Dr Johan Rasanayagam

Senior Lecturer

Email Address: johan.rasanayagam@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number: +44 (0)1224 272191
Office Address: Room G18 Edward Wright Building University of Aberdeen Aberdeen AB24 3QY
School/Department: School of Social Science

Biography

Johan Rasanayagam joined the department in 2005. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Uzbekistan, Central Asia on themes of Islam, citizenship, and moral selfhood. More recently, he has conducted research on Islam, illness and healing in Morocco. His current research focuses on developing an engagement between anthropology and Islamic traditions of thought.

Latest Publications

Post-secular anthropology as recognition and the limits of understanding: responding to experiences of jinn possession in Morocco
2023 - Published
Rasanayagam, J.
Social Analysis, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 23–40
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2023.670202
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/23423/1/Rasanayagam_SA_Post_Secular_Anthropology_VoR.pdf
Mahalla as State and Community
2022 - Published
Rasanayagam, M. J.
Central Asia: Contexts for Understanding. Montgomery, D. (ed.). University of Pittsburgh Press, pp. 344-347, 4 pages
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
- [ONLINE] https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/49/edited_volume/chapter/3065357
Dialogues: anthropology and theology
2022 - Published
Havea, J., Tomlinson, M., Al-Azem, T., Rasanayagam, J., Venerable Juewei, , Mair, J., Kifon Bongmba, E., Haynes, N., Lamb, R., Sivakumar, D., Furani, K., Moosa, E.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 297-347
Contributions to Journals: Comments and Debates
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.13667
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/18219/1/Havea_etal_JRAI_Dialogues_anthropology_and_VOR.pdf
Anthropology in conversation with an Islamic tradition: Emmanuel Levinas and the practice of critique
2018 - Published
Rasanayagam, J.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 90-106
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.12753
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/13392/1/Anthropology_with_an_Islamic_tradition_revision.pdf
Book reviews: Fragile conviction: changing ideological landscapes in urban Kyrgyzstan
2018 - Published
Rasanayagam, J.
Central Asian Survey, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 491-493
Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1445594

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

Uzbekistan and Central Asia, postsocialist societies, Morocco, the anthropology of Islam, morality and subjectivity, healing practices and spirit possession, religion and the secular, politics and the state, post-secular anthropology.

Teaching

Programmes

MSc Anthropological Research
Postgraduate, 3 stage, September start

Teaching Responsibilities

AT1502 Introduction to Anthropology: Questions of Diversity

AT3027 Anthropological Theory

AT3534 Religion, Power and Belief

Publications

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Biography

Latest Publications

Post-secular anthropology as recognition and the limits of understanding: responding to experiences of jinn possession in Morocco

Mahalla as State and Community

Dialogues: anthropology and theology

Anthropology in conversation with an Islamic tradition: Emmanuel Levinas and the practice of critique

Book reviews: Fragile conviction: changing ideological landscapes in urban Kyrgyzstan

Research Overview

Programmes

Teaching Responsibilities

Market, state and community in Uzbekistan: reworking the concept of the informal economy

Spheres of communal participation: placing the state within local modes of interaction in rural Uzbekistan

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Books and Reports

Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Contributions to Journals

Contributions to Specialist Publications

Working Papers