Method Today - Redescribing Approaches to the Study of Religion - Brad Stoddard

Method Today - Redescribing Approaches to the Study of Religion - Brad Stoddard

4. On Z-factors and Empires

Method Today - Redescribing Approaches to the Study of Religion - Brad Stoddard

Andrew Durdin [+-]
Florida State University
Andrew Durdin is assistant teaching professor in the Department of Religion at Florida State University. His work focuses on critical approaches to the study of religion with an emphasis on the Roman imperial period, the modern historiography of ancient religions, and magic and religion in the ancient and modern world.

Description

This chapter examines the often suppressed conceptual frameworks that normalize “religions” as privileged units of comparison in the study of religion. Starting from Aaron Hughes’s essay, this chapter highlights how the category of “empire” operates as such a framework, and argues that problematizing this framework (and other such frameworks) raises interesting questions about the historical conditions and specific motives that transform fluid social practices into discrete comparative units.

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Citation

Durdin, Andrew. 4. On Z-factors and Empires. Method Today - Redescribing Approaches to the Study of Religion. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 54-63 Sep 2018. ISBN 9781781795682. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=34422. Date accessed: 07 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.34422. Sep 2018

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