Studying religion in the pluriversity: decolonial perspectives

Klinken, Adriaan van

doi:10.1080/0048721x.2019.1681108

Cited by 20 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Transregional studies, where religion is taught from non‐Western perspectives, such as from Africa, have been called for (Meyer 2020). Other models of the university—the Pluriversity—and other models of research, such as Participatory work, have been put on the table (van Klinken 2020). Globalization in this sense does then not mean the global (neo‐colonial) export of established modes of Western scholarship but new forms of entanglements.…”

Section: Religion In the Context Of Globalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is Happening to Religious Studies? Six Narratives

Stausberg

2024

Religious Studies Review

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The starting point of this essay is the assumption that religious studies (or the study of religion\s, as I prefer to call it) are topically defined, that is, that our work somehow relates to religion or religions, to "religion" or "religious" features; religion establishes our "disciplinary horizon" (Smith 2004, 194). As scholars of religion/"religion," we are endlessly fascinated by it. There may be good theoretical and pragmatic reasons to abandon this key notion and opt for more promising onesmaybe spirituality (Hanegraaff 2020) or worldview (Taves 2020)-but until we have agreed on such proposals, our fate is tied to that of religion, or "religion." So, what is the fate of religion, or rather, how do we tell it? A while ago, Jim Spickard argued that "sociologists of religion are no longer arguing over a single account of religion's place in the contemporary world" (Spickard 2006, 14). Instead, he held that we can best "comprehend our current disciplinary conflict as a clash between six distinct stories about 'What is happening to religion?' today and in the years to come" (Spickard 2006, 14). In this essay, in a recursive move, I will reflect on "What is happening to religious studies" by using Spickard's six narratives as signposts. 1 Of course, as critical readers will not fail to observe, I will need to allow myself a good dose of hermeneutic liberty to make the exercise of analogous thinking work. Space does not allow me to unpack any of these six narratives or tropes, so I will need to allude to potential stories that could be told and leave the rest to the readers' imaginations. I hope the reader will forgive me for this conceit and for referring to some of my own earlier work as examples of some of the trends I mention in this essay.

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Section: Religion In the Context Of Globalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is Happening to Religious Studies? Six Narratives

Stausberg

2024

Religious Studies Review

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“…Once one is inside this field the focus on religion in Africa and the ways of studying it may easily be taken for granted. However, since religion in Africa is not simply about or confined to Africa, its study must be situated in a broader frame than that of African studies, extending at the very least into the broader discipline of religious studies in which region-specific expertise still tends to be marginalized, despite persistent calls for reconfiguration and decolonization (Klinken 2020;Nye 2019).…”

Section: Studying Religion In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is Religion in Africa? Relational Dynamics in an Entangled World

Meyer

2021

J. Relig. Afr.

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Addressing the implications of the introduction of the concept of religion to Africa in the colonial era, this essay approaches religion from a relational angle that takes into account the connections between Africa and Europe. Much can be learned about the complexity and power dynamics of these connections by studying religion not simply in but also from Africa. Referring to historical and current materials from my research in Ghana by way of example, my concern is to show how a focus on religion can serve as a productive entry point into the longstanding relational dynamics through which Africa and Europe are entangled. This is a necessary step in decolonizing scholarly knowledge production about religion in Africa, and in religious studies at large.

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“…As I have recently argued, decolonizing religious studies requires recognition of a plurality of knowledges and an embrace of partiality. As a result of that, “the traditional boundaries between the study of religion/s and theology become increasingly fluid and perhaps obsolete, as it allows for a more creative and imaginative borderland thinking about the methodological divides that have haunted the field” (van Klinken 2020, 151). Transgressing the boundary between religious studies and theology, and including—without necessarily privileging—theological analysis, reflection and meaning‐making in my writing is one of the innovative aspects of the book’s methodological approach, and again it was a liberatory move.…”

Section: Transgressing Disciplinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgressions in Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Response to the Roundtable

Klinken

2020

Religious Studies Review

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Having spent some time with the contributions to this roundtable-digesting and contemplating their praises and criticisms of my book-I ended up thinking about the contribution of Kenyan, Christian, Queer to the field of religious studies. That question seems a relevant one to take up in my response to this roundtable in a journal called Religious Studies Review. Although I never intended this book as a methodological contribution to the study of religion per se, going from the roundtable contributions it appears that it is somewhat perceived and welcomed as such-as exemplifying a methodological innovation. Reflecting on this, I believe this innovation can be captured, in good queer spirit, as a number of transgressions: of academic disciplines, of distance toward sources and research subjects, and of religion as the object of analysis.

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Studying religion in the pluriversity: decolonial perspectives

Abstract: This is a repository copy of Studying religion in the pluriversity: decolonial perspectives.

Cited by 20 publications

References 18 publications

What Is Happening to Religious Studies? Six Narratives

What Is Happening to Religious Studies? Six Narratives

What Is Religion in Africa? Relational Dynamics in an Entangled World

Transgressions in Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Response to the Roundtable

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