New Book: Methods for the Study of Religious Change – From Religious Studies to Worldview Studies
Methods for the Study of Religious Change – From Religious Studies to Worldview Studies
Edited by: André Droogers and Anton van Harskamp
2013 224pp 234 x 156mm
pb ISBN 9781781790434
André Droogers is Emeritus Professor of the Cultural Anthropology of Religion at VU University, Amsterdam. He is author of Play and Power in Religion: Collected Essays (2011) and co-editor of Studying Global Pentecostalism: Theories and Methods (2010). Anton van Harskamp is Emeritus Professor of Religion, Identity and Civil Society at VU University, Amsterdam, and co-editor of Playful Religion: Challenges for the Study of Religion (2006).
The world of religious experience is changing much faster than the discipline that claims to study it. Religious studies still uses Christianity as its measure, still frames the world through the model of five world religions, still largely avoids analysis of key issues around power, poverty, violence, pollution, science, and social conflict, and still looks to highlight differences rather than commonalities. Methods for the Study of Religious Change aims to redefine the study of religion as the study of worldviews, of ideas which are active in shaping the world. It argues that the study of religion should focus on people’s worldview-making capacities and should contribute to the critical analysis of global problems and the promotion of cultural and spiritual respect across religions. Survey chapters on theory and method outline this new approach, while case-study chapters illustrate these ideas with innovative ethnographies of ritual, experience, language, morals and identity.
Contents
1. Introduction, André Droogers and Anton van Harskamp
PART I: METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF CONTEMPORARY WORLDVIEWS
Introduction to Part I
2. The World of Worldviews, André Droogers
3. Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches Compared, André Droogers
4. Playing with Perspectives, André Droogers
PART II: STUDYING RELIGIOUS CHANGE
Introduction to Part II
5. Fieldwork on Ritual: Understanding Through Participation, Kim Knibbe, Marten van der Meulen, and Peter Versteeg
6. Fieldwork on Experience: Spirituality, Individuality and Authority, Peter Versteeg and Johan Roeland
7. Fieldwork on Language: Artists Express Their Worldviews, Rhea Hummel
8. Fieldwork on Morality: Gossip and Secrets, Kim Knibbe
9. Fieldwork on Identity: Contested and Politicized Research, Martijn de Koning, Edien Bartels, and Daniëlle Koning
PART III: MOVING PARAMETERS
Introduction to Part III
10. The Future of New Worldview Studies, André Droogers
11. Epilogue: Studying Religion as our Intimate Stranger, Anton van Harskamp
