Gender, Religion and Diversity: Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Description

Gender, Religion and Diversity provides an introduction to some of the most challenging perspectives in the contemporary study of gender and religion. In recent years, women's and gender studies have transformed the international study of religion through the use of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural methodologies, which have opened up new and highly controversial issues, challenging previous paradigms and creating fresh fields of study. As this book shows, gender studies in religion raises new and difficult questions about the gendered nature of religious phenomena, the relationship between power and knowledge, the authority of religious texts and institutions, and the involvement and responsibility of the researcher undertaking such studies as a gendered subject. This book is the outcome of an international collaboration between a wide range of researchers from different countries and fields of religious studies. The range and diversity of their contributions is the very strength of this book, for it shows how gendering works in studying different religious materials, whether foundational texts from the Bible or Koran, philosophical ideas about truth, essentialism, history or symbolism, the impact of French feminist thinkers such as Irigaray or Kristeva, or again critical perspectives dealing with the impact of race, gender, and class on religion, or by deconstructing religious data from a postcolonial critical standpoint or examining the impact of imperialism and orientalism on religion and gender.

URSULA KING is Professor and Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Bristol, UK. Tina Beattie is married with four children. After taking a degree in Theology and Bristol University, she moved on to study for a PhD on 'Images of Mary.' She is Lecturer in Christian Studies at the University of Surrey, Roehampton.

'This collection of essays comes from the University of Bristol's Center for Comparative Studies in Religion and Gender in the U.K. Bringing together experts from a wide variety of disciplines, this is an interesting collection on some of the recent intellectual developments in the ever controversial field where gender, religion and diversity come together' * Blurb from reviewer * 'In this collection a gender-critical approach is brought to bear on theoretical, methodological and contextual issues at the forefront of religious studies by an international group of scholars. Above all, the book excels in adopting a cross-cultural perspective that takes seriously a variety of human differences and scholarly stances. With these wide-ranging and high quality essays the study of religion begins to take its place alongside those other disciplines that have recognised the importance of gender for the development of a new scholarly agenda and ethos.' Kim Knott, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Leeds, UK * Blurb from reviewer * 'Provocative and challenging, these internationally-known authors tackle cutting-edge issues intersecting gender studies and religious studies. I highly recommend this comprehensive reader to those interested in how religion impacts on gender and culture in today's changing global politics.' Kwok Pui-lan, Episcopal Divinity School, USA, * Blurb from reviewer * 'Another major effort by Ursula King, in cooperation with Tina Beattie and an inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural team of contributors, to advance scholarship on the complex intersections of religion and gender. An accessible combination of empirical and experimential diversity, changing ethical concerns, and newer theoretical perspectives indeed make this a gender-critical text.' Rosalind Hackett, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Tennessee * Blurb from reviewer * "Issues of gender and the methodological considerations for the study of religions have been important themes, particularly during the last decade, and this volume reflects the seriousness and originality of this approach...this collection gathers together some of the most important women working in the field." -- Marcella Althaus-Reid, New College, University of Edinburgh * Expository Times * "This volume provides a good starting point for understanding how gender and religion are constructed in an increasingly diverse world. Issues ranging from text to anthropology, power to androcentrism, methodology to race are but a few of the topics at hand."- Waterwheel, 2004-5, Vol. 17, Number 3 * WATERwheel *