Consuming religion : Christian faith and practice in a consumer culture

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Title:

Author:

Miller, Vincent Jude.

ISBN:

9780826415318

Personal Author:

Miller, Vincent Jude.

Publication Information:

New York, NY : Continuum International Pub. Group, 2004.

Physical Description:

p. cm.

Contents:

1. How to Think about Consumer Culture -- 2. The Commodification of Culture -- 3. Consumer Religion -- 4. Desire and the Kingdom of God -- 5. The Politics of Consumption -- 6. Popular Religion in Consumer Culture -- 7. Stewarding Religious Traditions in Consumer Culture.

Abstract:

"The most profound problem with consumerism, argues Vincent Miller, is not the consumption of consumer goods, but the ways in which it trains us to treat everything, including religion, as an object of consumption. Consuming Religion surveys almost a century of scholarly literature on consumerism, from the rise of a culture of commodities to the flowering of the commodification of culture, and charts the ways in which religious belief and practice have been transformed by the dominant consumer culture of the West. Befitting a work of theology that takes culture seriously, the range of reference is enormous, from hip-hop and The Lion King to Gallic social theorists such as Henri Lefebvre, Guy Dubord, Pierre Bourdieu, and Michel de Certeau, not to mention a variety of modern contemporary theological movements. Along the way are riffs on the cult of religious celebrity, whether Buddhist or Catholic, male or female."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject Term:

Consumption (Economics) -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.

Christianity and culture.

Electronic Access:

Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip048/2003019542.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168015751619	241.68 M647C 2004	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Contemporary theology, argues Miller, is silent on what is unquestionably one of the most important cultural issues it faces- consumerism or 'consumer culture'. While there is no shortage of expressions of concern about the corrosive effects of consumerism from the standpoint of economic justice or environmental ethics, there is a surprising paucity of theoretically sophisticated works on the topic. Miller argues that consumerism is not just about behavioural 'excesses', rather, it is a pervasive worldview that affects our construction as persons - what motivates us, how we relate to others, to culture, and to religion.

Consuming Religion surveys almost a century of scholarly literature on consumerism and the commodification of culture and charts the ways in which religious belief and practice have been transformed by the dominant consumer culture of the West. It demonstrates the significance of this seismic cultural shift for theological method, doctrine, belief, community, and theological anthropology. Like more popular texts, the book takes a critical stand against the deleterious effects of consumerism. However, its analytical complexity provides the basis for developing more sophisticated tactics for addressing these problems.