Understanding religion: theories and methods for studying religiously diverse societies
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ILLUSTRATIONS -- BOXES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DEDICATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- PART I WHAT IS RELIGION AND HOW TO APPROACH IT? -- 1 RELIGION Language, Law, and Legacies -- 2 METHOD Insider-Outsider Debates, Phenomenology, and Reflexivity -- 3 LIFE Lived Religion, Syncretism,...
| Summary: | Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ILLUSTRATIONS -- BOXES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DEDICATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- PART I WHAT IS RELIGION AND HOW TO APPROACH IT? -- 1 RELIGION Language, Law, and Legacies -- 2 METHOD Insider-Outsider Debates, Phenomenology, and Reflexivity -- 3 LIFE Lived Religion, Syncretism, and Hybridity -- PART II THEORIES, METHODOLOGIES, AND CRITICAL DEBATES -- 4 HISTORY Historical Methodology and the Invention of Tradition -- 5 POWER Social Constructionism, Habitus, and Authority -- 6 IDENTITY Social Identity Theory, In-Groups, Out-Groups, and Conflict -- 7 COLONIALISM Postcolonialism, Orientalism, and Decolonization -- 8 BRAINS The Cognitive Science of Religion and Beyond -- 9 BODIES Material Religion, Embodiment, and Materiality -- 10 GENDER Feminism, Sexuality, and Religion -- 11 COMPARISON Comparative and Contrastive Methodologies -- 12 RITUAL Ritualization, Myth, and Performance -- PART III RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND SOCIETY -- 13 DIVERSITY Religious Borders, Identities, and Discourses -- 14 DIALOGUE Interreligious Discourse and Critique -- 15 VIOLENCE Fundamentalism, Extremism, and Radicalization -- 16 SECULARISM Secularization, Human Rights, and Religion -- 17 GEOGRAPHY Place, the Lived Environment, and Environmentalism -- 18 POLITICS Governance, the Colonial Wound, and the Sacred -- GLOSSARY -- WHO'S WHO -- NOTES -- INDEX A cutting-edge introduction to contemporary religious studies theory, connecting theory to data. This innovative coursebook introduces students to interdisciplinary theoretical tools for understanding contemporary religiously diverse societies-both Western and non-Western. Using a case-study model, the text considers: A wide and diverse array of contemporary issues, questions, and critical approaches to the study of religion relevant to students and scholarsA variety of theoretical approaches, including decolonial, feminist, hermeneutical, poststructuralist, and phenomenological analysesCurrent debates on whether the term ";religion"; is meaningfulMany key issues about the study of religion, including the insider-outsider debate, material religion, and lived religionPlural and religiously diverse societies, including the theological ideas of traditions and the political and social questions that arise for those living alongside adherents of other religionsUnderstanding Religion is designed to provide a strong foundation for instructors to explore the ideas presented in each chapter in multiple ways, engage students in meaningful activities in the classroom, and integrate additional material into their lectures. Students will gain the tools to apply specific methods from a variety of disciplines to analyze the social, political, spiritual, and cultural aspects of religions. Its unique pedagogical design means it can be used from undergraduate- to postgraduate-level courses |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | 1 Online-Ressource (561 Seiten) |
| Format: | Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. |
| ISBN: | 978-0-520-97086-1 |
| Access: | Restricted Access |
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1525/9780520970861 |
