The Institute of Psychoplasmics

ABSTRACT: The Institute of Psychoplasmics is a group exhibition dealing with cults, rituals and the metaphor of the body politic. A key interest of the project is the way in which cultic groupings challenge the integrity of the social body by producing another within it. The exhibition, book and events explore parallels between the operations of new religious movements in the context of neo-liberalism and the forms of collectivity posited by contemporary art. These issues were addressed through a gallery display, academic essays, discussion, adult and children focused workshops and live performance event. The exhibition design, which considered the gallery as a research institute, itself investigated strategies of collaboration and psycho-social manipulation. The show was curated by Pil and Galia Kollectiv and commissioned by the Pump House Gallery in London and supported by Outset, Arts Council England and the Henry Moore Foundation. The exhibition included work by a.a.s., Insectoid, Diann Bauer, Amanda Beech, Mikko Canini, Seth Coston, Rod Dickinson, Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Tai Shani, Francis Upritchard and Roman Vasseur. A publication edited by the curators, features writing by Suhail Malik, Amanda Beech, Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Gilad Elbom, Tom McCarthy, Emily McMehen and Travis Jeppesen.

Money distribution with intermediation

This pap er analyzes the distribution of money holdings in a commo dity money search-based mo del with intermediation. Intro ducing heterogeneity of costs to the Kiyotaki e Wright ( 1989 ) mo del, Cavalcanti e Puzzello ( 2010) gives rise to a non-degenerated distribution of money. We extend further this mo del intro ducing intermediation in the trading pro cess. We show that the distribution of money matters for savings decisions. This gives rises to a xed p oint problem for the saving function that di cults nding the optimal solution. Through some examples, we show that this friction shrinks the distribution of money. In contrast to the Cavalcanti e Puzzello ( 2010 ) mo del, the optimal solution may not present the entire surplus going to the consumer. At the end of the pap er, we present a strong result, for a su cient large numb er of intermediaries the distribution of money is degenerated.

Os filhos evangélicos do novo caldeirão do diabo: a conversão religiosa na penitenciária de alcaçuz

The theme of the research is inserted at a field of intersection between the Sociology of Religion and Sociology of Violence, having as the general objective study the sociological meaning of the conversion of prisoners that lives at the biggest prison (Prison of Alcaçuz) of Rio Grande do Norte to the evangelical churches. The research is justified, because Brazil shelter the fourth greater arrested population arrested of the world, with projections indicating that it can turn the greatest in 2034. Besides, this study about religious conversion of prisoners to the Social Sciences is too important, because is a theme little developed in Brazil and deserves attention, one time that as the arrested people as the evangelicals are in expansion in our country. Starting from the precedent observations, we guide ourselves by the following problematic of research: the religious practice in Alcaçuz presents a mere instrumental perspective, where the actions of prisoners converted was on purpose oriented to conquest material or symbolic privileges; or purely religious, where seek a moral renovation? To develop the work, the scientific methodology adopted was exploratory and explanatory, using the Goffman´s theory about total institutions and presentation of self, and Blumer´s doctrine relating to Symbolic Interacionism and the Story life method, besides considerations about evangelical religion. Having this theoretical basis, was accomplished the Field research, when were made interviews and applied questionnaires to 11 Jailer Agents, 31 prisoners, Director and Vice-Dictor (in November, 2011), the coordinator of social projects of the prison and the coordinator of evangelization at the prisons in Rio Grande do Norte. As results, it was seeing in Alcaçuz that the prisoners can be separated in two groups: the one of Pavilions and other one of the Medical Section. The Pavilions are branded for managerial and structural problems, where are found idle prisoners in collective cells and with a historical of escaping attempts, mutinies and murders. The Medical Section has some individual cells or destined for two people, besides few collective also, and the prisoners work and have a more disciplined behavior, there isn t escapes or rebellions and that, for these reasons end for have more confidence from the Administration. About the presence of evangelical prisoners, most are at Medical Section, where exist a specific place to the cults (what doesn t at Pavilions). At the end, the conclusion is that the prisoner that says himself evangelical in Alcaçuz, although can be seeing with distrust about your real conversion, he gets win a trust vote and until the opposite being demonstrated in other words, that he is not hiding himself behind the bible to divert the vigilance of Direction and practice disciplinary faults without make any suspicions, is treated with more respect and has more opportunities live at Medical Section; have work, that most of times is paid and guarantee the homologation of your payment of penalty with work, besides other benefits, diminishing his time in jail

A arte rupestre como expressão comunicativa da cultura

Along their existence, through of the millenniuns, the Man registers, one way or another, their saga. One in those registration ways is the rupestrian art. Through the rupestrian art the Prehistory is brought even us, portraying in images the daily ritualist and magic of the Man, in scenes that show, among other, their cults and also their daily hard work. The Man is imposed, while registering of their existence, starting from the moment in that he is capable to leave their marks through the transformation that attributes to the Nature; also for the produced interferences and for the cultural singularities that themselves were constituted before the period of the alphabetical writing. In an artifice of duplicating utensils and in the sense of representing animals and to himself own, he delegated us a communicative system whose contexts and details were - and it continue being - an enigma to be deciphered. Starting from this argument, the research has for objective to understand the daily and the history of cultural groups that they preceded us, taking as base the reading of the rupestrian paintings found at the located archeological ranches in the Area of Seridó, more specifically in the Complexo Xique-xique, close to the Municipal district of Carnaúba dos Dantas, distant 220 kilometers of Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte State

A Cultura clerical e a folia popular

Este artigo aborda o confronto entre um catolicismo autoritário, tridentino e romanizador, que penetrou no Brasil na segunda metade do século XIX e se consolidou nas primeiras décadas do século XX, e o catolicismo tradicional vigente, de fortes raízes populares. em sua obsessão pela unanimidade, o ultramontanismo negou as outras formas de ser católico, estabelecendo as dicotomias entre o velho e o novo, o bom e o mau. Entretanto, as velhas formas de religiosidade popular resistiram, mantendo ainda hoje uma inesgotável fonte de devoção e de fé.

As religiões em Roma no Principado: Petrônio e Marcial (séculos I e II d.C)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Religião Romana nas Fronteiras da Romanidade: um estudo sobre a construção e manutenção de identidades romanas durante o principado Júlio-Claudiano

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Corporalidade neopentecostal: análise e concepção de corpo na Igreja Bola de Neve de Marília, SP

Pós-graduação em Ciências Sociais - FFC

Marco Túlio Cícero: concepções do discurso religioso no final da República romana

Pós-graduação em História - FCLAS

Il Dionisismo nelle comunità puniche: il caso di Mozia

La ricerca sul «Dionisismo nelle comunità fenicie e puniche: il caso di Mozia» prende in considerazione le diverse attestazioni del dionisismo quale si evidenziano, con le sue ricadute politiche e cultuali, nelle comunità fenicie e puniche della Sicilia, della Sardegna e della stessa Cartagine. Accanto ad una lettura testuale utile alla storicizzazione contestualizzata del fenomeno, fra cui lo stesso pitagorismo, si propone un corpus che comprende prodotti delle categorie artigianali che restituiscono iconografie di’ambientazione dionisiaca, testimonî dell'adozione sociale e pubblica di una cultualità la cui origine si mostra sempre più vicina a contesti vicino-orientali. Da una rilettura storicizzata del dionisismo, quindi, si mettono in evidenza con un approccio multidisciplinare e comparativistico le caratteristiche del culto, di cui si sottolinea fra l’altro la componente ctonia. In particolare il santuario tofet, con le sue recenti riletture di santuario cittadino e pluricultuale, sembra proporre analogie fra il mlk e la ritualità dionisiaca. Analogie che confermano la vocazione mediterranea ed interculturali delle comunità fenicie e puniche e che in più di un caso daranno luogo a sincretismi che si trasmetteranno sino ed oltre l’età romana. In questo colloquio interetnico Mozia svolge un ruolo non secondario insieme a Selinunte, vero e proprio laboratorio del sincretismo cultuale della Sicilia Occidentale pre-romana, dove i culti di Zeus Melichios e di Demetra si pongono come realtà rituali fra le più utili alla coesione sociale, quell’analoga coesione solciale elitaria perseguita dal dionisismo.

The Pursuit of Tangible Happiness: Religion and Politics in a Japanese New, New Religion

The decline of traditional religions in Japan in the past century, and especially since the end of World War Two, has led to an explosion of so-called “new religions” (shin shūkyō 新宗教), many of which have made forays into the political realm. The best known—and most controversial—example of a “political” new religion is Sōka Gakkai 創価学会, a lay Buddhist movement originally associated with the Nichiren sect that in the 1960s gave birth to a new political party, Komeitō 公明党 (lit., Clean Government Party), which in the past several decades has emerged as the third most popular party in Japan (as New Komeitō). Since the 1980s, Japan has also seen the emergence of so-called “new, new religions” (shin shin shūkyō 新新宗教), which tend to be more technologically savvy and less socially concerned (and, in the eyes of critics, more akin to “cults” than the earlier new religions). One new, new religion known as Kōfuku-no-Kagaku 幸福の科学 (lit., Institute for Research in Human Happiness or simply Happy Science), founded in 1986 by Ōkawa Ryūho 大川隆法, has very recently developed its own political party, Kōfuku Jitsugentō 幸福実現党 (The Realization of Happiness Party). This article will analyse the political ideals of Kōfuku Jitsugentō in relation to its religious teachings, in an attempt to situate the movement within the broader tradition of religio-political syncretism in Japan. In particular, it will examine the recent “manifesto” of Kōfuku Jitsugentō in relation to those of New Komeitō and “secular” political parties such as the Liberal Democratic Party (Jimintō 自民党) and the Democratic Party (Minshutō 民主党).

From Similes to Allegory: The Deconstruction of Chariot Imagery in Early Buddhist Texts, Analyzed with Cognitive Metaphor Theory

The presentation will start by unfolding the various layers of chariot imagery in early Indian sources, namely, chariots as vehicles of gods such as the sun (sūrya), i.e. as symbol of cosmic stability; chariots as symbols of royal power and social prestige e.g. of Brahmins; and, finally, chariots as metaphors for the “person”, the “mind” and the “way to liberation” (e.g., Kaṭ.-Up. III.3; Maitr.-Up. II. 6). In Buddhist and non-Buddhist sources, chariots are in certain aspects used as a metaphor for the (old) human body (e.g., Caraka-S., Vi.3.37-38; D II.100; D II.107); apart from that, there is, of course, mention of the “real” use of chariots in sports, cults, journey, and combat. The most prominent example of the Buddhist use of chariot imagery is its application as a model for the person (S I.134 f.; Milindapañha, ed. Trenckner, 26), i.e., for highlighting the “non-substantial self”. There are, however, other significant examples of the usage of chariot imagery in early Buddhist texts. Of special interest are those cases in which chariot metaphors were applied in order to explain how the ‘self’ may proceed on the way to salvation – with ‘mindfulness’ or the ‘self’ as charioteer, with ‘wisdom’ and ‘confidence’ as horses etc. (e.g. S I. 33; S V.7; Dhp 94; or the Nārada-Jātaka, No. 545, verses 181-190). One might be tempted to say that these instances reaffirm the traditional soteriology of a substantial “progressing soul”. Taking conceptual metaphor analysis as a tool, I will, in contrast, argue that there is a special Buddhist use of this metaphor. Indeed, at first sight, it seems to presuppose a non-Buddhist understanding (the “self” as charioteer; the chariot as vehicle to liberation, etc.). Yet, it will be argued that in these cases the chariot imagery is no longer fully “functional”. The Buddhist usage may, therefore, best be described as a final allegorical phase of the chariot-imagery, which results in a thorough deconstruction of the “chariot” itself.

Tras las huellas de Horacio : Carm.,1,2 y 4, 15

Hor., en Carm., 1, 2 y 4, 15 recoge una serie de referencias a dioses importantes para la familia adoptiva de Octaviano y para el propio gobernante, que han sido tradicionalmente analizadas e interpretadas desde un punto de vista interno: su presencia se explicaría en función de su relación con la gens Iulia. El punto de vista que quiero ofrecer en mi trabajo es complementario a éste: a partir de un análisis externo de las referencias a estos dioses, creo que su presencia se puede explicar en función de los templos en los que "habitaban" en Roma, del lugar donde estos templos se encontraban y de las representaciones icónicas que servían a su culto. Al mismo tiempo, la nueva relación que establezco entre 1,2 y 4, 15 aporta evidencias para una comprensión distinta de la segunda edición de la poesía lírica de Horacio, la que se presentó con el libro 4

La dionisización del dios Pan

Pan es un dios peculiar en muchos aspectos. Al contrario que los restantes dioses del panteón griego, él no es antropomorfo, sino que tiene patas, cola y cuernos de carnero. Un dios con características tan arcaicas sólo puede sobrevivir confinado a la Arcadia, una región que conserva numerosos arcaísmos religiosos. Sin embargo, a partir del 490 a.C. en que se instaura su culto en Atenas, el dios comienza a cambiar. En su evolución, Pan se asimila cada vez más a Dioniso. El acercamiento entre ambas figuras deja su huella en el mito, pero sobre todo en el culto. Así, un dios que en Arcadia era venerado en santuarios construidos por la mano del hombre, en el resto de Grecia recibe culto en parajes agrestes, fundamentalmente cuevas. No parece casual el hecho de que también fuera de Arcadia la gruta sea el lugar reservado a los cultos mistéricos, incluidos los dionisíacos