The Economy of Life

The Economy of Life offers a groundbreaking examination of sacrificial traditions across cultures and history, suggesting that the purpose of sacrificial acts is not destruction but creation, not death but life.

Sacrifice is a topic that has fascinated and perplexed scholars since the birth of modern social sciences. Many famous scholars have theorized it—as a communal meal, a gift to the gods, an exercise in patriarchy, and more—almost always focusing on the violence of the act, as in Girard’s influential theory of mimetic desire and scapegoating violence. However, historical and ethnographic studies increasingly inform that sacrifice is not always violent and often does not involve killing at all. The Economy of Life proposes a new theory grounded on the cross-cultural and transhistorical evidence; the underlying ontology is a circulatory cosmos in which life-force can be detached from one entity by its death or destruction and invested in another entity. The book describes and critiques prior theories, especially Girard’s, explicates the new theory, and provides supporting evidence from across the world’s sacrificial traditions, finally pondering the implications of the new theory for subjects beyond sacrifice.

The Economy of Life is intended for scholars and students of religion, anthropology and history, as well as those who want to learn about the diversity yet continuity of the world’s sacrificial systems.