ABSTRACT
Like any other subject, the study of religion is a child of its time. Shaped and forged over the course of the twentieth century, it has reflected the interests and political situation of the world at the time. As the twenty-first century unfolds, it is undergoing a major transition along with religion itself. This volume showcases new work and new approaches to religion which work across boundaries of religious tradition, academic discipline and region.
The influence of globalizing processes has been evident in social and cultural networking by way of new media like the internet, in the extensive power of global capitalism and in the increasing influence of international bodies and legal instruments. Religion has been changing and adapting too. This handbook offers fresh insights on the dynamic reality of religion in global societies today by underscoring transformations in eight key areas: Market and Branding; Contemporary Ethics and Virtues; Intimate Identities; Transnational Movements; Diasporic Communities; Responses to Diversity; National Tensions; and Reflections on ‘Religion’. These themes demonstrate the handbook’s new topics and approaches that move beyond existing agendas.
Bringing together scholars of all ages and stages of career from around the world, the handbook showcases the dynamism of religion in global societies. It is an accessible introduction to new ways of approaching the study of religion practically, theoretically and geographically.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|46 pages
Market and branding
chapter 1|12 pages
Christian churches’ responses to marketization
chapter 2|11 pages
‘The Greatest Leader of All’
part II|78 pages
Contemporary ethics and values
chapter 8|12 pages
Pious-modern subjectivities in the Palestinian West Bank
chapter 10|12 pages
‘Mediacosmologies’
part III|43 pages
Intimate identities
chapter 11|12 pages
Saints, sinners, and same-sex marriages
part IV|59 pages
Transnational movements
chapter 15|12 pages
Pilgrimage, traveling gurus and transnational networks
chapter 16|13 pages
Globalization and asceticism
part V|58 pages
Diasporic communities
chapter 24|11 pages
Church as a homeland and home as a place of worship
part VI|83 pages
Responses to diversity
chapter 25|10 pages
Interreligious dialogue in international politics
chapter 26|11 pages
Faith, identity and practices
chapter 28|13 pages
‘As local as possible, as international as necessary’
chapter 29|13 pages
Religion, national identity and foreign policy
part VII|69 pages
National tensions
chapter 32|10 pages
Islam, politics, and legitimacy
chapter 35|12 pages
The sacred and the secular-economic
part VIII|43 pages
Reflections on ‘religion’