ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the issues by focusing upon the relationship between social scientific studies of religion and ethnicity, two areas of crucial contemporary theoretical importance that are often left unrelated. In particular, sociological studies fail meaningfully to address the connections between these areas, with the consequence that the sociology of religion is unduly 'bleached'. That is to say, dominant American and European models of religion neglect the relevance of factors of ethnicity and 'race', thereby constructing models that may be deemed applicable only to white majorities. Where these factors are considered, it is in an essentialised and marginalised manner that further emphasises the dominance and normalcy of 'white' religion and religious development. Theoretical developments are therefore required to break through its current restrictions in order to pay attention to the vicissitudes of political economy and social power relations, and hence explore religion in a social world that is much more complex, unpredictable and shifting than current models allow.
