Biography
Joseph Webster is Professor of the Anthropology of Religion, having first taken up his position in the Divinity Faculty in 2019.
Previous to this he held the position of Lecturer in Anthropology at Queen's University Belfast (2013-19), and Isaac Newton - Graham Robertson Research Fellow in Social Anthropology and Sociology at Downing College, Cambridge (2011-13).
His MA(Hons) in Sociology and Social Anthropology, and his MRes and PhD in Social Anthropology were all obtained at the University of Edinburgh (2003-12).
Professor Webster won a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2020 to conduct new ethnographic research on 'The Morality of Millenarianism'.
Professor Webster was named Teaching and Learning Fellow for 2021 by the British Association for the Study of Religion, awarded in recognition of his contribution to the innovation and transformation of the student learning experience, and currently serves on the BASR Executive Committee.
In 2024 he won a mentoring award for 'concern for professional development' as part of the University of Cambridge Research Culture Celebration.
Professor Webster co-founded the Cambridge Anthropology-Theology (CAT) Network with Susie Triffitt (PhD candidate) in 2021 as an online seminar series exploring new research dialogues between the two disciplines.
Research
Professor Webster's primary research interest concerns the Anthropology of Religion, with a particular focus on Protestantism in Scotland and the global north.
His first monograph, The Anthropology of Protestantism (2013), is an ethnography of apocalyptic sign searching within an Exclusive Brethren fishing community in Northeast Scotland. This book was featured on BBC Radio 4, in an episode of Thinking Allowed.
His second monograph, The Religion of Orange Politics (2020), is an ethnographic account of ethno-religious nationalism within the Orange Order, Scotland's largest Protestant-only fraternity. This book was also featured on BBC Radio 4, in an episode of Thinking Allowed, as well as in New Humanist magazine.
His new research project, 'The Morality of Millenarianism' (Leverhulme Trust PLP-2020-015), examines the moral, hermeneutical, and eschatological commitments of Jehovah's Witnesses in the ethnographic context of post-Brexit Northern Ireland.
Professor Webster's specific research interests include:
• Protestant fundamentalism, millenarianism, apocalypticism
• The sociality of religious belief, religious delusion, and conspiracism
• Ethno-religious nationalism, unionism, loyalism, the Orange Order
• Personhood, fraternity, hate
• Sectarianism, football fandom, and debates about free speech
• North Atlantic, Britain, Scotland, Northern Ireland
• The relationship between Anthropology and Theology
Publications
Books
Webster, J. (2020; pb. 2022 ). The Religion of Orange Politics: Protestantism and Fraternity in Contemporary Scotland Manchester: MUP
Webster, J. (2013; pb 2015). The Anthropology of Protestantism: Faith and Crisis among Scottish Fishermen New York: Palgrave
Special Issues
Lynch, R., Sturm, T. and Webster, J. (2021). 'Apocalyptic futures: morality, health, and wellbeing at the end of the world'. Introduction to 'The Apocalypse and Other Crises' in Anthropology and Medicine 28(1): 1-12.
Articles
Webster, J. (2022). 'Nor Shadow of Turning: Anthropological Reflections on Theological Critiques of Doctrinal Change' in Australian Journal of Anthropology 33(3): 360-382.
Webster, J. (2022). 'From Scottish Independence, to Brexit, and Back Again: Orange Order ethno-religion and the awkward urgency of British unionism' in Social Anthropology 30(4): 18-36.
Webster, J. (2022). 'Anthropology-as-Theology: Violent Endings and the Permanence of New Beginnings' in American Anthropologist 124: 333-344.
Webster, J. (2022). 'Whose Sins Do the Brethren Confess? The Problem of Sin as the Problem of Expiation' in Ethnos 87(4): 679-695.
Webster, J. (2021). 'Dual Classification Revisited: Rodney Needham and Vertical Asymmetry aboard Scottish Trawlers in Maritime Studies 20: 371-385.
Webster, J. (2021). 'Embodied Apocalypse: Or the Native Cosmology of Late Modern Social Theory' in Anthropology and Medicine 28(1): 13-27.
Webster, J. (2020). 'Prosperity Pentecostalism as Theological Presentism' (Comment) in Current Anthropology 61(1): 71-72.
Webster, J. (2020). 'Denominations as (Theological) Institutions: An Afterward' in Anthropological Quarterly 92(4): 1123-1134.
Webster, J. (2017). 'Praying for Salvation: A Map of Relatedness' in Religion 47(1): 19-34.
Webster, J. (2013). 'The Eschatology of Global Warming in a Scottish Fishing Village' in Cambridge Anthropology 31(1): 68-84.
Webster, J. (2012). 'The Immanence of Transcendence: God and the Devil on the Aberdeenshire Coast' in Ethnos 78(3): 380-402.
Webster, J. (2008). 'Establishing the 'Truth' of the Matter: Confessional Reflexivity as Introspection and Avowal' in Psychology and Society 1(1): 65-76.
Book Chapters
Webster, J. (In Press). 'When Witnesses Talk Back: Ethnographic and Eschatological Reflections on Experiences of Intolerance among Jehovah's Witnesses in Contemporary Northern Ireland' in Essays on Minority Religions and Religious Tolerance: The Jehovah's Witnesses Test by Baran, E. B. and Knox, Z. (eds.) London: Bloomsbury.
Hickman, J. and Webster, J. (In Press). 'Millenarianism' in The Oxford Handbook of the Anthropology of Religion by Robbins, J. and Coleman, S. (eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Webster, J. (In Press). 'Approaches through Materiality' in The Oxford Handbook of the Anthropology of Religion by Robbins, J. and Coleman, S. (eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Webster, J. (2022). 'Geography as Eschatology: Prophecy Fulfilment on Land and at Sea' in Landscapes of Christianity by Bielo, J. and Ron, A. (eds). London: Bloomsbury.
Webster, J. (2021). 'Praying for Salvation: A Map of Relatedness' in The Social Life of Prayer: Anthropological Engagements with Christian Practice by Bandak, A. (ed.) London: Routledge.
Webster, J. (2018). 'The Exclusive Brethren Doctrine of Separation: An Anthropology of Theology in Theologically Engaged Anthropology by Lemons, D. (ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Webster, J. (2015). 'Objects of Transcendence: Scots-Protestantism and an Anthropology of Things' in Material Religion in Modern Britain by Jones, T. and Matthews-Jones, L. (eds.) New York: Palgrave.
Teaching and Supervisions
A6 - Understanding Contemporary Religion
C21 - The End of the World: Anthropological Case Studies
Part II - Social Anthropology-Religious Studies Joint track in Modern Religion Seminar
MPhil - Contemporary Religious Conflict: Ethnographic Approaches
Professor Webster would be interested in supervising doctoral students whose work uses ethnographic methods to research any of the themes listed above (see 'Research' tab).
Topics of current postdoctoral and PhD students include:
• Rastafari attitudes to millenarian violence in England
• Protestant fundamentalism and conspiracy theories in Switzerland
• The 'belief curious' and evangelical conversion in England
• Mormon attitudes to climate change in the US and UK
Topics of past PhD students include:
• The prosperity gospel and industrial capitalism in Northern Ireland
• Conflict, austerity, and community arts in Northern Ireland
• Symbols of Loyalism in Northern Ireland
• The impact of Troubles-related memories in Northern Ireland
Other Professional Activities
Submitted as a REF2021 Impact Case Study, connected to his research on sectarianism, Professor Webster has undertaken work on the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012. He acted as an expert witness to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, giving evidence in support of repeal.
This aspect of his research has been profiled in the media, including in CNN, the Times, Scotsman, Herald, Irish News, Sun, and Express newspapers, as well as on STV's Scotland Tonight. Examples include:
CNN: 'Passion, performance, poison': Why this Scottish soccer league is struggling to shake off the specter of religious bigotry (article: 25/05/24)
Times: Statues are worth both defending and vandalising (op-ed: 18/06/20)
Times: Whipping and coffins at lodge ritual (article: 18/06/20)
Times: Banning sectarian parades would only deepen the hatred (op-ed: 03/09/19)
Times: Banning parades after Govan violence 'deeply problematic' (article: 02/09/19)
Sun: 'Sectarian' singing bring fans together leading expert claims (article: 10/03/18)
Most recently, Professor Webster has worked with the UK Government Open Innovation Team on the issue of football disorder, and has also advised the Scottish Government Community Safety Unit on issues relating to sectarianism and parading in the context of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.
