The relationship between Amish religious identity and consumer culture

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K01863
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Saitama University
• Principal Investigator: Nomura Nao 埼玉大学, 人文社会科学研究科, 准教授 (10709588)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 物質文化 / 消費文化 / 民族誌 / 宗教社会学 / 再洗礼派 / アーミッシュ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Using ethnography as a primary methodology, I conducted fieldwork in the Amish settlement in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in order to explore and document various factors that constitute social distinctions within the seemingly homogeneous religious community. In contract to the existing scholarship that argues that consumer culture is non-existent in Amish society, my ethnographic fieldwork that closely examined Amish consumption activities indicates that consumer culture plays a significant role in constructing and reinforcing their religious identity.

Free Research Field

アメリカ研究

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

コミュニティに密着した調査を行うことで、文化の実践者であるアーミッシュの様々な消費行動だけではなく、彼／彼女らの消費文化を支える非アーミッシュの行動も調査の対象とし、コミュニティの多様性が生産／再生産される過程を考察した。本研究は、アーミッシュ研究の蓄積に貢献するだけではなく、グローバル化が進む現代において重要とされる文化の多様性の形成過程の一側面を明らかにした。