Ritual, Power and Gender : Explorations in the Ethnography of Vanuatu, Nepal and Ireland

Contents: Preface. Introduction. I. Men, ritual and power in north Vanuatu: 1. Rank and leadership in Nduindui, northern new Hebrides. 2. Rethinking old problems: matriliny, secret societies and political evolution. 3. Ritualized Homosexuality, male power and political organization in north Vanuatu: a comparative analysis. 4. The ‘Hidden’ power of male ritual: the north Vanuatu evidence. 5. Male cults revisited: the politics of blood versus Semen. II. Buddhist ritual and caste Hierarchy in Nepal: 6. Buddhism without monks: the Vajrayana religion of the Newars of Kathmandu. 7. Kumari or ‘Virgin’ worship in Kathmandu Valley. 8. Girls’ pre-puberty rites among the Newars of Kathmandu Valley. 9. Hierarchy and complementarity in Newar society. 10. Procession and pilgrimage in Newar religion. III. Explorations in Irish Catholicism: 11 ‘Our Lady’ versus the bishops: visions and pilgrimages in contemporary Irish Catholicism. 12. From Ecstasy to power: the transformation of fantasy into religious belief. General Index. Index of Persons.