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Religion Is Raced: Understanding American Religion in the Twenty-First Century
Demonstrates how race and power help to explain American religion in the twenty-first century
When White people of faith act in a particular way, their motivations are almost always attributed to their religious orientation. Yet when religious people of color act in a particular way, their motivations are usually attributed to their racial positioning.
Religion Is Raced makes the case that religion in America has generally been understood in ways that center White Christian experiences of religion, and argues that all religion must be acknowledged as a raced phenomenon. When we overlook the role race plays in religious belief and action, and how religion in turn spurs public and political action, we lose sight of a key way in which race influences religiously-based claims-making in the public sphere.
With contributions exploring a variety of religious traditions, from Buddhism and Islam to Judaism and Protestantism, as well as pieces on atheists and humanists, Religion Is Raced brings discussions about the racialized nature of religion from the margins of scholarly and religious debate to the center. The volume offers a new model for thinking about religion that emphasizes how racial dynamics interact with religious identity, and how we can in turn better understand the roles religion―and Whiteness―play in politics and public life, especially in the United States. It includes clear recommendations for researchers, including pollsters, on how to better recognize moving forward that religion is a raced phenomenon.
With contributions by Joseph O. Baker, Kelsy Burke, James Clark Davidson, Janine Giordano Drake, Ashley Garner, Edward Orozco Flores, Sikivu Hutchinson, Sarah Imhoff, Russell Jeung, John Jimenez, Jaime Kucinskas, Eric Mar, Gerardo Martí, Omar M. McRoberts, Besheer Mohamed, Dawne Moon, Jerry Z. Park, Z. Fareen Parvez, Theresa W. Tobin, and Rhys H. Williams.
When White people of faith act in a particular way, their motivations are almost always attributed to their religious orientation. Yet when religious people of color act in a particular way, their motivations are usually attributed to their racial positioning.
Religion Is Raced makes the case that religion in America has generally been understood in ways that center White Christian experiences of religion, and argues that all religion must be acknowledged as a raced phenomenon. When we overlook the role race plays in religious belief and action, and how religion in turn spurs public and political action, we lose sight of a key way in which race influences religiously-based claims-making in the public sphere.
With contributions exploring a variety of religious traditions, from Buddhism and Islam to Judaism and Protestantism, as well as pieces on atheists and humanists, Religion Is Raced brings discussions about the racialized nature of religion from the margins of scholarly and religious debate to the center. The volume offers a new model for thinking about religion that emphasizes how racial dynamics interact with religious identity, and how we can in turn better understand the roles religion―and Whiteness―play in politics and public life, especially in the United States. It includes clear recommendations for researchers, including pollsters, on how to better recognize moving forward that religion is a raced phenomenon.
With contributions by Joseph O. Baker, Kelsy Burke, James Clark Davidson, Janine Giordano Drake, Ashley Garner, Edward Orozco Flores, Sikivu Hutchinson, Sarah Imhoff, Russell Jeung, John Jimenez, Jaime Kucinskas, Eric Mar, Gerardo Martí, Omar M. McRoberts, Besheer Mohamed, Dawne Moon, Jerry Z. Park, Z. Fareen Parvez, Theresa W. Tobin, and Rhys H. Williams.
344 pages, Paperback
Published July 28, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 15, 2020
Fantastic volume that provides a lot of perspective on both issues and the ways Religious Studies and Sociology approach race in both theory and data collection.
June 5, 2024
Religion is Raced consists of sixteen chapters (counting the introduction and conclusion) by at least that many different authors. It is an edited book written by scholars primarily in the field of sociology of religion. It is difficult to give an edited book a high rating because a well-written chapter that engages the reader, as well as educates and informs, is followed by one that resorts to primarily citing data with rather dull explanations of what are sometimes rather compelling interpretations of the data. In other words, a lot of academics are crap writers! This book is not exception.
I found the Introduction and most of Part 1 to be very interesting. For the rest of the book, I learned a lot and some of it was interesting.
One of the principal merits of this text is that it very much demonstrates the important connection between race and religion in the American context. We need to take into account the intersectional identities of people if we are to understand them. We cannot assume that American Muslims have certain political or social attitudes. We need to consider other aspects of identity, such as gender, race, ethnicity, social class. The same goes for other single identity markers.
I found the Introduction and most of Part 1 to be very interesting. For the rest of the book, I learned a lot and some of it was interesting.
One of the principal merits of this text is that it very much demonstrates the important connection between race and religion in the American context. We need to take into account the intersectional identities of people if we are to understand them. We cannot assume that American Muslims have certain political or social attitudes. We need to consider other aspects of identity, such as gender, race, ethnicity, social class. The same goes for other single identity markers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews