Topographies of Faith: Religion in Urban Spaces: 17 (International Studies in Religion and Society) - Hardcover

"Religion has always been a part of city life and urban spaces, and one has always influenced another. What makes Topographies of Faith a valuable and insightful volume is also the underlying question of how this influence can be aimed at community building and integration. The recognition of religious communities as part and parcel of the urban environment may be a key factor in understanding future global cities." Marta Kolodziejska, University of Warsaw, Religion, 44:4

Based on ethnographic explorations in cities across the globe, Topographies of Faith offers a unique and compelling analysis of contemporary religious dynamics in metropolitan centers. While most scholarship on religion still sidelines questions of spatiality and scale, this book creatively draws on perspectives from urban studies to study the spatiality of religion in modern cities. It shows how globalization, transnational migration and urban expansion in big cities engender new religious forms and practices and their spatial underpinnings. Space affects urban religious diversity, religious innovations, decline or vitality. But it also shapes the relationships between religion and social equalities. Spanning distances between New York, Delhi and Johannesburg, the book also engages with issues of secularity and religious vitality in genuinely new ways.