The Meaning of Weapons: Material and Discursive Negotiations in Culture and Religion - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 103284700X ISBN 13: 9781032847009

Publisher: Routledge, 2026

Synopsis

This book studies the role, representation, and materiality of weapons, focusing on what they mean to communities and individuals in various cultural, social, political, and religious settings.

Drawing on a range of case studies from across the globe, the chapters examine (1) how weapons are understood and used in different social, cultural, religious, theological, and ritual contexts; (2) their role within infrastructures of violence, that is, the socio-material, juridical, and spatial arrangements of weapons that enable or constrain violence; (3) processes of human socialization with weapons; (4) the infliction of violence through weapons; and (5) the representation of weapons in popular culture, games, myths, museums, and monuments.

The volume brings together insights from various disciplines including anthropology, religious studies, philosophy, history, and conflict studies. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for highly needed new theoretical and methodological directions to understand the meaning of weapons in our times.

About this title

About the Author

Lucien van Liere is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Erik Meinema is Assistant Professor in Religion and Heritage at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 103284700X
• ISBN 13: 9781032847009
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 276
• Editor: Van Liere Lucien, Meinema Erik