The Politics of Classification: Engaging the Work of Russell McCutcheon

This collection brings together an international team of scholars to assess and think with the work of Russell T. McCutcheon. Though McCutcheon is often accused of bringing the field into disrepute, and thus often ignored or dismissed, the chapters collected here prefer to see him as one of the foremost observers and critics of the intellectual practices associated with the field of religious studies. The volume is divided into two sections. The first deals with theoretical engagements of his works: pushing it in different directions, critiquing certain aspects of it, and seeing if some of his earlier work still holds. The second part provides a collection of more practical applications as scholars working in various subfields (Buddhism, Islam, early Christianity, and Christian Nationalism in the US) use aspects of McCutcheon's work to illumine those subfields.

The result is an important volume to understand the work and contribution of McCutcheon with chapters by leading scholars in the study of religion that will be of use to other scholars and graduate students.

Willi Braun is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of History and Classics and the Program in Religious Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada. He is the former President of the North American Association for the Study of Religion and also the past President of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. Although a specialist in the writings and social formations of earliest Christianities in the Roman empire, his work also focuses on the methods and theories of the academic study of religion itself. He has published and presented his work widely and served as editor of a variety of books and journals, including his longtime role as editor of Method and Theory in the Study of Religion; most recently, he co-edited Reading J. Z. Smith: Interviews and Essay (Oxford, 2018).

Aaron W. Hughes is the Dean's Professor of the Humanities and the Philip S. Bernstein Professor in the Department of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester. His research and publications focus on both Jewish philosophy and Islamic Studies. He has authored numerous books, including Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline (Equinox, 2007); Theorizing Islam: Disciplinary Deconstruction and Reconstruction (Equinox, 2012); Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam (Columbia, 2012); and Abrahamic Religions: On the Uses and Abuses of History (Oxford, 2012). He currently serves as the editor of the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion.