Shamanism
The Oxford Handbook of the Anthropology of Religion February 19, 2026 Morten Axel Pedersen
Shamanism has revived as a topic of anthropological interest despite predictions of its demise, but it has not generated much new theory. Based on ethnographic work in Mongolia and Inner Asia, this chapter argues that shamanism can be understood as an ultimate cosmology or theory of change, one that could potentially end all theories of change. Change is central to transition, and shamans and their spirits make this inherent ontological instability visible and possibly livable. The chapter contends that shamanism's unique theoretical potential lies in its capacity to be simultaneously "a thing" and "not a thing," a quality not yet fully harnessed.