Inside, Outside and the Space in-between: Territories and Boundaries in the Study of Religion

Abstract

Insider/outsider issues are of central importance for the definitions of religion and for the identity of religious groups, for the subjectivity and relationships of their adherents, for methodological issues within the study of religions and for the relationship between non-theological and thological studies of religion. Conceptions of 'inside', 'outside' and 'boundary', the emotions surrounding them, their origins in the social relations of body, family and strangers, and the metaphors used to depict and manage them all provide important insights for thinking about religions, how they are studies and by whom. A discussion of socio-spatial and cognitive linguistic theories of categorisation, containment and boundary-making is followed by several case studies in which territories and boundaries are explored with reference to the relationship between 'religion' and 'magic' in medieval Europe, the Enlightenment construction of 'religion', 'religions' and 'non-religion', and briefly, the disciplinary engagement of religious studies and theology. The application of the concept of the 'sacred' to these boundaries and the spaces they produce is considered.