Surveying theoretical approaches within digital religion studies

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the development of Digital Religion studies and the theoretical approaches frequently employed within this area. Through considering the ways and theories of mediatization, mediation of meaning, and the religious–social shaping of technology have been engaged and applied in studies of new media technologies, religion, and digital culture we see how Digital Religion studies has grown into a unique area of inquiry informed by both Internet studies and media, religion, and culture studies. Overall, it offers a concise summary of the current state of research inquiry within Digital Religion studies.

Percepciones y sentidos de lo sagrado en las generaciones digitales

“…Estos estudios exploran DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.21501/23461780.3530 Jorge Balladares-Burgos, Mauro Avilés-Salvador la relación entre la religión y las nuevas formas mediáticas, que van desde el teléfono inteligente y los videojuegos, hasta los blogs y el uso de avatares en 3D (Campbell, 2013). También hay estudios sobre la integración y negociación de creencias, identidades y prácticas religiosas en el internet y las redes sociales (online) y de manera presencial (offline) a través del uso de medios tecnológicos (Campbell, 2016;Lövheim & Campbell, 2017).…”

The buffered, technological self: Finding associations between Internet use and religiosity

“…Today, however, researchers aim to understand more complex interactions between technology and religion (Cheong et al, 2012). For example, Heidi Campbell, whose work covers this terrain extensively (Campbell, 2017a(Campbell, , 2017bCampbell and Garner, 2016), shows that studies in 'digital religion' have undergone several changes as researchers endeavor to keep up with evolving technologies and new religious developments. Moving from a descriptive era to periods of categorization and theory, the field of digital religion now largely grapples with how religious actors 'negotiate their online and offline lives, and how this informs a broader understanding of the religious in the contemporary society' (Campbell, 2017b: 17).…”

Interdenominational Cooperation in Religious New Media Projects: the Case of the Christian Media Center

“…While in line with an existing tradition of devotional media production, the introduction of social networks and smart technologies represents a major change in the ways institutions construct the collective identity of believers. Accordingly, leading scholars endeavoured to design new research approaches, such as "Religious-Social Shaping of Digital Technology" (Campbell 2017), and develop theoretical concepts for the analysis of digital religion, such as "cultured technology" (Barzilai-Nahon and Barzilai 2005) and "third spaces" (Hoover and Echchaibi 2014).…”