Director
Phone: +49-(0)69-79833052
Roland Hardenberg studied anthropology, history, political science and Southeast Asian studies at the universities of Münster, Berlin and Oxford. He received his PhD from the Free University of Berlin in 1998 with a study on the renewal (nabakalebara) of the deities of the Jagannatha temple, based on 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Puri, Odisha (India). He then worked as a research associate at institutes in Berlin and Heidelberg. Beginning in 2001, he conducted 16 months of field research among the Dongria Kond, a scheduled tribe living in the Niamgiri Mountain Range of Rayagada District in Odisha. Based on this empirical work, he was habilitated in 2006 by the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster for a thesis on sacrifices, marriages and value systems. In 2006, he moved to the University of Tübingen and subsequently conducted a year-long field research on burial practices and collective memories in the Issyk Köl district of Kyrgyzstan. In 2009, he assumed the chair of social and cultural anthropology at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. A year later, he received an appointment to the Chair of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Freie Universität Berlin, but remained at the University of Tübingen, where he initiated, together with archaeologists, the Collaborative Research Center "Resource Cultures: Sociocultural Dynamics in the Use of Resources" (SFB 1070). In 2016, he accepted a call from Goethe University Frankfurt to take over the Chair of Social and Cultural Anthropology founded by A. E. Jensen. In 2017, he was also elected director of the Frobenius Institute for Cultural Anthropological Research, succeeding Karl-Heinz Kohl. Roland Hardenberg is a member of various scientific advisory boards and co-editor of the journal Paideuma and the book series Studien zur Kulturkunde.
Research interests
Thematic: resource-cultures, religious dynamics, religious (de-) toxification, anthropology of plants, rituals, value systems, kinship, material culture
Regional: India, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Spain
Publications
Monographs and edited volumes
2024 (Ruth Conrad, Roland Hardenberg, Hanna Miethner, Max Stille) (eds.). Ritual and Social Dynamics in Christian and Islamic Preaching. New York: Bloomsbury.
2017 (Anke Scholz, Martin Bartelheim, Roland Hardenberg, Jörn Staecker) (eds.) ResourceCultures. Sociocultural dynamics and the use of resources - theories, methods, perspectives. Tübingen: SFB 1070 Publications.
2016 Approaching ritual economy: socio-cosmic fields in globalized contexts. Tübingen: SFB 1070 Publications.
2011 The renewal of Jagannatha's body. Ritual and society in coastal Orissa. New Delhi: Manak.
2010 (Peter Berger, Roland Hardenberg, Ellen Kattner und Michael Prager) An anthropology of values. Essays in honour of Georg Pfeffer. New Delhi: Pearson/Longman.
2008 König ohne Reich: Rituale des Königtums in Orissa (Indien). Berlin: Schiller Verlag.
2000 Ideologie eines Hindu-Königtums. Struktur und Bedeutung der Rituale des 'Königs von Puri' (Orissa/Indien). (Indus Bd. 7). Berlin: Das Arabische Buch.
1999 Die Wiedergeburt der Götter. Ritual und Gesellschaft in Orissa (Herodot – Wissenschaftliche Schriften zur Ethnologie, Bd. 1). Hamburg: Kovac Verlag.
Journals und series
Dictionaries
1999 (Roland Hardenberg, Shankar K. Panda) Oriya-German-English. Basic vocabulary (Mahanadi-Beiträge zur Südasienforschung, hg. v. G. Pfeffer, Serie A: Sprachen). Berlin: Institut für Ethnologie der Freien Universität Berlin.
2022 (Martin Bartelheim, Dobereiner Chala Aldana, Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, Roland Hardenberg, Maike Melles) "Landscape use and transhumance in Sierra Morena through the Ages. In: M. Bartelheim/F. Contreras Cortés/R. Hardenberg (eds.): Landscapes and resources in the Bronze Age of Southern Spain (ResourcenKulturen 17). Tübingen: Tübingen University Press.
2021 „Dwelling in an animated landscape. Forms of attachment between environment and peple in eastern India“. In: M. Bartelheim/L. García Sanjuán/R. Hardenberg (eds.): Human-made environments. The development of landscapes as resource assemblages (RessourcenKulturen 15). Tübingen: Tübingen University Press, 23-34.
2021 „The rise of a new millet assemblage“. In: T. Schade/B. Schweizer/S. Teuber/R. Da Vela/W. Frauen/M. Karami/D. Kumar Ojha/K. Schmidt/R. Sieler/M. Toplak (eds.): Exploring resources. On cultural, spatial and temporal dimensions of ResourceCultures (RessourcenKulturen 13). Tübingen: Tübingen University Press, 141-156.
2021 (Martin Bartelheim, Roland Hardenberg, Thomas Scholten) „ Ressourcen
– RessourcenKomplexe – RessourcenGefüge – RessourcenKulturen“. In: T. Schade/B. Schweizer/S. Teuber/R. Da Vela/W. Frauen/M. Karami/D. Kumar Ojha/K. Schmidt/R. Sieler/M. Toplak (eds.): Exploring resources. On cultural, spatial and temporal dimensions of ResourceCultures (RessourcenKulturen 13). Tübingen: Tübingen University Press, 9-22.
2020 „Die genealogische Methode. Eine kritische Einführung und Anleitung“. In: B. Beer/A. König (eds.): Methoden ethnologischer Feldforschung. Berlin: Reimer Verlag. 159-178.
2019 „Dongria Kond: fact sheet”, in: Marine Carrin et al. (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Religions of the Indigenous People of South Asia Online. https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/
2019 „Dongria Kond: perspectivism in tribal India”, Marine Carrin et al. (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Religions of the Indigenous People of South Asia Online. https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/
2019 „Vorwort“, in: Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universität, Frobenius-Institut (ed.), Frobenius – Die Kunst des Forschens (Ausstellungskatalog), 10–11. Petersberg: Imhoff Verlag.
2019 „Agnes Susanne Schulz“, in: Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universität, Frobenius-Institut (ed.), Frobenius – Die Kunst des Forschens (Ausstellungskatalog), 233–239. Petersberg: Imhoff Verlag.
2018 „Sacred and secret: the exchange of 'life substance' in the Jagannatha temple, Puri, Odisha“, in: B. Kumar (ed.): Jagannath consciousness in India and its neighbouring countries. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
2018 „Sacrifice“, in: H. Callan (ed.): International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, vol. 12 (ed. By Simon Coleman). New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
2017 “‘Juniors’, ‘Exploiters’, ‘Brokers’ and ‘Shamans’— a Holistic View on the Dombo Community in the Highlands of Odisha”, in: U. Skoda und B. Pati (eds.), Highland Odisha. Life and Society beyond the Coastal World, 135-174. Delhi: Primus Books.
2017 (R. Hardenberg, M. Bartelheim und J. Staecker) „The ‚Resource turn‘: A socio-cultural perspective on resources”, in: A. K. Scholz, M. Bartelheim, R. Hardenberg und Jörn Staecker (eds.), ResourceCultures. Socio-cultural dynamics and the use of resources – Theories, methods, perspectives, 13-24. Tübingen: SFB 1070 Publications.
2017 „Dynamic Correspondences: ResourceCultures”, in: A. K. Scholz, M. Bartelheim, R. Hardenberg und Jörn Staecker (Hrsg.), ResourceCultures. Socio-cultural dynamics and the use of resources – Theories, methods, perspectives, 25-34. Tübingen: SFB 1070 Publications.
2017 „Introduction: The study of socio-cosmic fields“, in: R. Hardenberg (eds.), Approaching ritual economy: Socio-cosmic fields in globalized contexts, 7-36. Tübingen: SFB 1070 Publications.
2016 (M. Bartelheim, R. Hardenberg, A. Scholz) „Arm und reich? Alternative Perspektiven auf Ressourcen und ihre Nutzung“, in: H. Meller/R. Risch/R. Jung/H. P. Hahn (eds.): Arm und reich - zur Ressourcenverteilung in prähistorischen Gesellschaften, Seite-Seite. Halle/Saale: Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte.
2016 “Those who spread from one father - the cultural elaboration of segmentation and inclusion in Kïrgïzstan”, in: L. Prager/M. Prager/G. Sprenger (eds.): Parts and wholes. Essays on social morphology, cosmology, and exchange in honour of J. D. M. Platenkamp, 105-124. Zürich: Lit Verlag.
2015 (M. Bartelheim, R. Hardenberg, T. Knopf, A. Scholz und J. Straecker) “'ResourceCultures' - A concept for investigating the use of resources in different societies”, in: A. Danielisová/M. Fernández-Götz/K. Kowarik (eds.), Persistent economic ways of living - production, distribution and consumption in Iron Age and Early Medieval period, 33-43. Budapest: Archaeolingua.
2015 “Three dimensions of liminality in the context of Kyrgyz death rituals”, in: P. Berger/J. Kroesen (eds.), Ultimate ambiguities investigating death and liminality, 125-146. New York and Oxford: Berghahn.
2014 “Bali Yatra of the Kond. A ritual performance and its socio-historical context”, in: T. Otten/U. Skoda (eds.), Dialogues with Gods. Possession in Middle Indian rituals, 135-174. Berlin: Weissensee Verlag.
2013 “Nabakalebar. The renewal of Jagannatha's body”, in: H. Kulke (ed.), Imaging Odisha, 270-271. Jagatsinghpur: Prafulla.
2012 “Kyrgyz funerals and memorials from an ethnological perspective”, in: P. Pfälzner/H. Niehr/E. Pernicka/A. Wissing (eds.), (Re-)constructing funerary rituals in the ancient Near East, 301-308. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
2010 (P. Berger, R. Hardenberg, E. Kattner und M. Prager) „Introduction“, in: P. Berger/R. Hardenberg/E. Kattner/M. Prager (eds.), An anthropology of values. Essays in honour of Georg Pfeffer, XV-XXXIII. New Delhi: Pearson/Longman.
2010 (Peter Berger, Roland Hardenberg) “A conversation with Georg Pfeffer”, in: P. Berger/R. Hardenberg/E. Kattner/M. Prager (eds.), An anthropology of values. Essays in honour of Georg Pfeffer, XXXIX-LIV. New Delhi: Pearson/Longman.
2010 “A reconsideration of Hinduization and the caste-tribe continuum model”, in: P. Berger/R. Hardenberg/E. Kattner/M. Prager (eds.), An anthropology of values. Essays in honour of Georg Pfeffer, 89-103. New Delhi: Pearson/Longman.
2009 „Geheim, verboten, unrein - Beschreibung einer Feldforschungssituation in Puri (Orissa)“, in: P. Berger/J. Berrenberg/B. Fuhrmann/J. Seebode/C. Strümpell) (Hrsg.), Feldforschung - Ethnologische Zugänge zu sozialen Wirklichkeiten, 339-368. Berlin: Weissensee Verlag.
2009 „Gabentauschtheorie und Bestattungen. Eine ethnologische Forschung in Kyrgyzstan“, in: P. Kadyrbekova (Hrsg.), Interkulturelle wissenschaftliche Kommunikation. Probleme und Perspektiven, 24-29. Bishkek: Bilim.
2009 “'Village relations'. Exchange and territory in the highlands of Orissa”, in: G. Pfeffer (ed.), Tribal society: catergory and ritual exchange, 135-158. New Delhi: Concept.
2009 “The buffalo sacrifice of the Kond and the creation of society”, in: G. Pfeffer (ed.), Tribal society: catergory and ritual exchange, 52-66. New Delhi: Concept.
2008 “Sacrificing in highland Orissa. Self-reproduction and dependency”, in: E. Stavrianopoulou/A. Michaels/C. Ambos (eds.), Transformations in sacrificial practices. From Antiquity to modern times, 113-134. Heidelberg: LIT Verlag.
2008 „Die genealogische Methode. Eine kritische Einführung“, in: B. Beer (Hrsg.), Methoden und Techniken der Feldforschung (2. Aufl.), 83-102. Berlin: Reimer.
2006 “Context and values. A discussion of concepts”, in: G. Pfeffer (ed.), Periphery and centre: Studies in Orissan history, religion and anthropology, 153-172. Delhi: Manohar Press.
2006 “'Hut of the young girls'. Transition from childhood to adolescence in a middle Indian tribal society”, in: D. K. Behera (ed.), Childhoods in South Asia, 65-81. Singapore: Pearson Education.
2000 “The renewal of Jagannatha”, in: B. Schnepel/H. Kulke (eds.), Jagannatha revisited. Studying society, religion and the state in Orissa, 65-92. Delhi: Manohar Press.
Articles in Journals
2021 (Peter Berger, Roland Hardenberg) "Obituary: Georg Pfeffer (17 January 1943 – 20 May 2020). Contributions to Indian Sociology 55 (1): 129-133.
2020 (Roland Hardenberg, Peter Berger) „Georg Pfeffer (1943-2020)“. Paideuma: Zeitschrift für kulturanthropologische Forschung / Journal of cultural anthropology 65: 331-345.
2020 (Ruth Conrad, Roland Hardenberg) „Religious speech as resource“. International journal of practical theology 24 (1): 165-195.
2018 (Peter Berger, Roland Hardenberg) „Cereal belongings. A cultural perspective on cereals as resource“. Paideuma: Zeitschrift für kulturanthropologische Forschung / Journal of cultural anthropology 64: 167-181.
2018 „Imperial rice‘ and ‚subaltern millets‘: cereals as resources in Odisha (India) and beyond“, in: Paideuma. Zeitschrift für kulturanthropologische Forschung 64, 265–283. Berlin: Reimer.
2017 „From Durkheim to Hocart. Sacred resources and the quest for 'life'“. Durheimian Studies / Etudes Durkheimiennes 23: 40-56.
2016 (Roland Hardenberg, Susanne Fehlings) “Informality reviewed: everyday experiences and the study of transformational processes in Central Asia and the Caucasus”, Working Paper Series on Informal Markets and Trade 2.
2016 “Beyond economy and religion. Resources and socio-cosmic fields in Odisha, India”, Religion and Society: Advances in Research 7: 83-96.
2012 „Collective, communicative and cultural memories. Examples of local histiography from northern Kyrgyzstan“. Central Asian Survey (Special issue: Local history as an identity discipline) 31(3): 265-276.
2012 „Die kulturelle Gestaltung des Todes in nicht-westlichen Gesellschaften“, Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift (Bestattungskultur in der Gegenwart) 2: 335-359.
2010 “The efficacy of funeral rituals in Krygyzstan”, Journal of Ritual Studies 24(1): 29-43.
2009 “Reconsidering 'tribe', 'clan' and 'relatedness': A comparison of social categorization in Central and South Asia”, Scrutiny: A Journal of International and Pakistan Studies 1(1): 37-62.
2009 “Categories of relatedness: rituals as a form of classification in Middle Indian society”, Contributions to Indian Sociology 43(1): 61-87.
2008 „Die Moso (China) im interkulturellen Vergleich. Grenzen und Möglichkeiten des komparativen Ansatzes in der Ethnologie“, Paideuma 54: 109-127.
2007 „Das ‚einschließende Haus‘: Wertehierarchien und das Konzept der ‚Hausgesellschaft‘ im interkulturellen Vergleich“, Anthropos 102: 157-168.
2006 “J. Carsten: After kinship”, Social Anthropology 14(2): 277-278.
2005 „Ethnologische Feldforschung im entlegenen Gebiet: Ein Beitrag zur Bedeutung der ethnographischen Erfahrung“, Mitteilungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte 26:71-82.
2005 „Mädchenhäuser, Schöpfung und Empfängnis: Kulturelle Konstruktion der Geschlechter bei den Dongria Kond (Orissa/Indien)“, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 130:69-98.
2004 „Vitalität und Tausch: Heirat und Opfer bei den Dongria Kond (Orissa/Indien)“, Mitteilungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte 25:31-46.
2003 “Friendship and violence among the Dongria Kond (Orissa/India)”, Baessler Archiv 51:45-57.
2000 “Asian world views. Context and structure (Introduction)”, Journal of social sciences (special edition) 4(4):261-276.
2000 “Visnu's sleep, Mahisa's attack, Durga's victory. Concepts of royalty in a sacrificial drama”, Journal of Social Sciences 4(4): 261-276.
2000 “The Anka ceremony of the King of Puri”, Journal of Social Sciences 4(2-3): 183-193.
1999 “B. Schnepel: Twinned beings. Kings and effigies in southern Sudan, East India and renaissance France”, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 124: 173-175.
1998 “Ritual representation of political change: the case of the Puri-King”, Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society 33(1): 87-104.
1997 “G. Berkemer: Little kingdoms in Kalinga. Legitimation und Politik regionaler Eliten [Little kingdoms in Kalinga. The politics of legitimating regional elites]”, Orientalische Literaturzeitung 92(1):154-157.
Reviews
2006 J. Carsten: After kinship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. In: Social Anthropology 14/2, S. 277-278.
2002 Mihir K. Jena/Padmini Pathi/Jagannath Dash/Kamala K. Panaik/Klaus Seeland: Forest tribes of Orissa. Lifestyle and social conditions of selected Orissan tribes. Vol. 1 The Dongaria Kondh (Man and forest series 2). New Delhi: D. K. Printworld. In: Internationales Asienforum, S. 3-4.
1999 B. Schnepel: Twinned beings. Kings and effigies in southern Sudan, East India and renaissance France. Göteborg University, 1995. In: Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 124, S. 173-175.
1997 G. Berkemer: Little kingdoms in Kalinga. Legitimation und Politik regionaler Eliten [Little kingdoms in Kalinga. The politics of legitimating regional elites]. Heidelberg, 1993. In: Orientalische Literaturzeitung 92/1, S. 154-157.
Films
2003 Die tanzenden Götter. Die Verehrung des Gottes Niamraja. 9.54 Min. [MPEG2-Format]. Berlin: Ethnologisches Museum.
Videos
2020 Talk about „Arbeit, Zeit und Freizeit: Ethnologische Überlegungen und Fallbeispiele“ (in German)
