challenges, not only understanding the world gone awry, but also illustrating the causes of its reversal to uncover its original positivity. Interested scholars are urged to contextualize their investigations within a well-defined theoretical framework to go beyond the confines of a specific literary work, historical event, man-made disaster as they describe the very harsh reality, past and ongoing, of the world gone awry, while also considering the possibilities of avoiding the ultimate catastrophe.

Why do Internet, financial service, and beer commercials dominate Super Bowl advertising? How do political ceremonies establish authority? Why does repetition characterize anthems and ritual speech? Why were circular forms favored for public festivals during the French Revolution? This book answers these questions using a single concept: common knowledge. Game theory shows that in order to coordinate its actions, a group of people must form \"common knowledge.\" Each person wants to participate only if others also participate. Members must have knowledge of each other, knowledge of that knowledge, knowledge of the knowledge of that knowledge, and so on. Michael Chwe applies this insight, with striking erudition, to analyze a range of rituals across history and cultures. He shows that public ceremonies are powerful not simply because they transmit meaning from a central source to each audience member but because they let audience members know what other members know. For instance, people watching the Super Bowl know that many others are seeing precisely what they see and that those people know in turn that many others are also watching. This creates common knowledge, and advertisers selling products that depend on consensus are willing to pay large sums to gain access to it. Remarkably, a great variety of rituals and ceremonies, such as formal inaugurations, work in much the same way. By using a rational-choice argument to explain diverse cultural practices, Chwe argues for a close reciprocal relationship between the perspectives of rationality and culture. He illustrates how game theory can be applied to an unexpectedly broad spectrum of problems, while showing in an admirably clear way what game theory might hold for scholars in the social sciences and humanities who are not yet acquainted with it. In a new afterword, Chwe delves into new applications of common knowledge, both in the real world and in experiments, and considers how generating common knowledge has become easier in the digital age.

We report the first cross-cultural and cross-organizational evidence for an evolved hazing motivation. Using experiments performed in the United States, Japan, and among members of a hazing and a nonhazing organization, we demonstrate an invariant set of core hazing predictors. In particular, we show that the perception of near-term group benefits, which would have been ancestrally exploitable by new group members, substantially increases desired hazing severity in all samples. Results are discussed in light of human organizational psychology and the difficulty of reliably suppressing hazing behavior.

Liminality has the potential to be a leading paradigm for understanding transformation in a globalizing world. As a fundamental human experience, liminality transmits cultural practices, codes, rituals, and meanings in situations that fall between defined structures and have uncertain outcomes. Based on case studies of some of the most important crises in history, society, and politics, this volume explores the methodological range and applicability of the concept to a variety of concrete social and political problems.