Three Decades of Manufacturing Religion

Abstract

Abstract This essay introduces the theme issue, “Manufacturing Religion: From Christian Origins to Classical Islam.” It emphasizes the enduring relevance of paying attention to matters of classification and definition in the study of religion. The article highlights how the institutionalization and operationalization of understandings of “religion” have social effects, and thus, that the study of religion investigates nothing transcendental or sui generis, but rather ordinary human social actions and events.