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Developing a critically inclusive study of religion
The scientific, or secular, study of religion is a relatively new endeavour, and has faced multiple obstacles over the course of its development. The primary challenge has consisted of the need to distinguish the secular study of religion from the theological study of religion. The commitment to excl...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Religious Studies
2025
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| _version_ | 1867614174617534464 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Meyer, Gaelin |
| author2 | Shaikh, Sa'diyya |
| author_browse | Meyer, Gaelin Shaikh, Sa'diyya |
| author_facet | Shaikh, Sa'diyya Meyer, Gaelin |
| author_sort | Meyer, Gaelin |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The scientific, or secular, study of religion is a relatively new endeavour, and has faced multiple obstacles over the course of its development. The primary challenge has consisted of the need to distinguish the secular study of religion from the theological study of religion. The commitment to exclusive humanism has played a foundational role in this process. This form of humanism developed during Europe's colonial era and helps to cement the modern secular worldview. That said, there are critical material scholars who attempt to move beyond the strictures of their colonial inheritance. New models for examining the materiality of religion have followed the integration of new-materialist theory into critical religion research. Along with new-material approaches, the way opens to posthuman studies of religion. This allows scholars to critically engage with the outdated and racialised categories that emerged in 19th century humanist discourse. However, the domain of posthuman studies is not altogether free of colonial baggage, and this shows in the lack of black and indigenous voices in the field. Both the material study of religion, and the posthuman study of religion lack a coherent engagement with indigenous worlds and therefore remain within modern colonial boundaries. These exclusions correlate with the unexamined commitment to secular rhetoric within the modern academy. As a modern construct, the secular domain makes absent the world-making practices of indigenous collectives and renders them invisible within critical discourse. To remedy this, I point to the work of nonmodern scholars, who present alternate ontologies and epistemologies that require attention should the critical study of religion wish to develop into an inclusive domain of academic enquiry. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41783 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:47:51.289Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of Religious Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Religious Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41783 Developing a critically inclusive study of religion Meyer, Gaelin Shaikh, Sa'diyya Strijdom, Johannes Religion The scientific, or secular, study of religion is a relatively new endeavour, and has faced multiple obstacles over the course of its development. The primary challenge has consisted of the need to distinguish the secular study of religion from the theological study of religion. The commitment to exclusive humanism has played a foundational role in this process. This form of humanism developed during Europe's colonial era and helps to cement the modern secular worldview. That said, there are critical material scholars who attempt to move beyond the strictures of their colonial inheritance. New models for examining the materiality of religion have followed the integration of new-materialist theory into critical religion research. Along with new-material approaches, the way opens to posthuman studies of religion. This allows scholars to critically engage with the outdated and racialised categories that emerged in 19th century humanist discourse. However, the domain of posthuman studies is not altogether free of colonial baggage, and this shows in the lack of black and indigenous voices in the field. Both the material study of religion, and the posthuman study of religion lack a coherent engagement with indigenous worlds and therefore remain within modern colonial boundaries. These exclusions correlate with the unexamined commitment to secular rhetoric within the modern academy. As a modern construct, the secular domain makes absent the world-making practices of indigenous collectives and renders them invisible within critical discourse. To remedy this, I point to the work of nonmodern scholars, who present alternate ontologies and epistemologies that require attention should the critical study of religion wish to develop into an inclusive domain of academic enquiry. 2025-09-12T09:06:57Z 2025-09-12T09:06:57Z 2025 2025-09-12T06:45:02Z Thesis / Dissertation Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41783 en eng application/pdf Department of Religious Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Religion Meyer, Gaelin Developing a critically inclusive study of religion |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Developing a critically inclusive study of religion |
| title_full | Developing a critically inclusive study of religion |
| title_fullStr | Developing a critically inclusive study of religion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing a critically inclusive study of religion |
| title_short | Developing a critically inclusive study of religion |
| title_sort | developing a critically inclusive study of religion |
| topic | Religion |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41783 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT meyergaelin developingacriticallyinclusivestudyofreligion |