Essay. Is there a future for religious studies as we know it? Some postmodern, feminist, and spiritual challenges

Abstract

This essay looks at some of the intellectual and institutional challenges facing religious studies as an academic discipline at the beginning of the twenty-first century. I argue that its future will depend on the way religion scholars are able to creatively engage with and respond to (1) the destabilizing implications of postmodern thinking, (2) the radical questioning of the androcentric framework of past scholarship on religion by critical feminist and gender studies, and (3) the new religious developpements arising out of interfaith encounter and the search for holistic spiritualities linked to practical commitment and social action but also to a new academic interest in global spirituality. The conclusion discusses how a more inclusive, less objectified understanding of religion is transformative of learning, the academy, and society. The essay challenges some of the foundations of the modern, western knowledge paradigm and outlines a larger vision than a merely academic one.