Whales of Power

Water Powers is an interdisciplinary collection that presents timely, original research on sacred aquatic animals—from dragons and nagas to dugongs and whales—and environmental change. Contributors examine the past and present significance of these creatures in Nepal, India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Okinawa, Indonesia, and Aotearoa-New Zealand to explore the diverse relationships between animals, deities, humans, and bodies of water. In so doing, they challenge narratives about disenchantment as a core aspect of modernization, seeking to give the sacred creatures and the rituals associated with them a more central place in debates about environmental degradation and conservation initiatives. Their work converges around three core themes: 1) divine embodiment and materiality (how sacred beings manifest themselves and act in the world); making and crossing boundaries (how aquatic animals are constrained by but also challenge physical, ontological, and conceptual boundaries); and 3) crises and relationality (how more-than-human relationships change in response to environmental and other crises).

Water Powers will appeal to scholars and students across multiple fields, including anthropology, religious studies, environmental humanities, geography, development studies, history, and archaeology. The book will also interest development experts, conservationists, museum curators, and readers engaged with culture, religion, and environmental change in the Asia-Pacific region.