In this introduction, we outline a comparative tool for studying communicative ideologies and practices, which we call ‘religious suasion’. Developing a conversation about religious forms of ‘suasion’ is important because it provides a vocabulary for comparing parallel practices of religious influence across different religious communities, allowing for more nuanced understandings of what might commonly – and negatively – be termed ‘proselytizing’. The proposed analytical frame is not concerned with how the ‘convert’ might experience religious change, nor with how social and religious change unfolds on a grand scale. Rather, it interrogates and puts into dialogue multiple forms of discursive practice, demonstrations of virtue, and material forms of religion to reach beyond suasive strategies based on formal doctrines about religious propagation that tend to be associated with traditionally evangelistic religious communities, especially with Christianity. Focusing on the rhetorical strategies, religious imaginaries, and ethical evaluations that underpin how religious actors pursue change in others and in and of the world, ‘religious suasion’ contributes to the development of an anthropology of influence.

中文翻译：

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宗教劝说：特刊介绍

在这篇引言中，我们概述了一种用于研究传播意识形态和实践的比较工具，我们称之为“宗教说服”。开展有关“说服”宗教形式的对话很重要，因为它提供了一个词汇表，用于比较不同宗教社区的宗教影响力的平行实践，从而可以更细致地理解通常（但负面的）“传教”一词。所提出的分析框架并不关心“皈依者”如何经历宗教变革，也不关心社会和宗教变革如何大规模展开。相反，它质疑并对话多种形式的话语实践、美德展示和宗教的物质形式，以超越基于宗教传播正式教义的说服性策略，这些教义往往与传统的福音派宗教社区，特别是基督教联系在一起。 “宗教劝说”聚焦于支撑宗教行为者如何寻求他人以及世界内部和世界变革的修辞策略、宗教想象和道德评价，有助于影响人类学的发展。