About the Book
Russell McCutcheon's The Insider-Outsider Problem, written in 1999, tends to be regarded as the definitive work on the topic, and relatively little has been written since then. It has become apparent, however, that the distinction between "insiders" and "outsiders" is unduly simplistic, and that there exists a range of stakeholders in religious and spiritual movements with different positionings and testimonies requiring evaluation. This volume furthers the discussion of insider/outsider issues by commissioning a variety of new essays from an international group of scholars, discussing a number of points that stem from the different positionings of religious adherents as well as scholars. The questioning of these boundaries has many implications for numerous methodological issues in the study of religion, such as the emic/etic distinction, the distinction between religion and spirituality, the notions of "believing without belonging", the claim to be "spiritual but not religious" and the existence of multiple, complicated, contesting religious identities. A particular focus of the volume will be in providing critiques of these methodological issues within the most recent academic approaches to religion - particularly models of lived and vernacular religion. Unlike McCutcheon's volume, which is a collection of previously published essays, this proposed volume consists entirely of new material, drawn from an international range of scholars, spanning a variety of disciplines and approaches to the study, including ethnography, anthropology, theology and education. The book is accessible and readable, while remaining scholarly.
Table of Contents:
Introduction Stephen E. Gregg and George D. Chryssides Part One: New Methodological Approaches in the Study of Religion 1. Relational Religious Lives: Beyond Insider / Outsider Binaries in the Study of Religion Stephen E. Gregg and George D. Chryssides 2. The Emics and Etics of Religion: What we Know, How we Know it, and Why this Matters Steven J. Sutcliffe, University of Edinburgh 3. The Death Pangs of the Insider/Outsider Dichotomy in the Study of Religion Ron Geaves, Cardiff University 4. Research Ethics Beyond the Binaries of Right and Wrong Marie W. Dallam, University of Oklahoma 5. Taking the Body Seriously, Taking Relationalities Seriously: An Embodied and Relational Approach to Ethnographic Research in the Study of (Lived) Religion Nina Hoel, University of Oslo, Norway 6. Negotiating Blurred Boundaries: An Ethnographic and Methodological Consideration Fiona Bowie, Oxford University 7. On the Edge of the Inside - Contemplative Approaches to the Study of Religion Lynne Scholefield, St Mary's University, Twickenham 8. On the (Im)possibility of Participant-Observation Rebecca Moore, San Diego State University 9. Who Researches? Who Changes? Christian Autoethnography and Muslim Pupil Identity in a Church of England Primary School Tom Wilson, Church of England 10. Imported Insider / Outsider Boundaries: The Case of Contemporary Chinese Christianity Researchers Naomi E. Thurston, Renmin University / University of Wales Part Two: Contested Identities in the Study of Religion 11. Close Encounters of a Guru Kind: Ethnographic Research as Encounters with the Cognitive Worlds of Others. Stephen Jacobs, University of Wolverhampton 12. Who is a Jew? New Approaches to an Old Question Dan Cohn-Sherbok, University of Wales 13. Between Institutional Oppression and Spiritual Liberation: The Female Ordination Movement in the Catholic Church and its Utilisation of Social Media Lyndel Spence, University of Sydney 14. Navigating Multiplicity in a Binary World: Complex Religious Identity in Java, Indonesia Katherine Rand, Claremont School of Theology 15. When it Gets Crowded under the Umbrella: An Examination of Scholarly Categorisation of Buddhist Communities in the United States Claire Miller Skriletz, Independent Scholar 16. Being Catholic since Vatican II: Challenges and Opportunities in Post-secular Times Andrew P. Lynch, University of Sydney / University of Western Sydney 17. Reflexive and Holistic Switchers: Older Women / Newer Commitments Janet B. Eccles, Independent Scholar 18. Scientology Inside Out: Complex Religious Belonging in the Church of Scientology and the Free Zone Stephen E. Gregg and Aled J. L. Thomas, The Open University
About the Author :
George D. Chryssides is Honorary Research Fellow in Contemporary Religion at York St John University and the University of Birmingham. He is the author of a number of books including most recently Jehovah’s Witnesses: Continuity and Change (Ashgate, 2016). Stephen E. Gregg is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton.
Review :
". . . this is a thought-provoking volume that may be useful for both younger and older researchers in the study of religions who wish to undertake ethnographic research. Both in the methods and identities discussed and through the personal fieldwork reflections the writers share, the volume provides tools to work with and build on for insightful new scholarship." Sjo, Sofia, Temenos, Vol. 57 No. 1 (2021) "The Insider/Outsider Debate is a comprehensive study of the ways in which religious identity and our relationships with both colleagues and informants do not fit into clearly defined categories. This is a text that not only contributes to an ongoing methodological discussion within academia, but also shows that notions of insider and outsider, like the cultures we study, are not static, but always changing through time." Janik, Tarryl, Nova Religio, 04 February 2021 "Organisers of study groups or conferences touching on prejudice, inter-faith issues or simply basic hospitality, and seeking ways of working together should not overlook it." --Alec Gilmore, Baptists Together, 1/15/2020
