Grounding Religion: A Field Guide to the Study of Religion and Ecology

How do religion and the natural world interact with one another? Grounding Religion introduces students to the growing field of religion and ecology, exploring a series of questions about how the religious world influences and is influenced by ecological systems.

Grounding Religion examines the central concepts of ‘religion’ and ‘ecology’ using analysis, dialogical exchanges by established scholars in the field, and case studies. The first textbook to encourage critical thinking about the relationships between the environment and religious beliefs and practices, it also provides an expansive overview of the academic field of religion and ecology as it has emerged in the past forty years.

The contributors introduce students to new ways of thinking about environmental degradation and the responses of religious people. Each chapter brings a new perspective on key concepts such as sustainability, animals, gender, economics, environmental justice, globalization and place. Discussion questions and contemporary case studies focusing on topics such as Muslim farmers in the US and Appalachian environmental struggles help students apply the perspective to current events, other media, and their own interests.

Whitney Bauman is Assistant Professor of Religion and Science at Florida International University. He is the author of Theology, Creation, and Environmental Ethics (Routledge, 2009) and Assistant Editor for the Encyclopedia of Sustainability: Spirituality (Berkshire, 2009).

Richard R. Bohannon II teaches in the Environmental Studies and Theology departments at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Religion and Society at Drew University. His publications include "Constructing Nature at a Chapel in the Woods" in Ecospirit: Religion and Philosophies for the Earth (Fordham, 2007).

Kevin J. O’Brien is Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at Pacific Lutheran University. He is the author of An Ethics of Biodiversity: Christianity, Ecology, and the Variety of Life (Georgetown, 2010).