The project intends to make a contribution to the proposed research program on »Religion and De:Toxification« in two interrelated ways. First, by considering the relevance and applicability of anthropological theories of cultural change. The processes that are going to be investigated in the »Religion and De:Toxification« program concern situations in which certain actors, practices, objects, institutions or ideas are considered as »toxic« (bad, destructive, dangerous etc.) from the point of view of particular societal actors or communities. Such classifications often entail measures that intend to change or »cure« the phenomena so assessed, which may result in value-conflicts or even violence. Significantly, these processes have a time dimension, i.e. they may evolve slowly or they can erupt suddenly. I consider the theoretical framework of anthropologist Marshall Sahlins (among other scholars) to be very fruitful for analyzing such complex processes, as he distinguishes different forms of (historical) agency and demonstrated how configurations of ideas can shift in the context of powerful (historical) events that also often involve either amplification or downscaling. Second, with regard to the area of my ethnographic research, I will investigate a concrete case, which involves multiple dimensions and relations of toxic ascriptions. Certain religious and cultural practices of Indigenous communities of Odisha (India) such as animal sacrifices, beef and alcohol consumption have since long been regarded as »backward« and »harmful« by Hindu lowlanders and one way to »remedy« this has been public school education that systematically targets such practices and offers »feasible alternatives« acceptable for the societal mainstream. More recently, educational institutions, especially so-called »factory schools« have come under severe criticism from activists in particular and have been accused of destroying Indigenous cultures and lifestyles. Corporate mining in the same area that involves the toxic in a very real sense further complicates this situation. (Peter Berger)