Overview

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 scholars A variety of theoretical approaches, including decolonial, feminist, hermeneutical, poststructuralist, and phenomenological analyses Current debates on whether the term ""religion"" is meaningful Many key issues about the study of religion, including the insider-outsider debate, material religion, and lived religion Plural 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 religions Understanding 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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Paul Michael Hedges
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 4.10cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   1.043kg
ISBN:  

9780520298910

ISBN 10:   0520298918
Pages:   584
Publication Date:   23 February 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

"List of Illustrations  List of Boxes  Acknowledgments and Dedications  Introduction  PART I. WHAT IS RELIGION AND HOW TO APPROACH IT? 1. Religion: Language, Law, and Legacies  Case Study 1A: Falun Gong: Religion or Self-Cultivation Practice?  Case Study 1B: Christians and Ancestor Veneration: Religion or Culture?  2. Method: Insider-Outsider Debates, Phenomenology, and Reflexivity  Case Study 2A: Living between Religious Worlds: Conversion and Reconversion Case Study 2B: Hindu and Christian? Multiple Religious Identities 3. Life: Lived Religion, Syncretism, and Hybridity Case Study 3A: Mexican American Catholicism and Our Lady of Guadalupe Case Study 3B: Thai Buddhism as Lived Religion and Syncretic Practice PART II. THEORIES, METHODOLOGIES, AND CRITICAL DEBATES 4. History: Historical Methodology and the Invention of Tradition Case Study 4A: The Historical Jesus and the Christ of Faith  Case Study 4B: Laozi, the Daodejing, and the Origins of Daoism 5. Power: Social Constructionism, Habitus, and Authority  Case Study 5A: Mosques, Minarets, and Power  Case Study 5B: Individual (New Age/Alternative) Spirituality as Modernity's Ideology  6. Identity: Social Identity Theory, In-Groups, Out-Groups, and Conflict  Case Study 6A: Shiv Sena, Hindu Nationalism, and Identity Politics  Case Study 6B: Race, Religion, and the American White Evangelical  7. Colonialism: Postcolonialism, Orientalism, and Decolonization  Case Study 7A: Beyond ""Inventing"" Hinduism Case Study 7B: Magic, Superstition, and Religion in Southeast Asia and Africa 8. Brains: The Cognitive Science of Religion and Beyond  Case Study 8A: Religion, Non-Religion, and Atheism Case Study 8B: Ancestors, Jesus, and Prosocial Behavior in Fiji 9. Bodies: Material Religion, Embodiment, and Materiality Case Study 9A: Weeping Gods and Drinking Statues Case Study 9B: Embodied Practice at a Christian Shrine  10. Gender: Feminism, Sexuality, and Religion  Case Study 10A: Priests, Paul, and Rewriting Texts Case Study 10B: Buddhist Feminisms and Nuns  11. Comparison: Comparative and Contrastive Methodologies Case Study 11A: Comparing Hinduism and Judaism  Case Study 11B: A Comparison of Zen Buddhist and Protestant Christian Sitting Practices 12. Ritual: Ritualization, Myth, and Performance  Case Study 12A: The Zen Tea Ceremony and Protestant Eucharist as Performance and Ritual Case Study 12B: Buddhist Ordination Rites  PART III. RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND SOCIETY 13. Diversity: Religious Borders, Identities, and Discourses Case Study 13A: The Memory of Al-Andalusia  Case Study 13B: Dominus Iesus and Catholic Christianity in Asia 14. Dialogue: Interreligious Discourse and Critique  Case Study 14A: Christian and Muslim Women Reading Scriptures  Case Study 14B: Buddhist-Christian Dialogue: History and Discourse 15. Violence: Fundamentalism, Extremism, and Radicalization  Case Study 15A: The Invention of Islamic Terrorism  Case Study 15B: Buddhism and Violence  16. Secularism: Secularization, Human Rights, and Religion  Case Study 16A: Laïcité and the Burkini Ban  Case Study 16B: Singapore's Common Space  17. Geography: Place, the Lived Environment, and Environmentalism Case Study 17A: Trees as Monks?  Case Study 17B: Protestant Christian Understandings of the ""Holy Land"" 18. Politics: Governance, the Colonial Wound, and the Sacred  Case Study 18A: Ethnicity and Religion: The Singaporean Malay-Muslim Identity  Case Study 18B: Saluting the Flag: The Case of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States  Glossary  Who's Who  Notes  Index"

Reviews

Understanding Religion is a lucid, creatively structured, and nearly jargon-free introduction to theories and methods for studying religious communities and traditions in diverse societies, bold in scope, and presented in a manner that is undergraduate-friendly, yet sophisticated enough for use in a graduate-level course. * Journal of Interreligious Studies *

Author Information

Paul Hedges is Associate Professor in the Studies in Interreligious Relations in Plural Societies Programme, RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books and over seventy academic papers. His most recent book is Religious Hatred: Prejudice, Islamophobia, and Antisemitism in Global Context.  

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