Foucault and the Study of Religion

Abstract

This article is a chapter of the book entitled Religion, Theory, Critique: Classic and Contemporary Approaches and Methodologies edited by Richard King. The book, published in 2017, is considered an essential guide for all scholars of religious studies, as its chapters interact with new theories in the social sciences, especially in the field of cultural and post-colonial studies, emphasizing the dynamic relationship between religions as a subject of study and the approaches applied. It is within this context that Jeremy Carrette’s chapter, entitled “Foucault and the Study of Religion”, can be placed. As it presents the impact of Michel Foucault’s work on the development of the field of religious studies, whether it is related to his philosophical approach -post-structuralism-, or his use of a historical method based in large part on the tradition established by the Annales school. It was not easy to localize Foucault’s approach in the field of religious and theological studies, as it is “Thinking the Unthinkable”, which leads to the lifting of the veil of innocence from religious traditions to reveal the various power relations within their disciplinary and punitive systems. By examining Foucault’s recent writings, Carrette’s work has allowed us to look at the subject of his study from a new perspective, not only from the perspective of the historical development of Foucault’s thought and the changes that occurred in his analytical tools, but also how Foucault responded to the problems arising from his previous writings and dealing with the current problem of his time.