Description: Written with a rare combination of analysis and speculation, this comprehensive study of Javanese religion is one of the few books on the religion of a non-Western people which emphasizes variation and conflict in belief as well as similarity and harmony. The reader becomes aware of the intricacy and depth of Javanese spiritual life and the problems of political and social integration reflected in the religion.
The Religion of Java will interest specialists in Southeast Asia, anthropologists and sociologists concerned with the social analysis of religious belief and ideology, students of comparative religion, and civil servants dealing with governmental policy toward Indonesia and Southeast Asia.Brief description: Clifford Geertz (1926-2006) was a cultural anthopologist. At the time of his death he was professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He was professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago from 1960 to 1970. He carried out fieldwork in Indonesia and North Africa, which forms the basis ofhisbooks published by the University of ChiocagoPress.