The Insider-Outsider Debate: New Perspectives in the Study of Religion

The distinction between “insiders” and “outsiders” in religious studies has become an area of fruitful discussion in recent years. This anthology aims to extend that discussion by gathering newly commissioned essays from a diverse range of scholars, spanning a variety of disciplines and approaches, including ethnography, anthropology, theology and education. The result is a book that is at once accessible and readable, while remaining scholarly. The Insider/Outsider Debate has 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 is providing critiques of these methodological issues within the most recent academic approaches to religion – particularly models of lived and vernacular religion.

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 19. Moving out – Disengagement and Ex-membership in New Religious Movements George D. Chryssides 20. Both Outside and Inside: ‘Ex-Members’ of New Religions and Spiritualities and the Maintenance of Community and Identity on the Internet Carole M. Cusack, University of Sydney

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.