The future of religious heritage

The Future of Religious Heritage examines the resurgence of religious heritage in a secular age and frames such heritage as both legacy from the past and promise for the future.

Drawing on case studies from across Europe, this volume addresses the intersection of three well-defined areas of research: secularism, religious heritage and the question of renewal. Considering the heritagisation of religion and the sacralisation of heritage, contributions to the book consider to what extent the idea of renewal, so pivotal to religious and secular ontologies, is present in heritage formations. Thinking about the temporalities of re-enactment and reconstruction, this volume examines whether heritage practices incorporate religious time into secular practice. Problematising such temporalities of the sacred in our post-secular age, the volume explores how these intersections of religious and secular time in heritage practices inform constructions of the future.

The Future of Religious Heritage addresses the paradox of the secularisation of religion and the sacralisation of heritage in a post-secular age. It will appeal to academics and students with an interest in critical heritage studies, religion, and (post)secularism, and will also be of interest to those studying re-enactment, regeneration and renewal.

Ferdinand de Jong is an anthropologist (PhD, University of Amsterdam). His publications include Masquerades of Modernity: Power and Secrecy in Senegal (Indiana UP, 2007) and Reclaiming Heritage: Alternative Imaginaries of Memory in West Africa (co-edited with Michael Rowlands, Routledge, 2016). His most recent monograph is Decolonizing Heritage: Time to Repair in Senegal (Cambridge University Press, 2022).

José Mapril holds a PhD in Anthropology from ICS, University of Lisbon, with a thesis on transnationalism and religion among Bangladeshis in Portugal. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a senior researcher at CRIA NOVA. Between 2018 and 2021, José was the coordinator of the executive committee of CRIA.