24. Mediatization and religion

Abstract

The latest decades have seen a growing recognition of the importance of media for contemporary religious life within studies of religion. This is connected to recent debates about the value of secularization theory for explaining changes in individual religiosity and in the public role of religion in modern society, and a broader interest in popular religious practices and material forms. Within the growing literature on religion and media, a more specific debate has developed concerning the theory of mediatization and religion. This debate was initiated in 2008 by Stig Hjarvard’s work on the mediatization of religion. This chapter sets out the background for the debate and presents the arguments and different approaches expressed in it, as well as some empirical applications of the theory. By highlighting distinctions between the categories “religion” and “media” and the relation between religion and processes of modernization, this debate brings up key issues in the fields of media and religion alike. The article closes with a discussion on how the mediatization of religion theory might be developing to better account for patterns and complexities in contemporary interactions between religion and media.

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