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Religion, Race, and Ethnicity Series
Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity: An Introduction
Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity is the first collection devoted to demonstrating the role that religion and myth have played in the creation of the categories of "race" and "ethnicity."
When scholars approach religion and race, they tend to focus on such issues as how African Americans have expressed Christianity, or how Japanese or Mexicans have lived "religiously." This volume, meant specifically for those new to the field, brings together an ensemble of prominent scholars and illuminates instead the role religious myths have played in shaping those very social boundaries that we call "races" and "ethnicities." It asks, what part did Christianity play in creating "Blackness"? To what extent was Japanese or Mexican identity itself the product of religious life?
The text, comprised of all original material, introduces readers to the social construction of race and ethnicity and the ways in which these concepts are shaped by religious narratives. It offers examples from both the U.S. and around the world, exploring these themes in the context of places as diverse as Bosnia, India, Japan, Mexico, Zimbabwe, and the Middle East. The volume helps make the case that any account of the social construction of race and ethnicity will be incomplete if it fails to consider the influence of religious traditions and myths.
Contributors include: Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Joel Martin, Jacob Neusner, Roberto S. Goizueta, Laurie Patton, and Michael A. Sells.
- GenresNonfictionRaceReligion
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 1, 2014
Again, a caveat: This book is edited by a good friend of mine, but I am something of a critical reader, so you make take my opinions at face value:
The book is a collection of essays, each dealing in the ways in which various religious traditions have shaped constructs of racial and ethnic identities. I am about half-way through and so far have found it fascinating, because of the various cultures covered in this range of essays. Some of them provide excerpted original texts and stories of the ethnic/religious groups being discussed. It has really broadened my range of knowledge, which is primarily the interplay of Northern European Christianity/American colonists with the African slave populations. In brief and illuminating examples, cultures that I would not have been initially drawn to were made intelligible and I became very engaged in learning about them in more detail. Some of the essays focus on case studies, which are always interesting to me, given the attention to detail and the author's method of relating these particular examples to a broader context. I have graduate-level training in the history of religions and, in general, these essays impressed me with their academic rigor as well as their accessibility to the layperson. However, like any collection of essays, some are more satisfying than others. For instance, the first article which dealt with the initial way Europeans tried to justify slavery through biblical exegesis was interesting in terms of finding how few references the colonists had to work with. It turns out that they relied almost entirely on the story of Noah, Ham and Canaan from the Hebrew Bible. Huge lacuna in the article for me - there was no explanation as to why Ham was considered to be a black man. But it turns out (according to a later essay) that this argument stuck through formation of concept of 'blackness' and its relation to slavery, so that much later on the founder of The Nation of Islam also refers back to the story, but this time, reinterpreting it to assert the superiority of the African.
Another pet-peeve of mine: apologetics for the superiority of native american cultures/values. I admire much in these traditions (esp. the value and respect for nature, the lack of which may eventually spell our demise), but one is reminded of an earlier generation of 'academic' scholars of religion who injected their own feelings for their Christian faith into a presumably social-scientific study. I'm just saying 2 things: indigenous peoples are not a monolith and they do not represent utopian societies. We all know of the wars of conquest/domination among native civilizations, Incas, Aztecs, etc against other indigenous groups. It was not only the European colonists who engaged in a project of destroying other cultures. As you see, it is a pet-peeve. Probably because I am acquainted with too many "new age" lesbians.
Finally, if you enjoy logic, then you'll enjoy the Jacob Neusner piece. He was the mentor of my undergrad. teacher and it was a blast from the past for me.
I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the interplay between religion and culture and the shaping of identities through history. Though academic in nature, the essays tend to be short and accessible to the layperson. The book has apparently been used quite a bit in the undergrad. classroom.
The book is a collection of essays, each dealing in the ways in which various religious traditions have shaped constructs of racial and ethnic identities. I am about half-way through and so far have found it fascinating, because of the various cultures covered in this range of essays. Some of them provide excerpted original texts and stories of the ethnic/religious groups being discussed. It has really broadened my range of knowledge, which is primarily the interplay of Northern European Christianity/American colonists with the African slave populations. In brief and illuminating examples, cultures that I would not have been initially drawn to were made intelligible and I became very engaged in learning about them in more detail. Some of the essays focus on case studies, which are always interesting to me, given the attention to detail and the author's method of relating these particular examples to a broader context. I have graduate-level training in the history of religions and, in general, these essays impressed me with their academic rigor as well as their accessibility to the layperson. However, like any collection of essays, some are more satisfying than others. For instance, the first article which dealt with the initial way Europeans tried to justify slavery through biblical exegesis was interesting in terms of finding how few references the colonists had to work with. It turns out that they relied almost entirely on the story of Noah, Ham and Canaan from the Hebrew Bible. Huge lacuna in the article for me - there was no explanation as to why Ham was considered to be a black man. But it turns out (according to a later essay) that this argument stuck through formation of concept of 'blackness' and its relation to slavery, so that much later on the founder of The Nation of Islam also refers back to the story, but this time, reinterpreting it to assert the superiority of the African.
Another pet-peeve of mine: apologetics for the superiority of native american cultures/values. I admire much in these traditions (esp. the value and respect for nature, the lack of which may eventually spell our demise), but one is reminded of an earlier generation of 'academic' scholars of religion who injected their own feelings for their Christian faith into a presumably social-scientific study. I'm just saying 2 things: indigenous peoples are not a monolith and they do not represent utopian societies. We all know of the wars of conquest/domination among native civilizations, Incas, Aztecs, etc against other indigenous groups. It was not only the European colonists who engaged in a project of destroying other cultures. As you see, it is a pet-peeve. Probably because I am acquainted with too many "new age" lesbians.
Finally, if you enjoy logic, then you'll enjoy the Jacob Neusner piece. He was the mentor of my undergrad. teacher and it was a blast from the past for me.
I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the interplay between religion and culture and the shaping of identities through history. Though academic in nature, the essays tend to be short and accessible to the layperson. The book has apparently been used quite a bit in the undergrad. classroom.
Displaying 1 of 1 review