In 1956,
Anthony F. C. Wallace published a paper called "Revitalization Movements"
Wallace, Anthony F.C. 1956. "Revitalization Movements"
''American Anthropologist
''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an American organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 m ...
'' 58: 264-281. to describe how culture
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
s change themselves. A revitalization movement is a "deliberate, organized, conscious effort by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture" (p. 265), and Wallace describes at length the processes by which a revitalization movement takes place.
Overview
Wallace' model 1956 describes the process of a revitalization movement. It is derived from studies of a Native American religious movement, The Code of Handsome Lake, which may have led to the formation of the Longhouse Religion.
Wallace derived his theory from studies of so-called primitive peoples (preliterate and homogeneous), with particular attention to the Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
revitalization movement led by Seneca religious leader and prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
Handsome Lake (1735-1815). Wallace believed that his revitalization model applies to movements as broad and complex as the rise of Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, or Wesleyan Methodism.
Revitalizaton is a part of social movements.
Scholars such as Vittorio Lanternari (1963), Peter Worsley (1968) and Duane Champagne (1988, 2005) have developed and adapted Wallace's insights.
See also
* Ghost Dance: a famous Native American revitalization movement
*Great Awakenings
The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late 20th cent ...
: a controversially named reference to revitalization movements in the USA.
* Christian revivalism
*Language revitalization
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community group ...
Notes
References
* Champagne, Duane (1988). "The Delaware Revitalization Movement of the Early 1760s: A Suggested Reinterpretation." ''American Indian Quarterly'' 12 (2): 107–126.
*
* Kehoe, B. Alice, ''The Ghost Dance: Ethnohistory and Revitalization, Massacre at Wounded Knee Creek,'' Thompson Publishing, 1989.
* Lanternari, Vittorio. ''The Religions of the Oppressed; a Study of Modern Messianic Cults.'' (London: MacGibbon & Kee, tudies in Society 1963; New York: Knopf, 1963).
* Lindstrom, Lamont. ''Cargo Cult: Strange Stories of Desire from Melanesia and Beynd''. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 1993).
* Worsley, Peter. ''The Trumpet Shall Sound; a Study of "Cargo" Cults in Melanesia''. (New York,: Schocken Books, 2d augmented, 1968).
Anthropology
Social movements
Sociology of religion
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