Critical Approaches to Science and Religion

The relationship of science and religion is often depicted as a timeless conflict between two irreconcilable ways of understanding the world. Critical Approaches to Science and Religion eschews traditional science–religion debates in favor of new questions that arise through a focus on the intersections of these categories with the histories of race, gender, sexuality, and indigeneity.

This book draws on three vital schools of thought—critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, and postcolonial theory—to provide insightful and innovative methods for analyzing science and religion. Featuring a diverse array of contributors, it develops critical perspectives by examining how histories of empire, slavery, and patriarchy have shaped science and religion in the modern era. In so doing, the book lays the groundwork for disciplines addressing these subjects to become more public-facing and speak directly to social and political concerns such as climate change, immigration, health care, reproductive justice, and sexual identity. Reframing the study of the intersection of science and religion, this book proposes a new way forward for critical scholarship.