Mediating Catholicism - (New Directions in the Anthropology of Christianity) (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book focuses on the ethnographic study of Catholicism and media. Chapters demonstrate how people engage with the Catholic media-scape, and analyse the social, cultural, and political processes that underlie Catholic media and mediatization.

Case studies examine Catholic practices in North America, Western and Eastern Europe, Latin America, South-East Asia, and Africa, providing a truly comparative, de-centred representation of global Catholicism.

Illustrating the vibrancy and heterogeneity of Catholicism world-wide, the book also examines how media work to sustain larger global Catholic imaginaries.

Review Quotes

"This is a really exhilarating collection that demonstrates not only the complex relationship between Catholicism and Media, but also the extent to which Catholicism is a religion of Media. It brings together top rate scholarship covering regional and national Catholicisms, as well as a range of different media: print, radio, television, and social media. It also extends the notion of media to explore themes such as the word 'love' as a form of Catholic medium, and ritual as media. It is ground-breaking and fascinating. A major contribution to contemporary religious scholarship." --Jon P. Mitchell, Professor of Anthropology, University of Sussex, UK

"This book, which comes at a very exciting time when faith communities are at various levels of discovering, exploring, and maximizing the media at their disposal, would be a great addition to any library as an indispensable resource when it comes to the field of religion and society, especially under the aspect of communication. It certainly helps that the book is written in a way that is accessible and engaging not only for scholars and academics but also for communicators and pastors for whom they would surely be of much interest and help." --Religion and Social Communication

"The editors are equipped to develop an approach to media that overcomes the limitations of the implicitly
positivistic approach that informs most of the work on how media transform religious practice or how religions have shaped various media fields." --Exchange: Journal of Contemporary Christianities in Context

"The volume...reaches beyond scholarship on Catholicism, reflecting the authors' goal of inspiring others to develop "theories of mediation and mediatization as they relate to religion" at large.... The book is thus required reading for any scholar of social media, new forms of religious identities,
secularization, and media-based faith socialities." --American Ethnologist

"I recommend this book for multiple liberal arts classes, specifically in religious, ethnographic, and communication studies." --Religious Studies Review

About the Author

Eric Hoenes del Pinal is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.

Marc Loustau is Visiting Lecturer in Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, USA.

Kristin Norget is Associate Professor of Anthropology at McGill University, Canada.