Religion as Relation
Studying Religion in Context
Edited by
Peter Berger [+–]
University of Groningen
Peter Berger (PhD 2004, FU Berlin) is Associate Professor of Indian Religions and the Anthropology of Religion at the University of Groningen. His areas of interest include the anthropology of religion, indigenous religions (esp. in India), theory and history of anthropology and the anthropology of India. His books include Feeding, Sharing and Devouring: Ritual and Society in Highland Odisha, India (De Gruyter, 2015), and he coedited Godroads: Modalities of Conversion in India (Cambridge UP, 2020), Ultimate Ambiguities: Investigating Death and Liminality (Berghahn, 2016), The Modern Anthropology of India (Routledge, 2013) and The Anthropology of Values (Pearson, 2010).
Marjo Buitelaar [+–]
University of Groningen
Marjo Buitelaar is Professor of Contemporary Islam from an anthropological perspective at the University of Groningen. Her research interests concern Islam in everyday life and narrative identity construction in a post-migration context. Buitelaar is presently programme-leader of a research project on ‘Modern Articulations of Pilgrimage to Mecca’ (NWO grant 360-25-150). Her most recent co-edited books in English are Religious Voices in Self-Narratives (2013); Hajj, Global Interactions through Pilgrimage (2015); and Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond. Reconfiguring gender, religion and mobility (2020).
Kim Knibbe [+–]
University of Groningen
Kim Knibbe is Associate Professor Anthropology and Sociology of Religion at Groningen University. She is currently directing the project “Sexuality, Religion and Secularism” with Rachel Spronk (funded by NWO). Previous research focused on Catholicism and spirituality in the Netherlands and on Nigerian Pentecostalism in Europe and the Netherlands. She has also published a series of theoretical and methodological reflections on studying religion. Her most recent co-edited books and special issues are Secular Societies, Spiritual Selves? (with Anna Fedele, 2020) and ‘Theorizing Lived Religion’ (with Helena Kupari, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2020).
Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. This book differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics. The aim is to provide orientation in this multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. It is intended for undergraduate students studying religion as well as broader audiences interested in the study of religion.
The introduction provides students with an overview of four key issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: 1) the ways scholars conceptualize and delineate ‘religion’ as an object of study, 2) what theory is and what it is for, 3) at what level of analysis research may take place, and 4) the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. In the subsequent chapters, each author discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply and what kind of insights these yield.
Collectively, the introduction and the individual chapters allow students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that may be deployed to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
University of Groningen
Peter Berger (PhD 2004, FU Berlin) is Associate Professor of Indian Religions and the Anthropology of Religion at the University of Groningen. His areas of interest include the anthropology of religion, indigenous religions (esp. in India), theory and history of anthropology and the anthropology of India. His books include Feeding, Sharing and Devouring: Ritual and Society in Highland Odisha, India (De Gruyter, 2015), and he coedited Godroads: Modalities of Conversion in India (Cambridge UP, 2020), Ultimate Ambiguities: Investigating Death and Liminality (Berghahn, 2016), The Modern Anthropology of India (Routledge, 2013) and The Anthropology of Values (Pearson, 2010).
University of Groningen
Marjo Buitelaar is Professor of Contemporary Islam from an anthropological perspective at the University of Groningen. Her research interests concern Islam in everyday life and narrative identity construction in a post-migration context. Buitelaar is presently programme-leader of a research project on ‘Modern Articulations of Pilgrimage to Mecca’ (NWO grant 360-25-150). Her most recent co-edited books in English are Religious Voices in Self-Narratives (2013); Hajj, Global Interactions through Pilgrimage (2015); and Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond. Reconfiguring gender, religion and mobility (2020).
University of Groningen
Kim Knibbe is Associate Professor Anthropology and Sociology of Religion at Groningen University. She is currently directing the project “Sexuality, Religion and Secularism” with Rachel Spronk (funded by NWO). Previous research focused on Catholicism and spirituality in the Netherlands and on Nigerian Pentecostalism in Europe and the Netherlands. She has also published a series of theoretical and methodological reflections on studying religion. Her most recent co-edited books and special issues are Secular Societies, Spiritual Selves? (with Anna Fedele, 2020) and ‘Theorizing Lived Religion’ (with Helena Kupari, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2020).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 2
University of Leuven
Dennis Vanden Auweele is lecturer in philosophy at KU Leuven (University of Leuven). His main research interest is in modern philosophy, with a focus on 19th-century German philosophy of religion. He has published the following monographs: Exceeding Reason: Freedom and Religion in Schelling and Nietzsche (de Gruyter, 2020); Pessimism in Kant’s Ethics and Rational Religion (Lexington, 2019); The Kantian Foundation of Schopenhauer’s Pessimism (Routledge, 2017). He has edited, among others, the following books: Past to Present of Political Theology. Edited with Miklos Vassanyi (Routledge, 2020); Thinking Metaxologically: William Desmond’s Philosophy between Metaphysics, Religion, Ethics and Aesthetics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 3
University of Groningen
Christoph Jedan is Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen. His research interests include Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, the intersections of religion and philosophy today (religion and politics, postsecularism), and the history and continuing relevance of consolation for death and loss. He has (co)authored and (co)edited a dozen books and special journal issues, inter alia Stoic virtues: Chrysippus and the Religious Character of Stoic Ethics (Continuum, 2009) and (with Avril Maddrell and Eric Venbrux) Consolationscapes in the Face of Loss: Grief and Consolation in Space and Time (Routledge, 2019).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 4
VU University, Amsterdam
Henk van den Belt (PhD 2006, Leiden University) is Professor of Systematic Theology at the VU University, Amsterdam and director of the Herman Bavinck Center for Reformed and Evangelical Theology. He is currently working on a Research project concerning the development of the doctrine of divine providence in Reformed theology. He is the author of The Authority of Scripture in Reformed Theology: Truth and Trust (Brill, 2008) and of several articles on Reformed Orthodoxy and on neocalvinism; he edited Restoration through Redemption: John Calvin Revisited (Brill, 2013) and the second volume of the Synopsis of Purer Theology (Brill, 2016).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 5
University of Groningen
Steve Mason (BA, MA McMaster; PhD University of St Michael’s College, Toronto) is Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions and Cultures at the University of Groningen. He edits the international series, Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary (Brill, 2000–), to which he has also contributed Life of Josephus (2001) and Judean War 2 (2008); he is now working on Judean War 4. His first monograph was Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees (Brill, 1991); most recent are A History of the Jewish War, A.D. 66–74 (Cambridge UP, 2016) and Orientation to the History of Roman Judaea (Wipf & Stock, 2016).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 6
University of Groningen
Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta (Dr. litt. 1997; theol. 2004) is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Groningen. He has published extensively on Plutarch of Chaeronea, Early Christian apocrypha, and the Nag Hammadi Library and Gnosticism. He is editor in Chief of Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies and of the Nag Hammadi Bibliography Online. His most recent publications are A Man of Many Interests: Plutarch on Religion, Myth, and Magic (2019), edited with D.F. Leão; and Plutarch’s Religious Landscapes (Leiden 2020), edited with R. Hirsch-Luipold.
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 7
University of Groningen
Anja Visser is Assistant Professor Spiritual Care at the University of Groningen. She specializes in research on the organization and outcomes of spiritual care in healthcare settings. Currently she examines best practices for the integration of spiritual caregivers in primary care and the social domain in the Netherlands (for more information, see https://hdl.handle.net/10411/2P1T3B). She has published various articles on the role spirituality in coping with cancer, on spiritual care, and on research methods in chaplaincy.
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 8
Religion as Attachment: A Psychological Exploration of Relational Dynamics in God Representations [+–]
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Hanneke Schaap-Jonker is endowed professor in clinical psychology of religion at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and rector of the Centre for Research and Innovation of Christian Mental Health Care in the Netherlands. As psychologist and theologian, her research interests include God representations and mental health, religion and suicidality, and the interactions between religious factors and psychotherapy. Her current research focuses on self-compassion, religion and mental health. Her second dissertation in 2018 focused on God representations and mental health. Her 2019 inaugural address outlined the contours of a contemporary clinical psychology of religion with a focus on recovery, hope and compassion.
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 9
University of Groningen
Hanneke Muthert is Associate Professor Psychology of Religion and Spiritual Care at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen. Her current research projects focus on 1) disaster chaplaincy;2) meaningful work and 3) psychopathology, religion and good spiritual care practices. The overarching theme is characterized by how to support people in diverse care contexts (home, healthcare, work) to live their daily lives coping with significant losses and longings. In relation to an observed lack of common language sharing existential issues, she elaborates on the idea of concrete practice places in the near future. For publications see: https://www.rug.nl/staff/j.k.muthert/research
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 10
University of Groningen
Kim Knibbe is Associate Professor Anthropology and Sociology of Religion at Groningen University. She is currently directing the project “Sexuality, Religion and Secularism” with Rachel Spronk (funded by NWO). Previous research focused on Catholicism and spirituality in the Netherlands and on Nigerian Pentecostalism in Europe and the Netherlands. She has also published a series of theoretical and methodological reflections on studying religion. Her most recent co-edited books and special issues are Secular Societies, Spiritual Selves? (with Anna Fedele, 2020) and ‘Theorizing Lived Religion’ (with Helena Kupari, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2020).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 11
University of Toronto
Simon Coleman is Chancellor Jackman Professor at the Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto. His research interests include pilgrimage, Pentecostalism, cathedrals, ritual, and religious infrastructures. He has carried out fieldwork in Sweden, the UK, and Nigeria. Recent books include The Anthropology of Global Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism (NYU Press, 2015, co-edited with Rosalind Hackett) and Pilgrimage and Political Economy (Berghahn, 2018, co-edited with John Eade). He is co-editor of the journal Religion and Society. Simon is currently completing a comparative book on pilgrimage as a field of study.
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 12
University of Groningen
Joram Tarusarira is Assistant Professor of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding and the Director of the Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalisation at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He has expertise in Religion, Conflict, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation; Religion and Politics; and Religion and Climate Conflicts. His recent publications include Religion and Human Security in Africa (2020, co-edited with E. Chitando).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 13
University of Groningen
Marjo Buitelaar is Professor of Contemporary Islam from an anthropological perspective at the University of Groningen. Her research interests concern Islam in everyday life and narrative identity construction in a post-migration context. Buitelaar is presently programme-leader of a research project on ‘Modern Articulations of Pilgrimage to Mecca’ (NWO grant 360-25-150). Her most recent co-edited books in English are Religious Voices in Self-Narratives (2013); Hajj, Global Interactions through Pilgrimage (2015); and Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond. Reconfiguring gender, religion and mobility (2020).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 14
University of Groningen
Peter Berger (PhD 2004, FU Berlin) is Associate Professor of Indian Religions and the Anthropology of Religion at the University of Groningen. His areas of interest include the anthropology of religion, indigenous religions (esp. in India), theory and history of anthropology and the anthropology of India. His books include Feeding, Sharing and Devouring: Ritual and Society in Highland Odisha, India (De Gruyter, 2015), and he coedited Godroads: Modalities of Conversion in India (Cambridge UP, 2020), Ultimate Ambiguities: Investigating Death and Liminality (Berghahn, 2016), The Modern Anthropology of India (Routledge, 2013) and The Anthropology of Values (Pearson, 2010).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
Chapter 15
University of Groningen
Peter Berger (PhD 2004, FU Berlin) is Associate Professor of Indian Religions and the Anthropology of Religion at the University of Groningen. His areas of interest include the anthropology of religion, indigenous religions (esp. in India), theory and history of anthropology and the anthropology of India. His books include Feeding, Sharing and Devouring: Ritual and Society in Highland Odisha, India (De Gruyter, 2015), and he coedited Godroads: Modalities of Conversion in India (Cambridge UP, 2020), Ultimate Ambiguities: Investigating Death and Liminality (Berghahn, 2016), The Modern Anthropology of India (Routledge, 2013) and The Anthropology of Values (Pearson, 2010).
University of Groningen
Marjo Buitelaar is Professor of Contemporary Islam from an anthropological perspective at the University of Groningen. Her research interests concern Islam in everyday life and narrative identity construction in a post-migration context. Buitelaar is presently programme-leader of a research project on ‘Modern Articulations of Pilgrimage to Mecca’ (NWO grant 360-25-150). Her most recent co-edited books in English are Religious Voices in Self-Narratives (2013); Hajj, Global Interactions through Pilgrimage (2015); and Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond. Reconfiguring gender, religion and mobility (2020).
University of Groningen
Kim Knibbe is Associate Professor Anthropology and Sociology of Religion at Groningen University. She is currently directing the project “Sexuality, Religion and Secularism” with Rachel Spronk (funded by NWO). Previous research focused on Catholicism and spirituality in the Netherlands and on Nigerian Pentecostalism in Europe and the Netherlands. She has also published a series of theoretical and methodological reflections on studying religion. Her most recent co-edited books and special issues are Secular Societies, Spiritual Selves? (with Anna Fedele, 2020) and ‘Theorizing Lived Religion’ (with Helena Kupari, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2020).
The book is intended for undergraduate students in religious studies and anyone else interested in the study of religion. It differs from most other introductions and handbooks in that it draws on ongoing research to show ‘how’ researchers approach their topics, thus providing orientation in a multidisciplinary context without attempting to homogenize the field. Religion is studied from a multitude of approaches and methodologies, also represented in this volume: history, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, psychology and the academic study of religion. The introduction therefore focuses on providing students with an overview of the issues that are at stake in choosing an approach to studying religion in a multidisciplinary context: how one can learn to recognize how scholars conceptualize and delineate the object of study, what theory is, to recognize on what level of analysis research may take place, and the ‘problem of belief’ in the study of religion. The author of each chapter discusses material from their own research to demonstrate the approach and methodology they apply to produce and analyse the material they work with. This allows students to orient themselves with regard to the various methodologies and perspectives that they can deploy to formulate and answer their own research questions.
ISBN-13 (Hardback)
9781800500693
Price (Hardback)
£75.00 / $100.00
ISBN-13 (Paperback)
9781800500709
Price (Paperback)
£24.95 / $32.00
ISBN (eBook)
9781800500716
Price (eBook)
Individual
£24.95 / $32.00
Institutional
£75.00 / $100.00
£24.95 / $32.00
Institutional
£75.00 / $100.00
ePub ISBN
9781800501201
Publication
01/10/2021
Pages
300
Size
234 x 156mm
Readership
students and scholars
