Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia

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Russell T. McCutcheon (University Research Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University Research Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama)

Manufacturing Religion

Name: Manufacturing Religion
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ISBN: 9780197818800

The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia

Russell T. McCutcheon (University Research Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University Research Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama)

$323.95

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
26 May 2026

Comparative religion; History of religion

First published in 1997, Manufacturing Religion was a controversial book because it critiqued a widely adopted style of scholarship that presumes that religion is utterly unique, inexplicable, and therefore able only to be interpreted by privileged scholars. Claiming religion to be sui generis (or self-caused), this approach has undisclosed practical effects--institutional and geo-political--at a variety of sites, from the types of textbooks commonly used in introductory classes to the way that political events are often represented in the mass media. Russell McCutcheon documented the ubiquity of this approach and showed how harmful it was Updating its wide-ranging evidence and adding new chapters, this new edition demonstrates the impact of this critique while showing how little the field has generally moved in the past thirty years.

By: Russell T. McCutcheon (University Research Professor Department of Religious Studies University Research Professor Department of Religious Studies University of Alabama)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 2nd Revised edition
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 694g
ISBN: 9780197818800
ISBN 10: 0197818803
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 26 May 2026
Audience: Adult education , Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Russell T. McCutcheon earned his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and is now an honorary life member of the International Association for the History of Religions. Beginning in 2001, he was the Department Chair at the University of Alabama, a role that he played for 18 years. His many publications on the history of the field and the practical effects of the category religion in liberal democracies, along with a number of resources created specifically for teachers and students, are widely used in the field today.

Reviews for Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia

[McCutcheon] stands in a long tradition of excellent company that goes back at least as far as classical Greek dramatists and philosophers who inquired persistently into the prevailing mythos....This book's likely to provoke very fruitful debate for many years.""-Choice McCutcheon's book is a sharp, sustained critique of the way religion is studied in North America, with an alternative proposal for a naturalist, materialist method of studying religion.""-The Cresser Trinity McCutcheon's book is a formidable critique of its subject and should be widely read and debated. It will repay close critical attention from those interested in theory and method.""-British Association for the Study of Religions Fascinating and thought-provoking.""-Religious Studies Review