SMSR. Vol. 82/2 (2016): Religion as a Colonial Concept in Modern History.

The heuristic status of the notion of “religion”, as an analytical concept that identifies the field of Religious Studies, has been widely discussed in contemporary academic debate. The definition of “religion” has not ended with those “classic” contributions that established the theoretical and methodological boundaries for the study of religions in the twentieth century, rather there has been a major acceleration since the beginning of the twenty-first century. On the one hand, the recent transformations in the field of religions from a geopolitical perspective expose analytical and academic categories to a strong need for epistemic revision. On the other one, the academic notion of religion established during the twentieth century – mainly under the hegemony of phenomenology – has been deeply criticised from deconstructionist and postmodernist view-points. In latest years, an increasing need to “re-construct” the analytical category of religion has arisen in academics, with the aim at overcoming the “failure” of phenomenology and taking into account the advances of diverse critical perspectives. The articles of this theme section provide many key points through which one can try to rethink the main lines of the discussion on religion in last decades and take stock of the issue.