Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
6-2020
Abstract
This paper reframes the theory of religious economy by developing an understandingof the effects of transnational religious influence on religious marketplaces. It highlightsthe need to rethink the role of regulation in shaping the ways in which religiousmarketplaces operate. By reinterpreting regulation as the ability of the state to controlthe extent to which religious groups are able to access resources, it argues thattransnational religious networks can enable access to extraneous resources, which, inturn, can enable religious groups to subvert the regulatory prescriptions of the state.Transnational religious influences therefore highlight the porosity of religiouseconomies, and the problem of regulating religious marketplaces. Qualitative data areused to demonstrate how Singapore-based churches create and strengthentransnational religious networks with their counterparts in China. These networksenable religious groups to operate with a degree of independence, and to overcomeregulatory restrictions on religious praxis.
Keywords
Religious economy, religious networks, regulation, Singapore, China.
Discipline
Asian Studies | Religion
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Review of Religion and Chinese Society
Volume
8
Issue
1
First Page
9
Last Page
38
ISSN
2214-3947
Identifier
10.1163/22143955-20201063
Publisher
Brill
Citation
WOODS, Orlando.(2020). Porous religious economies and the problem of regulating religious marketplaces. Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 8(1), 9-38.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3205
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1163/22143955-20201063