Deleuze and the Schizoanalysis of Religion

Description

This volume brings together some of the leading voices in the field of Deleuze studies to explore - and practice - a variety of approaches to the schizoanalysis of religion. The authors share an enthusiasm for applying Deleuze and Guattari's schizoanalytic project to "religion," but they display significantly different ways of carrying out its creative and destructive tasks. As a whole, the book addresses the relevance of Deleuze for contemporary developments in political theology, liberation theology, Christian doctrine, and the recent growth of interest in spirituality and atheism. Opening up new lines of flight for Deleuze studies, Deleuze and the Schizoanalysis of Religion makes rhizomic connections that will be of interest to scholars in other fields including theology, psychology of religion, philosophy of religion and the history and practice of Western esotericism.

Lindsay Powell-Jones recently completed her PhD in the School of Modern Languages, Cardiff University. Her thesis was on Gilles Deleuze and the films of Andrei Tarkovsky. F. LeRon Shults is professor of theology and philosophy at the Institute for Religion, Philosophy and History, University of Agder, in Kristiansand, Norway, and senior research fellow at the Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion in Boston, USA. He is the author of over a dozen books and 70 academic articles.

Why religion? Whither religion? This collection by some of the foremost specialists on Deleuze, Guattari and theology offers new and challenging answers to these questions. Orthodoxy and order are subjected to fierce critique and replaced by esoteric lines of flight, shown to be at work - for the better - at the very heart of practices, institutions and beliefs we once thought unassailable. * James Williams, Honorary Professor of Philosophy, Deakin University, Australia * This is a remarkable volume that has the potential to renew the field of religious studies. The sheer diversity of approaches to religion represented by these essays testifies to the fecundity of Deleuze's philosophy as well the powerful role that religion and theology play on our planet, despite continuing predictions of their demise. * Daniel W. Smith, Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University, USA * The scholars in this volume demonstrate that Deleuze too must be reckoned with by those whose thought, scholarship, and practice lies in religion and theology. * Reviews in Religion & Theology *