The Discursive Side of Sociological Institutionalism in the Study of Religion

This article introduces sociological institutionalism and proposes a discursive addition for enhancing its utility for the study of religion. The article reviews neoinstitutionalist social theorizing and underlines its argument that agentic actorhood is constituted by and embedded in a world-spannin...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Method & theory in the study of religion
Authors: Qadir, Ali (Author) ; Alasuutari, Pertti 1956- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Brill 2023
In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Year: 2023, Volume: 35, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-23
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Institutionalism / Sociology / Discourse analysis / Cognition theory / Rule / Science of Religion
RelBib Classification:AA Study of religion
ZB Sociology
Further subjects:B Discourse Analysis
B epistemic governance
B sociological institutionalism
B Foucault
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article introduces sociological institutionalism and proposes a discursive addition for enhancing its utility for the study of religion. The article reviews neoinstitutionalist social theorizing and underlines its argument that agentic actorhood is constituted by and embedded in a world-spanning culture. We point out that the potential of this line of scholarship for the study of religion remains unexplored partly because it does not say much about the actual discursive practices that motivate actors to behave in concrete situations. We illustrate how a discursive approach to sociological institutionalism can fill this gap by highlighting the relational context that all actors intuitively take account of. We then offer a brief programmatic agenda for the study of religion under the rubric of epistemic governance, indicating the potential for new theoretical insights into the category of religion, some methodological implications, and empirical studies.
ISSN:1570-0682
Contains:Enthalten in: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-bja10075