Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Ethnology / Cultural Anthropology, grade: 1,0, University of Freiburg (Institut für Ethnologie), language: English, abstract: Based on the topic of human-environment relation, I am going to delve into the question of who is subjectively identified as a ‘supernatural agent’ and what type and scope of agency is attributed. In the context of the seminar that also asks about the connection to COVID-related healing practices, I will then link the concept of supernatural agency with phenomena of health. Thereupon I want to present the methods and findings of my research following the guideline question: How do religious actors in Germany and Indonesia connect their belief with medical action against the Covid-19 pandemic?, focusing on Christian actors in Germany. Toward the end of 2019, a tiny entity given the name SARS-CoV-2, overpowered the world with a relentless ferocity that sharply exposed the vulnerability of modern human civilization. A belief in the superiority of our species, in the progressiveness of modern social systems, in the achievements in technology and medicine, could not save us from the power of “one of nature’s most miniscule members". With the ongoing spread and unpredictable mutation of the COVID-19 virus, a global war has been declared on something biologically not even classified as a living being, and states mobilize all resources to regain control. This ‘invisible agent’ challenges our personal lives and state action just as much as the postulated separation between humanity and ‘nature’. Not only must we acknowledge the virus as a more-than-human global actor in contrast to humans as being the only forceful agents “acting upon a passive world”, its assumed origin in zoonosis also marks a point of fusion between human and non-human realms, and therefore can be seen as a reinforcement of entanglement that transcends nature/culture dichotomy.

‘Superbly written, utterly Bible based. . . Do not hesitate!’ Archbishop Justin Welby What are we supposed to think about the coronavirus crisis? Some people think they know: ‘This is a sign of the End,’ they say. ‘It’s all predicted in the book of Revelation.’ Others disagree but are equally clear: ‘This is a call to repent. God is judging the world and through this disease he’s telling us to change.’ Some join in the chorus of blame and condemnation: ‘It’s the fault of the Chinese, the government, the World Health Organization...' Tom Wright examines these reactions to the virus and finds them wanting. Instead, he invites you to consider a different way of seeing and responding – a way that draws on the teachings and examples of scripture, and above all on the way of living, thinking and praying revealed to us by Jesus.

Who believes in conspiracy theories, and why are some people more susceptible to them than others? What are the consequences of such beliefs? Has a conspiracy theory ever turned out to be true? The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories debunks the myth that conspiracy theories are a modern phenomenon, exploring their broad social contexts, from politics to the workplace. The book explains why some people are more susceptible to these beliefs than others and how they are produced by recognizable and predictable psychological processes. Featuring examples such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks and climate change, The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories shows us that while such beliefs are not always irrational and are not a pathological trait, they can be harmful to individuals and society.

Why bother with the interpretive categories of biblical faith when in fact our energy and interest are focused on more immediate matters? The answer is simple and obvious. We linger because, in the midst of our immediate preoccupation with our felt jeopardy and our hope for relief, our imagination does indeed range beyond the immediate to larger, deeper wonderments. Our free-ranging imagination is not finally or fully contained in the immediacy of our stress, anxiety, and jeopardy. Beyond these demanding immediacies, we have a deep sense that our life is not fully contained in the cause-and-effect reasoning of the Enlightenment that seeks to explain and control. There is more than that and other than that to our life in God’s world!

Written by leading social psychologists with expertise in leadership, health and emergency behaviour – who have also played an important role in advising governments on COVID-19 – this book provides a broad but integrated analysis of the psychology of COVID-19 It explores the response to COVID-19 through the lens of social identity theory, drawing from insights provided by four decades of research. Starting from the premise that an effective response to the pandemic depends upon people coming together and supporting each other as members of a common community, the book helps us to understand emerging processes related to social (dis)connectedness, collective behaviour and the societal effects of COVID-19. In this it shows how psychological theory can help us better understand, and respond to, the events shaping the world in 2020. Considering key topics such as: LeadershipCommunicationRisk perceptionSocial isolationMental healthInequalityMisinformationPrejudice and racismBehaviour changeSocial Disorder This book offers the foundation on which future analysis, intervention and policy can be built. We are proud to support the research into Covid-19 and are delighted to offer the finalised eBook for free. All Royalties from this book will be donated to charity.

Master's Thesis from the year 2009 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Siegen (FB 3 Amerikanistik), language: English, abstract: Chapter One Time-space and space-time: Consequences of the Chronotope in Introduction There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale. - Ralph Ellison [...] the study of verbal art can and must overcome the divorce between an abstract "formal" approach and an equally abstract "ideological" approach. Form and content in discourse are one, once we understand that verbal discourse is a social phenomenon - social throughout its entire range and in each and every of its factors, from the sound image to the furthest reaches of abstract meaning. - Mikhail Bakhtin _____________ In the process of preparation for this MA thesis I was on the verge of abandoning the project. I was afraid Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man would become far too intimate for me, the subject too tense, the motifs too disturbing, the language too intrinsic. I feared that the novel would keep concealed and invisible the wealth I suspect between the lines. I did not, and I still don't like Ellison's Invisible Man. It felt uncomfortable and disturbing the first time I read it and with every additional reading the ambivalence I felt increased. I sympathize and fully share Ross Possnock's sentiment on Ralph Ellison's novel: "Ellison makes reading a 'gymnast's struggle'" (6). Despite all efforts, reading Invisible Man remained an uncomfortable and exhausting struggle until the very end. Eventually Invisible Man provided many experiences all adding up to some very disturbing revelations about my own "racialized" positionality. I began to scrutinize, my thought process pertaining to race, trying to expose any possible racist notions. The challenge was and still is painful and at times causes

This Open Access Book is the first to examine disasters from a multidisciplinary perspective. Justification of actions in the face of disasters requires recourse both to conceptual analysis and ethical traditions. Part 1 of the book contains chapters on how disasters are conceptualized in different academic disciplines relevant to disasters. Part 2 has chapters on how ethical issues that arise in relation to disasters can be addressed from a number of fundamental normative approaches in moral and political philosophy. This book sets the stage for more focused normative debates given that no one book can be completely comprehensive. Providing analysis of core concepts, and with real-world relevance, this book should be of interest to disaster scholars and researchers, those working in ethics and political philosophy, as well as policy makers, humanitarian actors and intergovernmental organizations..