Research in Contemporary Religion

The publication of the Muhammad caricatures in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 caused a global controversy that erupted not only at the political and economic level, but also engulfed the media and had a significant impact on cultural tensions across international societies. This book aims to reflect on the so-called Danish cartoon controversy by focusing on the genre of caricature in order to consider how Muslims and elements of the Islamic tradition are represented in caricatures as the »other«. Monica Glavac commences with an historical overview of this artistic technique to understand how caricatures are characterized in Europe, where they originate from and how they developed. Historical examples are then studied to find out how Muslims and elements of the Islamic tradition were variously depicted. The historical perspective serves to embed the Muhammad cartoons and the resultant controversy in a broader cultural and historical context. Glavac thereby shows a possible way in which one can deal with a public phenomenon, such as the Danish cartoon controversy, from the perspective of the study of religion.

Aktuelle öffentliche, mediale und politische Debatten fokussieren auf Körper und Kleidung im Zusammenhang mit Religion. »Second Skin« bietet anhand der Kategorien Identität, Repräsentation, Produktion und Rezeption sowie Regulierung einen kulturwissenschaftlichen Zugang zu Kleidung, Körper und Religion. Ausgehend von einem Konzept des Körpers als prozessuale, identitätsstiftende Grundlage der Person über die Analyse von Praktiken und Repräsentationen von Körper und Kleidung bis hin zur Analyse öffentlicher Machtdiskurse und Selbstregulierungen tragen in diesem Band Forschende aus unterschiedlichen Disziplinen zu einer religionstheoretischen Erfassung von Kleidung bei.

Based on the notion of lived religion, the volume seeks to elucidate the role of religion in contemporary society in an international and interdisciplinary perspective. It draws its inspiration from the works of Wilhelm Gräb, who in his contribution to scholarship has emphasized and shaped the notion of lived religion as a basis for empirical and theoretical approaches to the study of religion. A lot of research has been conducted on the contribution of religious communities to development. Moreover, the literature has scrutinized religious communities’ normative notions on development, i.e., what in different theological perspectives can be seen as desirable ‘development’ outcomes – for instance notions of a good life or of human flourishing. In both cases, most of the work in the field has focused on institutionalized religion and religious tenets and theologies. Perspectives of religion as it is lived by people on the ground have thus far received less attention. This book provides an innovative angle to the religion and development research and literature. Transposing the notion of lived religion to the concept of development, one might be able to also speak of ‘lived development’. Moving beyond the dominant paradigms of global development, this volume raises the question how development is conceptualized, enacted and practiced on the ground. This concerns not least the question what is seen as desirable lives for individuals, communities, societies and the world as a whole. It is precisely at this point where lived religion and lived development intersect.