Do you believe in pilgrimage?

Abstract

Anthropological study of pilgrimage has increased in recent years, and much work has been dominated by one of two theoretical paradigms. The older, Turnerian depiction of anti-structure and communitas has been influential but appears to be contradicted by Eade and Sallnow's more recent emphasis on the sacred as `contested' at the great (Christian) pilgrimage sites. Reflecting on the newly published second edition of Eade and Sallnow's volume, this article suggests some of the reasons for the growth in pilgrimage studies and proposes some future theoretical areas of interest. In the process, it seeks to highlight important but largely implicit areas of theoretical overlap between the communitas and `contestation' paradigms.