Mathew Guest: Neoliberal Religion

At this celebratory launch event, Prof John Barclay (Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, Durham University), Prof Linda Woodhead (King’s College, London) and Dr Tricia Bruce (University of Notre Dame) were in conversation with the author Prof Mathew Guest (Professor in the Sociology of Religion, Durham University).

Neoliberalism is a perspective grounded in free market economics and distinguished by a celebration of competition and consumer choice.
It has had a profound influence in societies across the world, and has extended its reach into all areas of human experience.
And yet neoliberalism is not just about enterprise and opportunity. It also comes with authoritarian leadership, gross inequality and the manipulation of information.
How should we make sense of these changes, and what do they mean for the status of religion in the 21stcentury? Has religion been transformed into a market commodity or consumer product?

Does the embrace of business methods make religious movements more culturally relevant, or can they be used to reinforce inequalities of gender or ethnicity?
How might neoliberal contexts demand we think differently about matters of religious identity and power?
This book provides an accessible discussion about religion in the 21st century.
Mathew Guest asks what distinguishes neoliberal religion and explores the sociological and ethical questions that arise from considering its wider significance.