Materiality and the Study of Religion

Material culture has emerged in recent decades as a significant theoretical concern for the study of religion. This book contributes to and evaluates this material turn, presenting 13 chapters of new empirical research and theoretical reflection. Following a model for material analysis proposed in o [...]
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Material culture has emerged in recent decades as a significant theoretical concern for the study of religion. This book contributes to and evaluates this material turn, presenting 13 chapters of new empirical research and theoretical reflection. Following a model for material analysis proposed in our first chapter by David Morgan, the contributors trace the lifecycle of religious materiality through three phases: the production of religious objects, their classification as religious (or non-religious), and their circulation and use in material culture. Through these explorations, we learn how objects become and cease to be sacred, how materiality can be used in contests over access to public space and resources, and how religion is embodied and performed by individuals in their everyday lives. Using material culture as a lens through which to explore the ongoing transformations of symbols and practices in lived religion today, the contributors present insights from a broad range of new research projects and theoretical approaches.Chapters discuss the significance of the materiality of religion across different religious traditions and diverse geographical regions, and close attention is paid to gender, age, ethnicity, class and politics. This book contributes to this rapidly-growing field of study by gathering the latest research from some of the leading international scholars of material religion and focusing closely (but not exclusively) on the context of religion in Britain. The volume closes with an Afterword by Manuel Vasquez.