Religion Bites

This  is the first episode of season 2, which is on the general theme of  religion, race, and coloniality. The episodes for this season are  recordings from lectures that I presented at the University of Stirling  in autumn 2018

This  podcast is based on a blog article that I first wrote a couple of years  ago, and was recorded at the end of 2018 (soon before I fell ill).  Although in reflection on issues raised last year and in 2020, I would  probably add more discussion to my reflections here. However, I think  this is still relevant to some of the contemporary debates about how the  discipline of the study of religion needs to address the many  challenges of anti-racism, both as a subject area and within the wider  academy.

A text version of this episode, together with the links mentioned, can be found below.

https://medium.com/religion-bites/does-religious-studies-have-a-problem-with-race-e7d94efe3765

If we are exploring religion in culture, then how and what do we talk about as religion?

This  is a question that goes across much of the contemporary study of  religion, and impacts on it in various ways — not only in particular  religious and culture contexts, but also very noticeably in the  idea/approach of ‘material religion’. In short, if we want to explore ‘religion’ within particular cultural locations — such as religion in a book (e.g., Harry Potter) or a film/s (e.g., Star Wars) — then can we say that religion is a thing to find or a ‘manifestation’ of something (such as ‘the sacred’)? My straightforward answer to this is a definite ‘no’: religion is not a thing, it is not an it.

A text version of this episode, together with the links mentioned, can be found at the link below. (The episode was recorded a while ago, when I was still  teaching at the University of Glasgow — that explains why I talk about  teaching a class, when of course at present such face to face teaching  is not possible due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020!).

https://medium.com/religion-bites-podcast/023-what-are-we-looking-for-when-we-look-at-religion-and-popularculture-66f5f1d50214

There can be no doubt that the academic study of religion emerged out  of European colonialism. There are various lines of descent for the  discipline, and like much of the humanities and social sciences, they  all lead back to colonialism, and in particular the nineteenth and early  twentieth centuries.

And so, during a time when there is a  widespread movement for the decolonisation of knowledge, is there a need  for a decolonisation of the study of religion? And if so, then what  does it involve?

These are some initial thoughts on this major issue.

A written version of this episode can be found at:

https://medium.com/religion-bites/decolonisation-of-religious-studies-993727c6d1bc

I am a student of religion who does not study religion. I study what people think and talk about as religion.

I  study the spaces, places, things, objects, ideas, practices, and  conflicts that can be found in particular discourses that get labelled  and thought about as ‘religion’. I study the idea of religion.

A written text version of this episode can be found at:

https://medium.com/religion-bites/i-dont-study-religion-so-what-am-i-doing-in-the-study-of-religion-be2653682feb

When we speak of religion are we in fact talking about race? Does the  idea of ‘religion’ only make sense if we consider it as a particular  instance of a racial formation?

A written text version of this episode can be found at:

https://medium.com/religion-bites/the-analysis-of-race-in-the-study-of-religion-c9288a5da01d

To understand the burkini bans in France in summer 2016, our starting  point needs to be based on an assumption of intersectionality. The bans  are not only about religion or security, they also involve gender,  sexuality, race, power, and history.

A written version of this episode can be found at:

https://medium.com/religion-bites/burkini-bans-in-france-its-all-about-intersectionality-e81a9b1714ef

The history of the idea  of chocolate is somewhat similar to the history of how we think about  religions. Chocolate became chocolate through colonial encounter and  appropriation. Without colonialism, we would not talk about chocolate –  the same with religion.

A written version of this episode can be found at:

https://medium.com/religion-bites/religion-is-like-chocolate-e38536eda9ba

So, here is a question that is rarely asked in Religion 101 classes: What type of gloves should you be wearing?

All  studies of religion are a study of humans, people and the worlds,  cultures, meanings, ideas, and practices they live within. What we  choose to wear (perhaps metaphorically) on our hands helps to shape what  we do in the study of religion.

A written version of this episode can be found on the Religion Bites blog: https://medium.com/religion-bites/trying-to-understand-religion-its-a-matter-of-finding-the-right-gloves-to-wear-811fbc25ac5b

Postcolonialism  and religion: in what ways are history and the contemporary world  relevant not only to the topic of religion, but also to how we analyse  and understand religions and cultures?