{"product_id":"critics-not-caretakers","title":"Critics Not Caretakers","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe essays collected together in \u003ci\u003eCritics Not Caretakers \u003c\/i\u003eargue that the study of religion must be rethought as an ordinary aspect of social, historical existence, a stance that makes the scholar of religion a critic of cultural and historical practices rather than a caretaker of religious tradition or a font of timeless wisdom and deep meaning.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book begins with several essays that outline the basis of an alternative, sociorhetorical approach to studying religion, before moving on to a series of discrete dispatches from the ongoing theory wars, each of which uses the work of such writers as Karen Armstrong, Walter Burkert, Benson Saler, and Jacob Neusner as a point of entry into wider theoretical issues of importance to the field’s future. The author then examines the socio-political role of this brand of critical scholarship—a role that differs dramatically from the type of sympathetic caretaking generally associated with scholars of religion who feel compelled to “go public.” Concluding the work is a consideration of how scholars as teachers can address issues of theory, method, and critical thinking in a variety of undergraduate classrooms—the location where they have always been publicly accountable intellectuals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe new edition of this still read and, for some, controversial book preserves the original essays but includes a new opening chapter and new introductory commentaries across all of the chapters to demonstrate how little the field has changed since the volume was first published in 2001. Accordingly, the book continues to provide a viable alternative for those wanting to take a more critical approach to the study of religion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57305722651006,"sku":"NW9781032467924","price":39.97,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781032467924.jpg?v=1778520883","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/critics-not-caretakers","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}