Bloomsbury Religious Studies

Religion, Postcolonialism, and Globalization: A Sourcebook

Later this year we publish Religion, Postcolonialism, and Globalization: A Sourcebook by Jennifer Reid. In his pre-publication endorsement Charles H. Long (Professor Emeritus, History of Religions, University of California, USA) praises the sourcebook for laying ‘the groundwork for a serious historical and religious discussion of the practical and discursive meanings of globalization.'

He goes onto say that: ‘[Jennifer Reid’s] narratives and the informative articles move the meaning of globalization beyond the limited economic focus and reveals the wide range of implications evoked by the terms of the title. The Sourcebook opens the concepts and practices of all the Human Sciences for radical interrogation and critique. This is an important and needed addition to an important cultural inquiry.'

 

Religion, Postcolonialism, and Globalization: A Sourcebook shows how the roots of our globalized world run deeper than the 1980s or even the end of WWII, tracing back to 15th century European colonial expansion through which the 'modern world system' came into existence. 

The Sourcebook is divided into four sections, each with a critical introduction by the editor, a series of readings, and discussion questions based on the readings. Canonical readings in religion, globalization and postcolonialism are paired with lesser-known texts in order to invite critical analysis. Extracts explored include work by Max Weber, Edward Said, David Chidester, and Kant, as well as political documents such as the British Parliament's 1813 Act regarding the East India Company. Sources range from the origins of the common phrase "jihad vs. McWorld" in the work of Benjamin Barber, to personal essays reflecting religious responses to globalization.  

Focusing on a history of religions approach, Religion, Postcolonialism, and Globalization provides an alternative to existing sociological work on religion and globalization. Guidance on useful web resources can be found on the book's webpage.

More information on this book, and others, available here.

Sex, Death and Witchcraft

This month we publish Sex, Death and Witchcraft: A Contemporary Pagan Festival by Douglas Ezzy in the UK, and it will be available in the US in July.

In his pre-publication endorsement Graham Harvey (Reader in Religious Studies and Head of Department, The Open University, UK) describes the book as 'a potent brew of embodiment, performance, liminality, sexuality, myth-making, and much more.' He goes on to say that Douglas Ezzy's 'clear analysis should inspire us to think again about ritual and religion from relational perspectives.'

Shawn Arthur (Assistant Professor of Asian Religions, Appalachian State University, USA) also outlines in his pre-publication endorsement that 'Douglas Ezzy offers an intriguing and rich ethnographic study of rituals that confront sex and death in a Contemporary Pagan temporary community setting.' He continues with:

'In the first in-depth study of its kind, he discusses and analyzes these important yet contentious themes in Pagan ritual in a respectful manner that provides much insight into the practitioners’ mindsets. It is exciting to see a scholar of Ezzy’s calibre grapple with these difficult issues.'

Faunalia is a controversial Pagan festival with a reputation for being wild and emotionally intense. It lasts five days, eighty people attend, and the two main rituals run most of the night. In the tantalisingly erotic Baphomet rite, participants encounter a hermaphroditic deity, enter a state of trance and dance naked around a bonfire. In the Underworld rite participants role play their own death, confronting grief and suffering. These rituals are understood as "shadow work" - a Jungian term that refers to practices that creatively engage repressed or hidden aspects of the self. 

Sex, Death and Witchcraft is a powerful application of relational theory to the study of religion and contemporary culture. It analyses Faunalia’s rituals in terms of recent innovations in the sociology of religion and religious studies that focus on relational etiquette, lived religion, embodiment and performance. The sensuous and emotionally intense ritual performances at Faunalia transform both moral orientations and self-understandings. Participants develop an ethical practice that is individualistic, but also relational, and aesthetically mediated. Extensive extracts from interviews describe the rituals in participants’ own words. The book combines rich and evocative description of the rituals with careful analysis of the social processes that shape people’s experiences at this controversial Pagan festival.

This book, and others, can be found on our website here

Times Higher Education Review of The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities, by Amanullah De Sondy

We are very pleased to share this review of The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities, published yesterday in The Times Higher Education:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/books/the-crisis-of-islamic-masculinities-by-amanullah-de-sondy/2012083.article

To whet your appetite, here are a few excerpts from the review:

'De Sondy explores the heterogeneous nature of Islamic and Muslim masculinities, beginning with what can be termed the dominant or “hegemonic” masculinity reflected in religious, political and everyday discourses across the contemporary Muslim world. He traces it in the works of Syed Abul A’la Mawdudi, an influential 20th-century Pakistani theologian. Mawdudi’s construct is the archetype of man the breadwinner and woman the housewife, with the family as the only basis of social structure, built around sex segregation and traditional gender relations.'

'De Sondy interrogates this image of the Muslim man on various fronts. He explores what Muslim feminists have to say about it and argues that while they reaffirm the importance of the family, they try to dismantle gender hierarchies through exegesis of the Koran and people’s experiences. Indeed, even in the Koran, we find that there is no one single masculinity.'

'This is an important work for those interested in gender relations in Muslim societies. I only wish that my students could read English because this work would help them to explore a broader range of gender constructions without the (fully justifiable) fear of being labelled un-Islamic.'

This book, and others, can be purchased on our website here