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Academic Degree

Doctorate

Category

Associated

About

Research Context

Portugal | Greece

Research Interests

Religion and Spirituality | Health and Wellbeing | Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) | Transnationalism

Institutional Subunit

ISCTE

Biographical Note

Eugenia Roussou is a sociocultural anthropologist (PhD, 2010, University College London) and a senior researcher at the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA/ISCTE-IUL). She was previously a post-doctoral researcher at CRIA, Universidade Nova Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal (2011-2017), with two projects funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia-FCT (ref.: SFRH / BPD / 72003/2010), and a visiting researcher (2014-5) at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece. She is the Principal Investigator of the project ‘ReSpell: Religion, Spirituality and Wellbeing: A Comparative Approach of Transreligiosity and Crisis in Southern Europe', funder by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT, 2023-2026, grant reference: 2022.01229.PTDC, https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.01229.PTDC.). Her research focuses on the social scientific - and anthropological, more specifically - study of religion and spirituality, vernacular religion, New Age and/or alternative spirituality, religious pluralism, ritual healing practices, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), religious materiality and transnational religiosity, with particular comparative geographical reference to Portugal and Greece.

Status

Associated (2026-01-01)

All projects

Data updated on 12-07-2026, from platform CIÊNCIAVITAE.

2025/01/15-

SPIRECTS – "Spiritual practices and psychedelic substances in ritualized emerging contexts: therapeutic and sociocultural implications" (2023.13311.PEX)

2023.13311.PEX

Invited Scientist Fellow

2023/03/01-

Religion, Spirituality and Wellbeing: a Comparative Approach of Transreligiosity and Crisis in Southern Europe

2022.01229.PTDC

Principal investigator

Financiers: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

2018/09/01-2024/08/31

'Transnational Religiosity in southern Europe: an Anthropological Exploration of Spiritual fluidity, Creativity and Transformation in a Changing World'

DL 57/2016/CP1349/CT0006

Principal investigator

Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia

2014/09/01-2017/08/31

Religion in/of crisis: pluralism, spiritual creativity and healing in Portugal and Greece

SFRH/BPD/72003/2010

Post-doc Fellow

Financiers: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

2014/09/01-2017/08/31

Religious boundaries in transcendence: "new age", pluralism and spiritual creativity in contemporary Lisbon

SFRH/BPD/72003/2010

Post-doc Fellow

Financiers: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

2011/09/01-2014/08/31

Religious Boundaries in Transcendence: 'New Age', Pluralism and Spiritual Creativity in contemporary Lisbon

n/a

Post-doc Fellow

Financiers: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Highlighted Publications

Data updated on 17-09-2023 , from platform CIÊNCIAVITAE .

Journal issue

Special Issue: Spiritual Elasticity and Crisis: From Non-religiosity to Transreligiosity (edited by E. Roussou, S. Rivadossi and A. Panagiotopoulos).

30-04-2023. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Spiritual_Elasticity_Crisis . Published

Journal article

Creativity, Auto-Ethnography, and the Re-Invention of Sacred Space in New Age Spirituality and Healing during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Yael Dansac and Nicolas Boissière (eds.), Special Issue ‘Contemporary Paganism and New Age during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Creativity, Adaptation, and Innovation.’ Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 27 (2): 13-28.

Roussou, Eugenia; Roussou, Eugenia, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 13 - 28. 2. 27. 2023. PublishedNova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions

Journal article

Transnational spirituality and healing: an ethnographic exploration of alternative medicine in Lisbon and Athens

Roussou, E., Anthropology and Medicine. 493 - 507. 4. 28. 2021. https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/canm20 . 10.1080/13648470.2021.1888870 . PublishedAnthropology and Medicine

Book

Orthodox Christianity, New Age Spirituality and Vernacular Religion: The Evil Eye in Greece

Roussou, E., Bloomsbury. 2021. Published


All Publications

Data updated on 12-07-2026 , from platform CIÊNCIAVITAE .

Journal article

Of candles and microchips: Transreligiosity, crisis and everyday religion in Greece

Roussou, Eugenia, Anthropology Today. 11 - 14. 3. 42. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.70073 . 10.1111/1467-8322.70073 . Published

Book chapter

Religion, Spirituality, Episteme: Transreligious Epistemologies to Health, Wellbeing and COVID-19. In Karen O’brien-Kop and Suzanne Newcombe (eds.), Competing Epistemologies, Religion and Public Health. London and Liverpool: The British Academy and Liverpool University Press, pp. 41-58.

Roussou, Eugenia, 2025. Published

Book chapter

Kako Mati (Greece), Ch. 14 Informal Care and the End. In Alena Ledenevapp (ed.), The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality, Vol. 3: A hitchhiker’s guide to informal problem-solving in human life. London: UCL Press, pp. 574-577.

Roussou, Eugenia, 2024. Published

Journal issue

Special Issue: Spiritual Elasticity and Crisis: From Non-religiosity to Transreligiosity (edited by E. Roussou, S. Rivadossi and A. Panagiotopoulos).

Special Issue: Spiritual Elasticity and Crisis: From Non-religiosity to Transreligiosity (edited by E. Roussou, S. Rivadossi and A. Panagiotopoulos). . 2023. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Spiritual_Elasticity_Crisis . Published

Journal article

Creativity, auto-ethnography, and the reinvention of sacred space in new age spirituality and healing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Roussou, E., Nova Religio. 13 - 28. 2. 27. 2023. https://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-abstract/27/2/13/197244/Creativity-Auto-Ethnography-and-the-Reinvention-of?redirectedFrom=fulltext . 10.1525/nr.2023.27.2.13 . Published

Book chapter

'"Crisis", Affect, Embodiment: Two Auto-Ethnographic Encounters with "Transreligiosity"', (with Anastasios Panagiotopoulos)

Roussou, Eugenia; Panagiotopoulos, Anastasios, Emily Pierini, Alberto Groisman and Diana Espírito Santo (eds.), Other Worlds, Other Bodies: Embodied Epistemologies and Ethnographies of Healing. . Berghahn. 2023. Published

Journal issue

Special Issue: Spiritual Elasticity and Crisis: From Non-religiosity to Transreligiosity (edited by E. Roussou, S. Rivadossi and A. Panagiotopoulos).

30-04-2023. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Spiritual_Elasticity_Crisis . Published

Book chapter

'"Crisis", Affect, Embodiment: Two Auto-Ethnographic Encounters with "Transreligiosity"', (with Anastasios Panagiotopoulos)

Roussou, E.; Anastasios Panagiotopoulos, Emily Pierini, Alberto Groisman and Diana Espírito Santo (eds.), Other Worlds, Other Bodies: Embodied Epistemologies and Ethnographies of Healing. . Berghahn. 2023. Published

Journal article

Creativity, Auto-Ethnography, and the Re-Invention of Sacred Space in New Age Spirituality and Healing during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Yael Dansac and Nicolas Boissière (eds.), Special Issue ‘Contemporary Paganism and New Age during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Creativity, Adaptation, and Innovation.’ Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 27 (2): 13-28.

Roussou, Eugenia; Roussou, Eugenia, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 13 - 28. 2. 27. 2023. Published

Book chapter

'Religion and Spirituality in the Public, Private and Remote Space: a Portuguese-Greece Comparison' [in portuguese]

Roussou, E., In Pedro Pereira and José Carlos Loureiro (eds.), Ensaios sobre Comida e sobre Religião.Viana do Castelo, Portugal: Centro de Estudos Regionais. . --, Portugal. 2023. Published

Journal article

Fado, spirituality and healing: Sensing, performing and embodying emotion in Lisbon, Portugal

Roussou, E., Trabalhos de Antropologia e Etnologia. 69 - 90. 62. 2022. https://revistataeonline.weebly.com/ . Published

Journal article

Living religion between orthodox christianity and new age spirituality in Greece: Gender and power

Roussou, E., Insaniyat: Revue Algérienne d'Anthropologie et de Sciences Sociales. 25 - 39. 95. 2022. https://journals.openedition.org/insaniyat/26563 . 10.4000/insaniyat.26563 . Published

Journal article

We have always been transreligious: An introduction to transreligiosity

Panagiotopoulos, A.; Roussou, E., Social Compass. 614 - 630. 4. 69. 2022. https://journals.sagepub.com/home/scp . 10.1177/00377686221103713 . Published

Journal article

Transreligious Shamanism(s): An Introduction (with A. Panagiotopoulos). In special issue 'Transreligious Shamanism(s): Exploring Contemporary Spiritual Practices and Healing,'

Roussou, E., Shaman. 5 - 20. 1-2. 30. 2022. Published

Book

Orthodox Christianity, New Age Spirituality and Vernacular Religion: the Evil Eye in Greece. London: Bloomsbury. (paperback version)

Roussou, E., Bloomsbury. 2022. Published

Journal issue

Transreligious Shamanisms: Exploring Contemporary Spiritual Practices and Healing

Shaman . 1-2. 30. 2022. Published

Journal article

Transnational spirituality and healing: an ethnographic exploration of alternative medicine in Lisbon and Athens

Roussou, E., Anthropology and Medicine. 493 - 507. 4. 28. 2021. https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/canm20 . 10.1080/13648470.2021.1888870 . Published

Book

Orthodox Christianity, New Age Spirituality and Vernacular Religion: The Evil Eye in Greece

Roussou, E., Bloomsbury. 2021. Published

Book review

Pierini, Emily. 2020. Jaguars of the Dawn: Spirit Mediumship in the Brazilian Vale do Amanhecer. London: Berghahn.

Roussou, E., 2020. Published

Online resource

'Holistic Healing and Wellness in Southern Europe: Practicing virtual (auto)ethnography in pandemic times.' In Online Exhibition ‘COVID-19: Concepts of Sickness and Wellness’, curator responsible: Devorah Romanek, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Roussou, Eugenia, 2020. https://emu-apple-tncb.squarespace.com/wellness-chapter-4 .

Encyclopedia entry

Kako Mati (Greece)

Roussou, Eugenia, Global Informality Project. Global Informality Project, UCL, London, UK.. United Kingdom. 2020. http://www.in-formality.com/wiki/index.php?title=Kako_mati_(Greece) . Published

Online resource

Between Portugal and Greece: Boundaries, Exclusions and Everyday Life in times of a Pandemic (in greek). Pontos News - online news site.

Roussou, Eugenia, 2020. http://www.pontos-news.gr/article/207840/metaxy-portogalias-kai-elladas-oria-apokleismoi-kai-kathimerinotita-se-kairoys .

Edited book

Expressions of Religion: Ethnography, Performance and the Senses

Roussou, E.; Saraiva, C.; Povedák, I. , 2019.

Book chapter

Introduction: Expressions of Religion-Ethnography, Performance and the Senses

Roussou, Eugenia; Saraiva, Clara; Povedák, István, Expressions of Religion-Ethnography, Performance and the Senses. Roussou, Eugenia; Saraiva, Clara; Povedák, István. Lit Verlag. 2019. Published

Book chapter

Spiritual movements in times of crisis: an anthropological account of alternative spirituality in Portugal and Greece

Roussou, E., Minority religions in Europe and the Middle East: mapping and monitoring. Routledge. London, United Kingdom. 2018. Published

Book chapter

The Syncretic Religioscape of contemporary Greece and Portugal: a comparative approach on creativity through spiritual synthesis

Roussou, E., Invention of Tradition and Syncretism in Contemporary Religions: Sacred Creativity. Palgrave McMillan. 2017. Published

Journal article

A transformação de religiosidade em Portugal e na Grécia: uma comparação etnográfica da Nova Espiritualidade e pluralismo religioso no sul da Europa

Roussou, E., Revista de Estudos da Religião. 66 - 80. 3. 16. 2016. https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/rever/ . 10.21724/rever.v16i3.31182 . Published

Book review

‘Bull, Michael, and Jon P. Mitchell (eds.), 2015, Ritual, Performance and the Senses. London: Bloomsbury'

Roussou, E., 2016. Published

Online resource

'The Material Culture of the Evil Eye: Merging Orthodoxy and New Age Spirituality in Greece.' Web blog post. Material Religions. 20 May 2015.

Roussou, Eugenia, 2015.

Book review

‘Victor Roudometof, 2014, Globalization and Orthodox Christianity: The Transformations of a Religious Tradition. New York and London: Routledge’

Roussou, E., 2015. Published

Journal article

From socialization to individualization: a new challenge for Portuguese religiosity

Roussou, E., Italian Journal of Sociology of Education. 89 - 112. 3. 7. 2015. http://ijse.padovauniversitypress.it/2015/3/4 . 10.14658/pupj-ijse-2015-3-4 . Published

Conference paper

Religiosidade portuguesa em transformação: uma discussão antropológica da 'nova espiritualidade' contemporânea em Lisboa da crise

Roussou, E., Lisbon, Portugal. 2015. Published

Journal article

Believing in the supernatural through the evil eye: perception and science in the modern greek cosmos

Roussou, E., Journal of Contemporary Religion. 425 - 438. 3. 29. 2014. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537903.2014.945726 . 10.1080/13537903.2014.945726 . Published

Book review

‘Anna Fedele, 2013, Looking for Mary Magdalene: An Alternative Pilgrimage and Ritual Creativity at Catholic Shrines in France. Oxford: Oxford University Press’

Roussou, E., 2014. Published

Book chapter

The New Age of Greek Orthodoxy: pluralizing religiosity in everyday practice

Roussou, E., The Best of All Gods: Sites and Politics of Religious Diversity in Southern Europe. Brill. 2013. Published

Book chapter

Spirituality within Religion: Gendered Responses to a Greek “spiritual revolution

Roussou, E., Gender and Power in contemporary spirituality: ethnographic approaches. Routledge. 2013. Published

Book chapter

When Soma Encounters the Spiritual Bodily Praxes of Performed Religiosity in Contemporary Greece

Roussou, E., Encounters of Body and Soul in contemporary Religious Practices: Anthropological Reflections. Berghahn. 2011. Published

Book review

‘Kathryn Rountree, 2010, Crafting Contemporary Pagan Identities in a Catholic Society, Surrey and Burlington: Ashgate’

Roussou, E., 2011. Published

Book review

‘Maria Koumarianou, 2008, Grave Monuments and the Dead: the imaginary of death in modern Greece, Athens: Dodoni’

Roussou, E., 2011. Published

Journal article

Orthodoxy at the crossroads: popular religion and greek identity in the practice of the evil eye

Roussou, E., Journal of Mediterranean Studies. 85 - 105. 1. 20. 2011. https://www.um.edu.mt/medinst/journal . Published