Religion and the Sense of Self
Edited by Theodora Wildcroft
Paperback (Forthcoming)
(November 2026)
ISBN: 9781800508910
6.14 x 9.21 inches
Price: $32.00
Hardback (Forthcoming)
(November 2026)
ISBN: 9781800508903
6.14 x 9.21 inches
Price: $100.00
This volume will revisit some of the historical assumptions of both theological and academic discourse, and compare personhood as it is constituted in more than Western religious cultures, and more than modern discourses
Human conceptions of identity are of central concern to both religious philosophies and the academic disciplines associated with them. Yet much of this debate is strangely abstract and disincarnate. We label ourselves with our attributes, metrics and qualifications; with our age, gender, profession, likes and dislikes. We do not describe ourselves by the way it feels to be a body – to be this body in particular, in this moment.
This volume will revisit some of the historical assumptions of both theological and academic discourse, and compare personhood as it is constituted in more than Western religious cultures, and more than modern discourses. It will concern itself with other-than human selves, fragmented and collective selves, evolving and emerging selves, illusory, mendacious and ideal selves, and of course, profane and divine selves. Throughout, this volume will focus on the self in, and as a function of, its relationship with others. Such intimate concerns will naturally trouble the boundaries between emic and etic perspectives, approaching the old question of positionality in the study of religion in new ways.
The Introduction provides an entry point to the field. Key texts are identified from a diverse range of prior scholarship, to help the reader understand the established lines of enquiry from anthropology and religious studies, but also movement and dance studies, South and East Asian studies, biosemiotics, theology, philosophy and history. It emphasises the complexity not only of religiously-generated and generating senses of the self, but also of the concepts of “religion” and “culture,” “self” and “other”. It also highlight the diversity of approaches and methods that might be applied in studying the sense of self in religious contexts. The chapters cover the experiences of being (the somatic experiences at the heart of everyday and extraordinary living), processes of gaining and refining a sense of self as an identity, the practices of personhood (religious practices and their effects on the sense of self), and radical theologies (stories of identity, marginalisation and reclamation in religious communities). An afterword highlights the contribution of the volume to current debates in the study of religion and the sense of self, and to the disciplines from which these two lines of study emerge.
Series Foreword. Graham Harvey
Introduction: Being, Becoming and the Study of Religion, Theo Wildcroft
1.. Palimpsteps: Meaning-Making and Identity in Contemplative Practice, Theo Wildcroft
2.. Physical Objects Integrate with Embodied Activities, Contextually Forming the Self in Skilful Performance, Marcus Braun et al
3.. Discriminating the Blind and the Lame: Why Sāṃkhya Philosophy Denies a Clockwork Orange Freewill, Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette
4. Beyond the Body: The Jain Concept of Ātman in the Yogapradīpa and Its Distinctive Approach to the Self in Indian Philosophy, Corinna Lhoir
5. Constructing Natural Men and Women: Gendered Identities Within Contemporary Tantra in Europe, Tova Olsson
6. Developing a Sense of Self and Other in Kardecist Mediumship Training, Helmar Kurz
7. “We are the Old People.” Modern British Druidry and the sense of being indigenous, Jennifer Uzzell
8. God outside of (Hong Kong) churches: How dechurched Hong Kong Christians understand the role of churches and Christian communities in relation to their faith identities Ann Gillian Chu
9. Nationalism for Prophet: Embodied Identity and Apocalyptic Belief in Contemporary Premillennialism. Mark Borthwick
- Edited by Theodora Wildcroft
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