Totem

Abstract Although the term “totem” constituted a key term in classical theories of religion, it has not played a notable role in the recent material turn in the study of religion. This essay offers a critical reconsideration of the term by comparing its function in Durkheim’s sociology of religion with David Chidester’s postcolonial analysis of its function in religion and Religious Studies from a South African location. The comparison not only highlights problematic uses of the term in its history, but also sheds light on the question whether the term might be rehabilitated for use in the study of material religion. In assessing the term’s genealogy as well as its possible use in the study of material religion, the ethical question is of paramount importance: informed by critical theories of race, class and gender, which values may serve in our assessment?