Insider/Outsider Debate

George D. Chryssides is Honorary Research Fellow in Contemporary Religion at York St John University and the University of Birmingham. He is the author of a number of books including most recently Jehovah’s Witnesses: Continuity and Change (Ashgate, 2016). Stephen E. Gregg is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton.

• Introduction Stephen E. Gregg and George D. Chryssides Part One: New Methodological Approaches in the Study of Religion 1. Relational Religious Lives: Beyond Insider / Outsider Binaries in the Study of Religion Stephen E. Gregg and George D. Chryssides 2. The Emics and Etics of Religion: What we Know, How we Know it, and Why this Matters Steven J. Sutcliffe, University of Edinburgh 3. The Death Pangs of the Insider/Outsider Dichotomy in the Study of Religion Ron Geaves, Cardiff University 4. Research Ethics Beyond the Binaries of Right and Wrong Marie W. Dallam, University of Oklahoma 5. Taking the Body Seriously, Taking Relationalities Seriously: An Embodied and Relational Approach to Ethnographic Research in the Study of (Lived) Religion Nina Hoel, University of Oslo, Norway 6. Negotiating Blurred Boundaries: An Ethnographic and Methodological Consideration Fiona Bowie, Oxford University 7. On the Edge of the Inside - Contemplative Approaches to the Study of Religion Lynne Scholefield, St Mary's University, Twickenham 8. On the (Im)possibility of Participant-Observation Rebecca Moore, San Diego State University 9. Who Researches? Who Changes? Christian Autoethnography and Muslim Pupil Identity in a Church of England Primary School Tom Wilson, Church of England 10. Imported Insider / Outsider Boundaries: The Case of Contemporary Chinese Christianity Researchers Naomi E. Thurston, Renmin University / University of Wales Part Two: Contested Identities in the Study of Religion 11. Close Encounters of a Guru Kind: Ethnographic Research as Encounters with the Cognitive Worlds of Others. Stephen Jacobs, University of Wolverhampton 12. Who is a Jew? New Approaches to an Old Question Dan Cohn-Sherbok, University of Wales 13. Between Institutional Oppression and Spiritual Liberation: The Female Ordination Movement in the Catholic Church and its Utilisation of Social Media Lyndel Spence, University of Sydney 14. Navigating Multiplicity in a Binary World: Complex Religious Identity in Java, Indonesia Katherine Rand, Claremont School of Theology 15. When it Gets Crowded under the Umbrella: An Examination of Scholarly Categorisation of Buddhist Communities in the United States Claire Miller Skriletz, Independent Scholar 16. Being Catholic since Vatican II: Challenges and Opportunities in Post-secular Times Andrew P. Lynch, University of Sydney / University of Western Sydney 17. Reflexive and Holistic Switchers: Older Women / Newer Commitments Janet B. Eccles, Independent Scholar 18. Scientology Inside Out: Complex Religious Belonging in the Church of Scientology and the Free Zone Stephen E. Gregg and Aled J. L. Thomas, The Open University

". . . this is a thought-provoking volume that may be useful for both younger and older researchers in the study of religions who wish to undertake ethnographic research. Both in the methods and identities discussed and through the personal fieldwork reflections the writers share, the volume provides tools to work with and build on for insightful new scholarship." Sjo, Sofia, Temenos, Vol. 57 No. 1 (2021) "The Insider/Outsider Debate is a comprehensive study of the ways in which religious identity and our relationships with both colleagues and informants do not fit into clearly defined categories. This is a text that not only contributes to an ongoing methodological discussion within academia, but also shows that notions of insider and outsider, like the cultures we study, are not static, but always changing through time." Janik, Tarryl, Nova Religio, 04 February 2021 "Organisers of study groups or conferences touching on prejudice, inter-faith issues or simply basic hospitality, and seeking ways of working together should not overlook it." --Alec Gilmore, Baptists Together, 1/15/2020