Governing religious identities: law and legibility in neoliberalism

This article explores from a Foucauldian perspective how, in the neoliberal age, religious diversity has become a new form of governmentality that is based on practices of classifying and categorizing people according to religious criteria. Contributing to studies on religion and marketization, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion
Main Author: Burchardt, Marian 1975- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge [2018]
In: Religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 48, Issue: 3, Pages: 436-452
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Religion / Marketing / Religious identity / Governmentality
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
KBH Iberian Peninsula
KBQ North America
Further subjects:B Religious Diversity
B Law
B Religious Identity
B Governmentality
B Marketization
B Neoliberalism
B Foucault
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This article explores from a Foucauldian perspective how, in the neoliberal age, religious diversity has become a new form of governmentality that is based on practices of classifying and categorizing people according to religious criteria. Contributing to studies on religion and marketization, the article explores how religious diversity is promoted as a category of social order and coexistence and develops two ideas: first, religious diversity is a legal-political form of governmentality geared towards rendering complex populations legible for administrative purposes. Second, religious diversity reflects an economic form of governmentality, in that its legal doctrinal cognates (subjective definitions of religion, sincerity of belief, etc.) call forth liberal notions of consumer choice. While both are premised on the idea that people have identities, there are potential tensions between both forms, as the first tends to favor collectives and the second favors individuals. The article is based on research in Spain and Canada.
ISSN:1096-1151
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2018.1482611