Key Thinkers in Religion and Environment Theoretical Foundations Interdisciplinary Studies in Religion Series

Key Thinkers in Religion and Environment provides a theoretical foundation for scholarship related to the intersection of religions, natures, and cultures across disciplines.

The text introduces students to the major names, theoretical issues, and methodological orientations of the field while giving professors maximum freedom to insert case studies and examples as they wish. Students will come away understanding the most important scholars, their theoretical contributions, and the scholarly conundrums with which they wrestled. The book includes figures who are foundational to the field of religious studies more broadly, drawing out key themes in their works which highlight the ?nature? in/of their argumentation, whilst also highlighting the voices of women and people of color. The thinkers come from a range of fields, including religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, Native American studies, ethology, agroecology, theology, and environmental history, demonstrating the importance and impact of interdisciplinary research. The book also offers a theoretical orientation which illuminates methodological and theoretical deficits in religious studies more generally, whilst opening new avenues for thinking about environmental ethics.

It is a must-read for all students and researchers of religion and the environment.

Introduction to Key Thinkers in Religion and Environment: Theoretical Foundations 1. Edward B. Tylor (Anthropology) “Human Phantoms and Animal Persons” 2. Emile Durkheim (Sociology) “Religion is the Glue that Holds Society Together” 3. Mircea Eliade (Study of Religions) “Religion is Real, Place-based, and Irreducible” 4. Rosemary Radford Ruether “God Looks Sexist When Viewed Through His/stories” (Ecofeminist Theology) 5. Vine Deloria (Native American Religions & Law) “Sacred Geographies of American Indians: Negotiations and Networks” 6. Carolyn Merchant (Environmental History) “The Death of Nature and the Ethic of Care” 7. Wangaari Maathai (Arboriculture) “Becoming a Hummingbird” 8. J. Baird Callicott (Environmental Philosophy) “From the Green Fire to Worldview Remediation” 9. Vandana Shiva (Physicist, Agroecology) “Stolen Seeds, Simple Needs” 10. Jane Goodall (Biologist, UN Ambassador of Peace) “Morality Untamed” Conclusion: “Themes in Religion and the Environment” References Index

Lucas F. Johnston is Associate Professor of Religion and Environment at Wake Forest University, USA.