Developing the Dead

“A major empirical contribution to the debate about antirepresentationalism and posthumanism that has been agitating the entire discipline of anthropology in recent years.”—Stephan Palmié, author of The Cooking of History: How Not to Study Afro-Cuban Religion
 
“The most provocative and complete portrayal of contemporary Cuban espiritismo available. It underscores the embodied character of espiritista practices and offers a dynamic portrayal of espiritista mediums’ crucial roles within a complex of Afro-Cuban religions that includes ocha, palo monte, and other faiths.”—Reinaldo L. Román, author of Governing Spirits: Religion, Miracles, and Spectacles in Cuba and Puerto Rico, 1898–1956
 
“To read this book is to enter into an apparently alien world and yet find that it makes complete sense, and for that reason Developing the Dead is a model of the anthropological enterprise.”—Charles Stewart, author of Dreaming and Historical Consciousness in Island Greece

“Emphasizes the confluence of body, spirit world, and experience of self. . . . Places espiritismo in the context of Cuban class, recent history, colonial experience, struggle for independence, and the revolution. . . . Recommended.”—Choice

 

“A detailed and richly nuanced ethnography of Cuban espiritismo.”—Journal of Folklore Research

 

“Belongs in the library of anyone interested in those African-based religious traditions that have been developed in the Americas, especially those that developed in the Caribbean. It should also be of interest to those willing to widen their scholarly gaze to include traditions that do not fit neatly into Western, European philosophical and religious categories.”—Nova Religio

 

“An invaluable reference for scholars working in Atlantic studies, Religious studies, Latina/o studies, Anthropology of Religion, Caribbean studies, and African Diaspora studies.”—New West Indian Guide