Key Categories in the Study of Religion - Contexts and Critiques - Rebekka King
11. The Trope Has Been Set: Race and Religion as Critical Entanglement
Key Categories in the Study of Religion - Contexts and Critiques - Rebekka King
Richard W. Newton, Jr. [+]
University of Alabama
Richard Newton is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He is author of Identifying Roots: Alex Haley and the Anthropology of Scriptures(Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2020) and former editor of the Bulletin for the Study of Religion. Newton is also curator of the social media professional development network, Sowing the Seed: Fruitful Conversations in Religion, Culture and Teaching (SowingTheSeed.org).
Description
This essay is a response to a response on how to theorize the category "race" in the academic study of religion. It present a defense of the argument that both race and religion operate as axes of social difference to be critically redescribed (or mapped) by scholars. This response clarifies and expounds upon how that thesis could be taken up in four subfields: ethnic studies/critical race studies, the history of religion, biblical studies, and American religious history.