Religion in the Age of Digitalization : From New Media to Spiritual Machines

This book examines the current use of digital media in religious engagement and how new media can influence and alter faith and spirituality. As technologies are introduced and improved, they continue to raise pressing questions about the impact, both positive and negative, that they have on the lives of those that use them. The book also deals with some of the more futuristic and speculative topics related to transhumanism and digitalization.

Including an international group of contributors from a variety of disciplines, chapters address the intersection of religion and digital media from multiple perspectives. Divided into two sections, the chapters included in the first section of the book present case studies from five major religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism and their engagement with digitalization. The second section of the volume explores the moral, ideological but also ontological implications of our increasingly digital lives.

This book provides a uniquely comprehensive overview of the development of religion and spirituality in the digital age. As such, it will be of keen interest to scholars of Digital Religion, Religion and Media, Religion and Sociology, as well as Religious Studies and New Media more generally, but also for every student interested in the future of religion and spirituality in a completely digitalized world.

Giulia Isetti is Senior Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of Eurac Research (Bolzano, Italy). She holds a doctoral degree in Classics with a focus on Greek Literature from the University of Genoa (Italy) and an MBA’s degree from MIB School of Management (Trieste, Italy). She has participated in national and international conferences and has authored articles and book chapters on various research topics such as tourism and sustainability.

Elisa Innerhofer is Senior Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of Eurac Research (Bolzano, Italy). She holds a Ph.D. from the Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt (Germany). She edited several books, including Spiritualität & Tourismus - Schnittstellen und Perspektiven (Athesia, 2016), Destination Resilience - Challenges and Opportunities for Destination Management and Governance (Routledge, 2018), Overtourism – Tourism Management and Solutions (Routledge, 2020) and authored articles on various research topics such as tourism, inter- and transdisciplinarity and entrepreneurship in culture and creative industries.

Harald Pechlaner is full Professor for Tourism at the Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt (Germany) and Director of the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research (Bolzano, Italy). Furthermore he is Adjunct Research Professor at the School of Marketing, Curtin Business School (Australia). His latest research interests include (digital) transformation and impacts of digitalization on the society. He is author and editor of more than 40 books and approximately 150 articles in books and academic journals, including contributions at the intersection of values, resilience, culture and tourism.

Michael de Rachewiltz is currently a doctoral student at the Center for Advanced Studies of Eurac Research (Bolzano, Italy). His research interests are in the areas of Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science and Environmental Ethics.