Papers by Agnieszka Halemba
HAU, 2027
That mountains and other natural entities are important relational partners for the people inhabi... more That mountains and other natural entities are important relational partners for the people inhabiting Inner Asia is a claim found in virtually all ethnographic works on the region. However, this sociality of the mountains is expressed primarily through the concept of spirit-guardians. Although researchers are aware that the mountains are the fundamental interactants, the terms they use to translate emic expressions introduce unnecessary dualisms, suggesting that the source of relevance is not so much how a mountain is encountered bodily, but its spirit. In this article, I propose moving away from the notion of mountain spirit-guardians, as they presuppose a series of inevitable dualisms rarely present in ethnographically observed practices. As an alternative, I propose a solution inspired by new materialism and, in particular, Karen Barad’s agential realism, but that in its core steams from ethnographic encounters.
People as weapons. Securitization, moral arguments and nature on the EU‑Belarus border
ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BORDERLANDS, 2026
On the Polish-Belarusian border, the instrumentalization of migrants and refugees as political to... more On the Polish-Belarusian border, the instrumentalization of migrants and refugees as political tools can be seen in a very acute way, despite the fact that the number of people on the move is still relatively small compared to other migration routes to the European Union. This chapter addresses three main issues: the instrumentalization of migration as a political tool; the framing of the situation in moral terms, regardless of political position; and the role of nature, in this case a forest, in policies of deterrence. The transformation of asylum policy from compassion to securitization and criminalization has had insidious effects that have led to a shift in the status of arriving people from refugees and asylum seekers to people who pose a potential security threat, and their subsequent objectification as “living weapons” used for hybrid warfare. What is at stake here is not only or even not primarily a discourse on migration and migrants, but the literal, physical use of migrant bodies as tools in political conflict. Moreover, this objectification and simultaneous politicization is presented as a moral issue on all sides of the conflict: all parties mobilize the language of morality, values, ethics and rights to justify their actions or criticize the actions of others. This language is used also in relation to nature, which is also an actor in multiple political debates.
Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022
Religion, state & society, Apr 3, 2018
This article analyses the significance of martyrdom and suffering in struggles over collective me... more This article analyses the significance of martyrdom and suffering in struggles over collective memory in contemporary Transcarpathian Ukraine and beyond. Through an analysis of the discourses of suffering that developed around the canonisation process of the so-called priests-martyrs-votaries of faith (sviashchenniki-muchenniky-ispovidnyki viry), I show that the notion of suffering under the Soviet regime is mobilised to strengthen the moral authority of the Greek Catholic Church in Transcarpathia, either as a whole or with regard to particular factions within this organisation. Suffering is instrumentalised in the internal politics of this church and it can be used both to legitimise and to challenge the church's authority. Moreover, the experience of suffering forms a part of autobiographical memory among Transcarpathian believers; at the same time, it quickly becomes a part of collective memory in Maurice Halbwachs' sense (see Olick and Robbins 1998, 111). In this article, I address the following questions: how do present collective and autobiographical memory, as well as Greek Catholic commemoration practices referring to religious activities from the Soviet times, shape and are shaped by internal church politics in Transcarpathia? Which survival strategy in times of repression is nowadays seen as crucial for contemporary Eastern Catholicism in this region? ARTICLE HISTORY
Paradoxically, as the demand for national recognition grows among such people, and with it the ne... more Paradoxically, as the demand for national recognition grows among such people, and with it the need for more formal state structures, built around the nation, religion too begins to become formalized, and loses its natural, all-pervasive character. With the Telengits, whose natural religion includes elements of Buddhism, this takes the form of a debate as to whether the state religion of their polity is to be Buddhism or, contrary to the character of shamanism, a formal, structured, fixed shamanism. This is a comprehensive anthropological account of the contemporary religious life of the Telengits, holding important implications for wider debates in sociology and politics.
Etnografia Polska, Dec 21, 2022
Local perspectives on hunting and poaching : research report for WWF Russia Altai-Saian Ecoregion
Who protects what from whom? : tourism and nature protection initiatives in the Republic of Altai [In Chinese language]
My wierzymy w nasza; ziemie": religia na Altaju a kwestia tolerancji religijnej
Publikationsansicht. 20595952. "My wierzymy w nasza; ziemie" : religia na Altaju a kwes... more Publikationsansicht. 20595952. "My wierzymy w nasza; ziemie" : religia na Altaju a kwestia tolerancji religijnej (2005). Halemba, Agnieszka. Details der Publikation. Download, http://edoc.mpg.de/269027. Herausgeber, DIG. Archiv, Max Planck Society - eDocument Server ( ...
Journal of Consciousness Studies, Jun 1, 2023
Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale
It has been a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started. It is clear that the impact of ... more It has been a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started. It is clear that the impact of this war goes far beyond Ukraine. We already know that it will have long-lasting consequences for the regional and global economy, in particular for energy and food security. The war is reshuffling old geo-political arrangements and alliances. It is also shaping the political landscapes of European states: international relations, inflation and migration are increasingly becoming key topics in national elections.
Religions, Feb 21, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Religion, State and Society
The aim of this contribution is to further understanding of how religious materiality becomes a f... more The aim of this contribution is to further understanding of how religious materiality becomes a focus of activism. Religion is present in a variety of ways in a secularised public space, and various people focus their activism around this presence – there are those who identify themselves as believers, those for whom religion is a part of cultural heritage, as well as those for whom religious materiality is mostly about aesthetics and cultural pleasures. In order to show a range of possible argumentations and motivations, I analyse just one event in a very complex story of the reconstruction of the tower of the Garrison Church in Potsdam, looking at various activist groups that took part in it. All these groups focus their activism around the rebuilding of a church – an ostensibly religious building – which is among the most prominent, but also the most controversial projects of this kind in contemporary Germany. This contribution brings into focus those elements of this long-term and unfinished debate that shed light on our understanding of religioncentred activism and proposes a differentiation between nonreligious and faith-based activism, as forms of religious activism
Routledge eBooks, Feb 1, 2023
Etnografia Polska, Dec 21, 2022
Memory and Religion from a Postsecular Perspective, 2022
The Future of Religious Heritage Entangled Temporalities of the Sacred and the Secular , 2023
The Future of Religious Heritage
Entangled Temporalities of the Sacred and the Secular
Ferdi... more The Future of Religious Heritage
Entangled Temporalities of the Sacred and the Secular
Ferdinand De Jong, José Mapril (editors)
PROOFS ONLY
Entangled Temporalities of the Sacred and the Secular
Ferdinand De Jong, José Mapril (editors)
PROOFS ONLY
Religion, State & Society, 2023
The aim of this contribution is to further understanding of how
religious materiality becomes a f... more The aim of this contribution is to further understanding of how
religious materiality becomes a focus of activism. Religion is present
in a variety of ways in a secularised public space, and various people
focus their activism around this presence – there are those who
identify themselves as believers, those for whom religion is a part of
cultural heritage, as well as those for whom religious materiality is
mostly about aesthetics and cultural pleasures. In order to show
a range of possible argumentations and motivations, I analyse just
one event in a very complex story of the reconstruction of the tower
of the Garrison Church in Potsdam, looking at various activist
groups that took part in it. All these groups focus their activism
around the rebuilding of a church – an ostensibly religious building
– which is among the most prominent, but also the most
controversial projects of this kind in contemporary Germany. This
contribution brings into focus those elements of this long-term and
unfinished debate that shed light on our understanding of religioncentred
activism and proposes a differentiation between nonreligious
and faith-based activism, as forms of religious activism
religious materiality becomes a focus of activism. Religion is present
in a variety of ways in a secularised public space, and various people
focus their activism around this presence – there are those who
identify themselves as believers, those for whom religion is a part of
cultural heritage, as well as those for whom religious materiality is
mostly about aesthetics and cultural pleasures. In order to show
a range of possible argumentations and motivations, I analyse just
one event in a very complex story of the reconstruction of the tower
of the Garrison Church in Potsdam, looking at various activist
groups that took part in it. All these groups focus their activism
around the rebuilding of a church – an ostensibly religious building
– which is among the most prominent, but also the most
controversial projects of this kind in contemporary Germany. This
contribution brings into focus those elements of this long-term and
unfinished debate that shed light on our understanding of religioncentred
activism and proposes a differentiation between nonreligious
and faith-based activism, as forms of religious activism
Religions, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY