“The Field, at the Moment, Is Up for Redefinition”: Twenty Five Years of Manufacturing Religion

Abstract

Abstract Reflecting on the shape of the current field, this essay argues for the continued relevance for Manufacturing Religion, a book first published in 1997; describing the conditions of its writing, publication, and reception, it provides a variety of current examples to illustrate that the critique of scholarship that conceives of religion as a unique or deeply personal experience, one that defies explanation and merely requires understanding or even appreciation, continues to be an important critical tool in the contemporary study of religion.