Globalization and the Making of Religious Modernity in China: Transnational Religions, Local Agents, and the Study of Religion, 1800-Present(7 Religion in Chinese Societies)

Globalization and the Making of Religious Modernity in China, co-edited by Thomas Jansen, Thoralf Klein and Christian Meyer, investigates the transformation of China’s religious landscape under the impact of global influences since 1800. The interdisciplinary case studies analyze the ways in which processes of globalization are interlinked with localizing tendencies, thereby forging transnational relationships between individuals, the state and religious as well as non-religious groups at the same time that the global concept ‘religion’ embeds itself in the emerging Chinese ‘religious field’ and within the new academic disciplines of Religious Studies and Theology. The contributions unravel the intellectual, social, political and economic forces that shaped and were themselves shaped by the emergence of what has remained a highly contested category. The contributors are: Hildegard Diemberger, Vincent Goossaert, Esther-Maria Guggenmos, Thomas Jansen, Thoralf Klein, Dirk Kuhlmann, LAI Pan-chiu, Joseph Tse-Hei Lee, Christian Meyer, Lauren Pfister, Chloë Starr, Xiaobing Wang-Riese, and Robert P. Weller.

About the Author :
Thomas Jansen, Dr. phil. (2000), is Lecturer for Chinese Studies at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. His current project is entitled Religious Text Production in Late Imperial China and explores the cultural history of popular religious scriptures ('baojuan'). Thoralf Klein, Dr. phil (2000), is Senior Lecturer in Modern History at Loughborough University (UK). He has published extensively on modern Chinese social, cultural and religious history. His current project investigates political religions in twentieth-century China. Christian Meyer, Dr. phil. (2003), is currently Privatdozent and Replacement Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He authored Ritendiskussionen am Hof der nördlichen Song-Dynastie and has recently finished a book manuscript on the adoption of Religious Studies in Late Imperial and Republican China.

Review :
"This is a very welcome volume with full notes and index and is recommended for those interested the role of religion in China today." Stuard Vogel, Auckland, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 17.1, June 2015 "Globalization and the Making of Religious Modernity is ambitious in its scope. It is organized in four sections, containing chapters addressing the changing role of the state, local aspects of global flows, encounters between Chinese and Western religious actors, and the transfer and development of knowledge networks. […] While Confucianism and Christianity loom large in these essays, especially those focused on various kinds of networks, there are a handful of chapters that address Buddhism, both in Taiwan and Tibet, and Chinese popular religions." Thomas Borchert, University of Vermont, Journal of Chinese Religions “Globalization and the Making of Religious Modernity in China fits a well-defined niche and accomplishes its intended purpose of “flesh[ing] out the complex interrelationship between religion and globalization” (22) in the last few centuries of Chinese history. Although the editors explicitly claim that the book is not exhaustive, the breadth of topics is surprisingly compre¬hensive. […] Insights from each of the chap¬ters are applicable not only to the specific case of religion in China, but to the global operation of religion worldwide. Future research—both qualitative and quantitative—will benefit from attention to this volume.” Joey Marshall, Purdue University, Review of Religion and Chinese Society 3 (2016) 261-282