International Workshop on Chinese religions

Experts explore the religious market in modern China

Do churches and sects operate like ‘religious firms’ that produce ‘religious goods’ in a ‘religious marketplace’? What exactly are the ‘goods’ that are supposedly exchanged? Who are the participants and/or ‘consumers’ in the religious market and what influences their individual choices?The religious economy approach, which has been hailed as a new paradigm in the sociology of religion since the early 1990s, has also lent itself to provide a fresh perspective on Chinese religions.

A group of international experts representing the academic disciplines of anthropology, sociology, history, religious studies, and Chinese studies explored these and related questions during a one and a half day workshop at the University of Wales Lampeter (“Beyond the Market: Exploring Religious Fields in Modern China”, 20-22 November 2009). Discussions on the six papers presented revolved around the question of how the Western concept of a ‘religious market’ would have to be refined and/or broadened in order to be able to explain the quite different historical experience of China. Click here for the programme.

The workshop is a good example of how research in Chinese Studies is linked with and contributes to the broader discussion of the role of religion in a globalising world. By inviting a number of PhD students from universities across the UK the workshop also aimed at providing an opportunity for young researchers to meet and network with leading scholars in their field.