Introduction (Contexts, Contestations and Voices)

Abstract

This introductory chapter presents an overview of the concepts discussed in the book. The book explores religion and sexuality from a range of countries across the globe, focusing on the theme of religious and ideological voices in state policies, for example marriage, education, health care and law. While the academic study of sexuality is a relatively new discipline, gender and sexuality has long been the subject of regulation and debate in the public arena, media, legal and political discourses. There is much theoretical and empirical tension regarding the category of religion, including the historical development of the study of religion and its current usage. The chapters in the book have been organized according to the themes: context, contestations and voices. Contestations offer examination of the ways in which restrictive policies are created, challenged and modified in four countries (the U.S., Brazil, China and the U.K.). The book offers space for voices involved in these controversies. Keywords: contestations; globalized religion; religious voices; sexuality