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Introduction
Louis-Lon Christians and Olivier Servais Social Compass 2005 52: 275 DOI: 10.1177/0037768605055646 The online version of this article can be found at: http://scp.sagepub.com/content/52/3/275.citation

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social co compass
52(3), 2005, 275279

on CHRISTIANS et Olivier SERVAIS Louis-Le

Introduction
Bricolage religieux? Autour de la lange religieux conceptualisation du me Aujourdhui, en sciences sociales, cest pratiquement un truisme darmer te s vivent des mutations que nos socie socioculturelles radicales et certaine e, notamment durables, sous la pousse ment, des processus de mondialisation et dindividualisation. Au hasard des rencontres, des ouvertures de fron` res politiques ou e conomiques, des tie guerres, des vagues dimmigration, gales ou non, et des de placements de le culaires se populations, nos paysages se tissant modient durablement, se me des rencontres. toujours plus, au gre e en puissance de De me me, la monte comportement sociaux individualisants sape les racines institutionnelles s et de ces stabilite s de ces identite tablies par lhistoire. Sil est bien e impossible danticiper les transformations que ces grands bouleversements ` terme, au visage des feront subir, a peuples et des cultures, force est dadmettre quelles risquent de tre con rables, promouvant c ` de side a et la tisme nouvelles formes de syncre religieux. Selon cette perspective, il est bien ` s lors une re alite incontournable, de lange. Point nest besoin celle du me de lourds exemples pour illustrer ce nome ` ne: nouveaux mouvements phe religieux, mouvements de renouveaux o-chamanisme, par exemple). Face (ne ` ce contexte neuf et toujours mouvant, a
DOI: 10.1177/0037768605055646 http://scp.sagepub.com

Religious Bricolage? How Do We Conceptualize the Mixture of Religions? In social science today it is practically a truism to state that our societies are sustained by sociocultural changes that, while radical, are certainly durable, being carried forward notably by the processes of globalization and individualization. In the course of multiple encounters, the opening-up of various political or economic borders, wars, waves of immigration legal or otherwise, and great displacements of populations, the world of dierent societies is being modied in a manner that will have long-term eects. Societies are being mixed, as they come in contact with each other. However, at the same time, the popularity of kinds of social behaviour, kinds that recognize little if any debt except to the decision-making power of the individual, has undermined the institutional foundation of identities which were established in stable fashion throughout history. One cannot claim to foresee or anticipate the transformations which these upheavals will denitely bring about, in the long term, for peoples and cultures. We must admit that there are likely to be great upheavals, and that here and there new forms of religious syncretism may result. From this perspective, the reality of the mixture becomes too great to

& 2005 Social Compass

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veloppe une les sciences sociales ont de importante panoplie conceptuelle pour hender la re alite qui se tenter dappre ja ` Bastide et Balandier fait jour. De la re exion il avaient largement lance es. Les y a une quarantaine danne tisme, de me tissage, termes de syncre dhybridation, de bricolage, de transaction symbolique, sont autant bat a ` luvre dexemples de ce de aujourdhui. Mais le choix de tel ou hender tel concept, pour tenter dappre alite , demeure soumis a ` divers la re bat entre disciplines implicites quun de ` se de voiler. Les pourrait contraindre a orienjeux nen sont pas seulement the ques. Ils visent aussi bien les modes gulation sociaux et politiques du de re es a ` venir. fait religieux dans les anne part du concept de briCest au de merge le de bat colage religieux que en anthropologie, dans ce dossier. Ne par Le vi-Strauss, ce et popularise ` son origine les re artiterme qualie a interpre tations qui culations et les re ` rent dans le champ de la pense e sope vimythique. Ce bricolage mythique le ` linte rieur dun straussien sexerce a ` me demprise symbolique qui syste -contraint fortement les utilisations pre riaux re employe s. possibles des mate Mary a pu parler a ` De ce fait, Andre ritables logiques synce propos de ve tiques. La ge ne ralisation basticre dienne dun paradigme sociologique grant les strate gies du bricolage, inte des acteurs et les logiques sociales de ` re fois bricolage, tente pour la premie de sortir le concept de son champ pandu dorigine. Depuis lors il sest re largement dans lespace des sciences humaines et sociales, et notamment gitime dans le champ religieux. Il est le aujourdhui de sinterroger sur la perti rationnalisation de ce nence dune ope terme en dehors de lanthropologie . dans laquelle il est ne Hors de son champ et hors de ses mergence, de nombreuses contextes de ` lanalyste. Chez questions se posent a

ignore. One doesnt have to look far for examples of this phenomenon. New religious movements and movements of recovery or return, like neoshamanism, are numerous. Social science has developed important conceptual tools in an eort to understand this new and ever-changing reality. Already with Bastide and Balandier, 40 years ago, the lines were drawn. Syncretism, metissage, hybridization, bricolage, symbolic transactionthe fact that these words are both English and French shows their continuing relevance to the debate today. But the reasons for the choice of concepts judged appropriate are dicult to state. Much is left implicit. A debate between disciplines could force it to the surface. There is more than theoretical values at stake. The social and political regulation of religious phenomena in years to come is also on the agenda. From the beginning, in this matter, the concept of religious bricolage has given rise to debate. The term gained currency in anthropology, was vi-Strauss, and can popularized by Le be made to refer to the original rearticulations and re-interpretations which are occurring in the eld of vi-Straussian mythic thought. Le mythic bricolage takes place within a system of symbolic ascendancy which drastically cuts down what can be made of the symbolic material of the initial state. Because of this limiting Mary was able to speak factor, Andre in terms of actual logics of syncretism. The generalization made by Bastide concerning a sociological paradigm of bricolage was the rst attempt to extend the reach of the concept. Since then it has been re-employed many times in social and human science, especially with reference to religion. The time has come for us to question this migration of the concept from anthropology into sociology.

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Introduction 277

vi-Strauss le bricolage tenait in ne Le articulapluto t de la rupture par la re interpre tation. tion formelle et la re tait du Chez Bastide, le bricolage e ressort de la transition. Le culte de ` merveille cet e tat crise traduisait a diaire de mutation par le interme lange entre deux e tats de perme te s de haute manence. Dans nos socie , on peut sinterroger sur le modernite statut de ce bricolage. Le bricolage de la stabilisation? serait-il la cle Serait-il le dernier avatar permettant ` ces du puzzle symde sauver les pie miettement? Ou au bolique en voie de tape interme diaire du contraire, une e brisement, de latomisation du champ symbolique? Dans cette perspective, selon que lon sappuie sur lune ou tation, le concept de lautre interpre bricolage change de signication. tait Chez ces inventeurs, le concept e par les en outre hautement limite contraintes formelles ou culturelles riau bricole . Quen quimposait le mate est-il en contexte occidental de haute ? Y a-t-il encore des conmodernite ` la traintes formelles a ge de lindividu-consommateur symbolique? Ou ` une disposition, sans assiste-t-on a limites, des stocks symboliques dis e, ponibles? Dans le me me ordre dide ` co de ces pre contraintes lie es au a te riau, il y a lieu de sinterroger mate rents lieux de bricolage sur les die cisymbolique et leurs contextes spe interpre tation. Ne devraitques de re ` ce propos de poston pas parler a contrainte? ` du processus, les recherches Au-dela es sur les acteurs et les se sont focalise gies du bricolage. A cette n, les strate s socio-anthropologues se sont attarde ` la gure du recomposeur syma te s bolique. Dans le contexte des socie ` res, le trickster de Radin, le coutumie masque de Bastide, ou encore la taient autant de fac ade de Balandier e cadrages heuristiques permettant de tenter de cerner cet acteur complexe.

Even setting aside the questions of conceptual origin and of the particular re-coinage of this concept, other vi-Strauss, diculties remain. For Le bricolage took the precise form of rupture via formal rearticulation and reinterpretation. With Bastide, bricolage was a transitional form. The cult of crisis perfectly exemplied this intermediate stage of mutation via mixture, which takes us from one initial state of permanence to another such state. In our sophisticated societies, the status of such bricolage comes into question. Is bricolage the key to a new stabilization? Is it the last gasp for a symbolic mosaic in the process of coming apart? Or is it a freeing intermediate breaking-away within the symbolic eld? Interpretations and perspectives cast light on the concept from dierent angles. For its scholarly adapters, the concept came with denite limits imposed by the material to be tinkered with in their use of it, formal and cultural constraints. But how does the high modern Western context meet these limits? Do any constraints hinder the individual consumer of symbolic material? Or are we watching the last days of a re sale or remaining stock? Along the same lines, in addition to pre-conditions linked to the available material, there are questions about the topoi of symbolic bricolage, and their specic contexts for reinterpretation. Should we not admit, nally, that the high modern context knows no constraints? And over and above all questions of process, research has also centred on the actors in bricolage and their strategies. In this regard, the socioanthropologists have promoted the gure of the recomposer of symbolic material, the bricoleur. In discussing societies dominated by custom, Radins trickster, Bastides mask, Balandiers fac ade, these were so

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Entre ambivalence, transgression et interpre tation, son ro cisif. re le est de riel ou symMais qui est lacteur mate bolique du bricolage contemporain? o-chamanes ou croyants-gue risNe seurs, consommateurs ou astrologues, ces passeurs de symboles jouent aujourdhui une fonction essentielle dans la recomposition du champs sym , au-dela ` de la bolique. Leur activite ploie a ` tracoupure bastidienne, se de vers bien dautres logiques sociales du tique. Ce contexte e mertravail syncre ` le preuve la terminologie gent met a classique du bricolage et pose de nouvelles interrogations au chercheur. Parmi les questions nodales, il convient galement danalyser les incompatie s ou les comple mentarite s que le bilite concept de bricolage entretient avec les terminologies concurrentes. Ce dos a ` sier sest principalement employe faire dialoguer ces conceptualisations classiques du bricolage avec les champs contemporains du religieux.1

many heuristic frames attempting to capture the complex role. In the intersection of ambiguity, trespass, and reinterpretation, its eect is decisive. But who, in material or symbolic terms, is the actor of contemporary bricolage? Neo-shamans, faith-healers, consumers, astrologers, the dealers in symbolism play an essential function in the recomposition of the eld of symbols. Their activity, over and above the eect of the coupure of Bastide, spreads over many other social logics of syncretic work. It is this emerging context that puts the classic bricolage terminology to the test. It places the questioner before new and central questions. It is also appropriate to analyse incompatibilities and complementarities which exist between bricolage terminology and other terminologies which refer to the same things. This set of articles is primarily intended to stimulate a dialogue between these classic conceptualizations and contemporary research in religion.1

NOTE
1. Ce dossier est le fruit dun colloque : Bricolage, Me tissage ou intitule lange Hybridation? Les concepts du me tude trans-disciplinaire des phe dans le ` nes religieux, tenu a ` Louvainnome La-Neuve, le 14 novembre 2003, et sous les auspices du Groupe organise de Contact FNRS Sciences sociales des religions. Par manque de place, les on Christians et Vasarticles de Louis-Le s ulte rieuresilis Saroglou seront publie ment dans Social Compass.

NOTE
1. This set of articles was presented at a tiscolloquium entitled: Bricolage, Me sage ou Hybridation? Les concepts du lange dans le tude trans-disciplinaire me nome ` nes religieux, held at des phe Louvain-La-Neuve, 14 November 2003, organized through the Groupe de Contact of the FNRS, section Sciences sociales des religions. Because of the lack of space, the articles by Louis on Christians and Vassilis Saroglou Le will be published in a later issue of Social Compass.

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Introduction 279 on CHRISTIANS received his PhD from the Universite de Louis-Le Paris XI and his Canon Law Doctorate from the Institut catholique de Paris. He now teaches Law and Religion, Comparative Law and catholique de Louvain, at the Institut Canon Law at the Universite de Paris XI. His publications include catholique de Paris and Universite essays on Church and State relations in Europe, religious freedom in Europe, and relations between Catholic canon law and state law. catholique de Louvain, Place ADDRESS: Law School, Universite Montesquieu, 2, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. [email: christians@dpri.ucl.ac.be] Olivier SERVAIS, anthropologue et historien, enseigne lanthropologie ` lUniversite catholique de Louvain et les sciences des religions a s universitaires de Namur, en (Louvain-la-Neuve) et aux Faculte Belgique. Il est membre du Laboratoire dAnthropologie Prospective. ADRESSE: place Montesquieu 1/1, B-1348 Louvain la Neuve, Belgique. [email: servais@anso.ucl.ac.be]

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