A Practical Guide to Critical Religion

Making critical theory on ‘religion’ accessible to students and sceptics, this Practical Guide showcases its relevance and usefulness for research and teaching on all sorts of contemporary subjects.

Why do many scholars now doubt that ‘religion’ is a useful concept for understanding aspects of our world? What’s wrong with describing things as ‘religious’ or ‘non-religious’? Why does it matter, and what can we do about it?

The book begins with a toolkit of concepts and methods for doing Critical Religion. Part I provides a roadmap to navigate this critical turn in religious studies and its implications across disciplines. In Part II, we hear from three influential theorists on the importance of being critical about ‘religion’ and the ‘secular’, and what it means to them. Then in Part III, we see these insights put into practice: eight pioneering scholars present case studies that show how they have applied critical approaches in their own fields. Each case highlights ways in which Critical Religion has enriched their empirical research or how they think about teaching.

Through a diverse sample of cutting-edge scholarship, this book demonstrates what Critical Religion means in action. It includes perspectives on history, anthropology, sociology, political science and education, with cases representing research in contexts from Japan to the Middle East to Europe and North America.