Counting on the Words
Issued Date: 3 Dec 2012
Abstract
This paper assesses the status of "evidence" in studies of religion by attending to its epistemological lineages, its tone and genre, and its sometimes unconscious methodological presumptions. Exploring the implications of authorial constructions of evidence and the inevitability of our complicity in deciding what counts as "religion," this piece suggests productive engagements with the limits of "evidence" - rather than the often futile attempts to surpass them - can yield fresh ways of thinking and writing about the field's tricky subject.
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References
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Taves, Ann. 2009. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Thi
Bender, Courtney. 2010. The New Metaphysicals: Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bennett, Jane. 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.;
Bivins, Jason C. 2012. “’Only one repertory’: American Religious Studies.” Religion 41 (2012), 1–13.
Brown, Karen McCarthy. 1991. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Deleuze, Gilles and Felix Guattari. 1987. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Dubuisson, Daniel. 2007. The Western Construction of Religion: Myths, Knowledge, and Ideology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Fitzgerald, Timothy. 2003. The Ideology of Religious Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
King, Richard. 1999. Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India, and the “Mystic East.” New York: Routledge.
Kippenberg, Hans G. 2001. Discovering Religious History in the Modern Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Latour, Bruno. 2007. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Masuzawa, Tomoko. 2005. The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCutcheon, Russell. 2003. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. New York: Oxford University Press.
Orsi, Robert A. 2006. Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rayfield, Donald. 1997. Anton Chekhov: A Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Ryba, Thomas. 2000. “Manifestation,” In Guide to the Study of Religion, edited by Willi Braun and Russell McCutcheon, 168–89. New York: T & T Clark.
Smith, Jonathan Z. 1988. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Taves, Ann. 2009. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Thi
Bennett, Jane. 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.;
Bivins, Jason C. 2012. “’Only one repertory’: American Religious Studies.” Religion 41 (2012), 1–13.
Brown, Karen McCarthy. 1991. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Deleuze, Gilles and Felix Guattari. 1987. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Dubuisson, Daniel. 2007. The Western Construction of Religion: Myths, Knowledge, and Ideology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Fitzgerald, Timothy. 2003. The Ideology of Religious Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
King, Richard. 1999. Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India, and the “Mystic East.” New York: Routledge.
Kippenberg, Hans G. 2001. Discovering Religious History in the Modern Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Latour, Bruno. 2007. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Masuzawa, Tomoko. 2005. The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCutcheon, Russell. 2003. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. New York: Oxford University Press.
Orsi, Robert A. 2006. Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rayfield, Donald. 1997. Anton Chekhov: A Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Ryba, Thomas. 2000. “Manifestation,” In Guide to the Study of Religion, edited by Willi Braun and Russell McCutcheon, 168–89. New York: T & T Clark.
Smith, Jonathan Z. 1988. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Taves, Ann. 2009. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Thi
Bender, Courtney. 2010. The New Metaphysicals: Spirituality and the American Religious Imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bennett, Jane. 2010. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.;
Bivins, Jason C. 2012. “’Only one repertory’: American Religious Studies.” Religion 41 (2012), 1–13.
Brown, Karen McCarthy. 1991. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Deleuze, Gilles and Felix Guattari. 1987. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Dubuisson, Daniel. 2007. The Western Construction of Religion: Myths, Knowledge, and Ideology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Fitzgerald, Timothy. 2003. The Ideology of Religious Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
King, Richard. 1999. Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India, and the “Mystic East.” New York: Routledge.
Kippenberg, Hans G. 2001. Discovering Religious History in the Modern Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Latour, Bruno. 2007. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Masuzawa, Tomoko. 2005. The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCutcheon, Russell. 2003. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. New York: Oxford University Press.
Orsi, Robert A. 2006. Between Heaven and Earth: The Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study Them. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rayfield, Donald. 1997. Anton Chekhov: A Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Ryba, Thomas. 2000. “Manifestation,” In Guide to the Study of Religion, edited by Willi Braun and Russell McCutcheon, 168–89. New York: T & T Clark.
Smith, Jonathan Z. 1988. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Taves, Ann. 2009. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Thi
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