Beyond Religion and Belief: Uncertainty and Religious Studies for the Anthropocene

This book addresses, in a highly eloquent and original style, several topical issues facing researchers in the age of Anthropocene. Foremost, it is a critical engagement with the categories of religion and belief (and their inherent power issues) and offers a constructive (not only deconstructive as is so often the case in the discursive study of religion) take on the matter.The author critically discusses many classical theories of religion and formulates an amendment to functionalist approaches.The most important inspiration and resources are drawn from actor network theory and Bruno Latour as well as from Tim Fizgerald’s work. While the argument is strongly theoretical it also presents an interesting empirical case (the ethnography of the interaction in a modern dance improvisation group) with which it demonstrates its theoretical points.Furthermore, the book posits that the study of religion should focus on ‘matters of concern’ and on practical means of enduring and overcoming unce