Theses on the critique of "religion"

Those of us who study the history and politics of the concept of religion and its related terms often find that our peers in adjacent disciplines or subdisciplines do not take into account our findings and continue to use the terms naively and unreflexively. Perhaps this is because they are unaware...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Martin, Craig 1976- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2015]
In: Critical research on religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 3, Issue: 3, Pages: 297-302
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Science of Religion / Religion / Conception / Criticism / Importance / Interdisciplinary research
RelBib Classification:AA Study of religion
AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
ZB Sociology
Further subjects:B concept of religion
B religion and modernity
B conceptual anachronism
B definition of religion
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:Those of us who study the history and politics of the concept of religion and its related terms often find that our peers in adjacent disciplines or subdisciplines do not take into account our findings and continue to use the terms naively and unreflexively. Perhaps this is because they are unaware of the problematic norms knotted into the history of the concept or the contested political stakes involved in its use. Or, perhaps they are engaged in just the very sort of politics our subdiscipline documents. When discussing this with one of the editors of CRR, he asked me to outline why those not engaged in the historicization of the concept of religion should take our work into account. How or why would a contemporary sociologist of religion benefit from reading, for example, a discourse analysis of Reformation-era theologico-political rhetoric? To that end, here I put forward the following theses on the critique of the concept of religion, making the case, as boldly and as succinctly as I can, why our work is relevant to all who write on "religion," and provide references to the essential literature on the subject for those who wish to pursue further reading on the matter.
ISSN:2050-3040
Contains:Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/2050303215613147